I’ve heard it said so many times, but whoever coined the phrase “sleeping like a baby” never had any children. Now some babies may sleep just fine, but my little man has been getting up every 1 to 2 hours since birth. Sure, there were a few precious nights when he slept for 5, 6, and even 7 hours straight, but I could count those nights on one hand. Being that my child is a year old now, I was pretty desperate for a decent night’s rest.
My husband was sure that the little man was waking up throughout the night because he needed milk. I am still proudly breastfeeding my child, and though I love that I am supplying him with the best nutrition around, I was not too thrilled about still having to feed him all night long. I don’t do well with inadequate sleep, and after a year of this, my resilience was wearing a little thin.
Fortunately, we had a doctor visit. It was a visit like any other, but when my pediatrician asked how he was eating, I told her he was getting 4 to 5 feedings a day and the same amount at night. She gently told me that my child needs good sleep and we needed to train him. When my husband heard this, he finally agreed to let me try.
Finally I had the green light to do what my heart knew was right: train my child to sleep.
So when Monday came, I was nervously excited. I had heard the stories about children crying for hours before returning to sleep and throwing up because of the stress. I didn’t want my child to go through that, or me for that matter. I had asked the pediatrician for advice on how to get my child to sleep better, and she said to let him cry, but come in and comfort him about every 5 minutes. She said to use a familiar item like a teddy bear or blanket for comfort, and most importantly, she said don’t give in and pick him up. That will only delay things.
Getting him into the crib was the first trick, but my doula had taught me a valuable lesson on that: wait 15 minutes before you put him down. This ensures that he is in deep enough sleep to let you put him down instead of waking and crying. With that done, I went to sleep, hoping to be somewhat fortified when my child awoke.
When my son woke that night for his 2 a.m. feeding, I was expecting a battle. I went in to comfort him, and every now and again I would come back out and sit for a moment. But I couldn’t keep to the 5 minute schedule. Instead, I hovered over the crib, talking to my child, touching him, and rubbing his back.
But I never picked him up.
After about 30 minutes of crying, most frantic when I walked away, I thought about his toy bunny. Great Grandma had gotten that for him for Easter and we had played with it several times. I ran to grab it, and laid it down next to him. He had begun to calm down between crying, but with his bunny nearby and the blanket on his feet, he finally stopped fighting sleep.
It only took 30 minutes!
I was exhilarated. It took a while for his sniffling to quit – he had just cried for half an hour and had the snot to prove it – but he was asleep. And he stayed there until 7 a.m. He proceeded to wake up again at 8 a.m., and finally got up at 9 a.m. It was an hour earlier than normal, but that was an excellent night of sleep for me, and he seemed much happier too.
Now for night 2, and I was cautiously hopeful that it would go well. It did. He woke up at 4 a.m. this time, waking only for 5 minutes, and going back down for his 7, 8, and 9 a.m. stirring. I have decided that he needs to be fed after I get him back asleep at 7 a.m., but I’m OK with this. 7 hours straight is the most sleep I’ve seen in a year, and for it to be consistent would be fantastic.
I’m sure there will be times when this schedule will get rocked. He is growing, learning and developing so much and sometimes he just needs his mommy, but for now I am happy that my child is sleeping better, and so am I.
