Sleep Training

“Is your baby sleeping through the night?”

This is the most common question I get asked from other Mothers.

I would have a different answer every month because every phase was different and things were always changing.

I couldn’t remember enough to tell you what it was like in the first few months- but I could tell you how it is now – and boy is it a lot easier!

For the first 3 weeks of Aura’s life- she slept in her bassinet right beside our bed. One night after breastfeeding in bed she fell asleep beside me and stayed asleep for hours- this was something new!

So what did I do the next few nights? I let her sleep between Bram & I again because she was sleeping peacefully and longer (and that was exactly what us sleep deprived parents needed at that time). By the time we knew it 6 months had passed by and we had a little co-sleeper kicking and pulling our hair in the wee hours of the morning!

During this time we were knee deep into the COVID-19 pandemic and something about it made me want to keep her close and protected during the night (which I realized later was just an excuse – LOL).

At the 6 months + 2 week mark- Bram and I decided that it was time we took our bed back. We literally decided in one night that we were going to sleep train her in her own bedroom in her own crib!

This was all going to be brand new for all three of us. I had been researching the FERBER METHOD a lot leading up to Aura’s 6 month birthday- so I felt comfortable going into it.

On night one we followed our usual bedtime routine, kissed her goodnight and laid her down gently in her crib and left the room. She cried and cried as I gripped onto the monitor watching her every move. I felt guilty and thought about running in her room several times but my Bram wouldn’t let me abandon the plan so quickly. Bram was the stronger one between us – he had the timer going and was doing the check-ins right on cue.

Night 1 it took Aura about 20 minutes to self sooth and put her self to sleep.

Night 2 it took just under 15 minutes.

Night 3 she was sleeping on her own within 1-2 minutes.

Just like that… MAGIC!

I kid you not it was that easy! We followed the FERBER METHOD, you can look it up online to see what its all about because if I tried to explain it I would probably butcher it. In fact I will leave some resources that I used in the footnotes below for reference.

If I can be honest here – I really didn’t see a time that Aura would be sleeping in her own room- it truly felt impossible. I am so surprised and so happy that it worked because now me and Bram managed to not only claim back out bed but also claim back our evenings. This gives us time to spend together AND time to spend separately (which is equally as important – especially during a Pandemic). Aura is now putting herself to sleep and waking up at the same time every morning and all it took was 3 days of commitment in sticking to the plan.

I hope this gives you Mamas some confidence to go ahead and get your little one sleep trained if you wish to do so. Sleep trained or not, co-sleeping or not- there’s no judgements here! Every family is different and every family should follow what works best for them!

Here are some tips I have when it comes to sleep training:

-Keep the same bedtime routine

-Choose a bedtime between 6:30-8PM and go to bed the same time every night

-Have a good, continuous sound machine running

-Keep the room dark and cool

-Make sure you baby goes to bed with a full tummy

-Avoid going out and missing bedtime for the first few months until your baby has completely adjusted

(Aura is now 13 months and we still make sure we are home for her bedtime routine, NO MATTER WHAT)