There are so many ways to ‘sleep train’ your baby. I have read article after article about what is the best method and was finally ready to try to ‘sleep train’ Lily after she turned 4 months old.
I know people that put their babies in their own cribs at one month old, 4 months old, 6 months old and some that let their kids sleep with them until they were one or older. To each their own. I have found that you try it out whenever you and your child are ready. So four months old it was for us!
I
loved having her right next to me every night in her bassinet. We never really had a problem with her crying other than when her pacifier falls out and she wants it back in. Otherwise, she’s a great sleeper.
I wanted to try at three months old, but I was nervous about how she was going to do, so I kept pushing it off thinking if she’s just one month older then she will be ready.
So we waited until the weekend because I figured I would be up all night with her and didn’t want to be too tired for work. Side note- we also started feeding her rice cereal, which she LOVES! So, right before bed I filled her belly with a bottle and cereal and then let her bounce in her bouncer for a little while until I could tell she was tired.
Then, I put her in her sleep sac, closed the blinds and stuck her in her crib with her pacifier and kissed her goodnight. SHE WAS OUT!
I went back out into the living room to watch TV and Tim kept reminding me that I don’t need to stare at the monitor for hours…that “it has sound”, if she wakes up, but I couldn’t help it!! My sweet little baby was in her own bed!
She did great. She woke up a couple times, but only when she lost her pacifier and wanted it back in her mouth. The first two nights we got up probably 5 times, but the third night she slept through!
The night’s that she did cry, each time she cried we would wait a minute or two longer before going into her room.
The third night, once I woke up realized that I hadn’t gotten up at all to her crying, I checked the monitor and saw she was still snoozing soundly…sleeping like a big girl 🙂
I am also trying to a pre-bedtime schedule for her, which I think makes a big difference.
Dinner time with a bottle, a little bit of playtime, then bath or PJ time, then we read a book and then go to bed. Seems to work well!
Hopefully she stays on track with sleeping so well in her own room, but we all know how babies are! They do what they want 🙂
<3 Katie Ryan