The Sucky Sleeper

Pun intended. My baby likes to nurse to sleep.

Many of you know that my dear sweet boy that is such a sweetheart during the day is a stinker at night. Yes, it's both sad and true. My 13 month old does not sleep through the night... not even close.

It was not always this way. Braxton was a great sleeper as a newborn. He would wake two, sometimes 3 times at night to eat and go right back to sleep. By two months, he was sleeping through the night (11pm-6am). At three months he was sleeping 13 hours at night (7pm-8am). Life was good. This was back when I was going to school full-time and working part-time, so thankfully we were getting rest at night because our days were BUSY. However, after I graduated, Braxton started getting teeth in September and the sleeping through the night ended.

I have not slept through the night since the beginning of September. That's eight months! During this time, I have become a fanatic about baby sleep. I would like to say that I am somewhat of an expert-- at least I have plenty of tactics ready for when Baby #2 rolls around someday. I have read and learned a LOT about baby sleep. I have read just about every link that comes up under a google search for "sleep training," "how to help xx month old sleep through the night," "night weaning," "baby sleep cycles," "sleep associations," etc. I have also researched Ferber, Pantley, Hogg, Dr. Sears and others about their views on baby sleep habits and healthy ways to encourage night sleeping.

By now, I am guessing 95% of my dear readers have no idea what I am talking about... ;) Anyway, I have done a lot of research. Read books, blogs, scholarly articles and other forms of research, subscribed to sleep experts... I have tried several different methods trying to get this boy to sleep and still... NO DICE.

I first tried Hogg's EASY method. However, it quickly became clear that my stubborn little man was not falling for pick up, put down. I finally called it quits on night when I spent 2 hours picking up B, comforting him, then putting him back down when stopped crying. It. was. not. working.

At Braxton's 9 month well check, his CPNP Sue Ann suggested cry it out (CIO). I had debated about trying this before, but was always hesitant because it's not exactly the gentlest of sleep methods. Somehow talking to her reassured me that it would be okay, albeit difficult, and that my baby was waking up out of habit, not because he was sick/teething/colicky, etc. So we tried CIO. And it worked... kind of. You see, Braxton did eventually cry himself back to sleep. However, after two months of this he was still waking up at night and would cry himself back to sleep. I guess I should count this as an improvement, but I felt like such a terrible mom laying in bed, listening to my baby cry. every. single. night.

Then we had Christmas Break. Staying with the in-laws. Couldn't let him cry all night if he woke up since it would wake everyone in the house (except Topher-- his pants could be on fire and he would probably sleep through it). So I would go feed him and rock him to sleep. BIG MISTAKE. Once we got home that was the only way he found acceptable to fall asleep.

January was awful. Cold. Stomach flu. Teeth. Another cold. Ear infection. AHHH! I'm pretty sure we didn't sleep at all that month. (Confession: I fell asleep in the Mother's Lounge at church one Sunday in January. For over an hour. Church had been out 10 minutes by the time I woke up).

March: More research. More books. Started testing out "The No-Cry Sleep Solution" by Pantley. Found more valuable knowledge about baby sleep. The Pantley Pull-Off was somewhat successful. No more nursing to sleep and fewer night wakings (down to 3-4 instead of 6+) but he was STILL waking up and STILL needed my help to fall back to sleep. Even though I was only spending 5-10 minutes with him before he was back to sleep, I take much longer to fall back to sleep...

Now: Ordered a new book last week on Amazon. One penny. Seriously?! I will be impressed if I can purchase a full nights sleep for that price! It has shipped and will be here soon. Tonight: Round 2 of Cry It Out. Checked on Braxton four times. He is finally back to sleep. I am praying that he starts sleeping through the night before we move home and in with my family. They might not let us stay very long before kicking us out if he wakes everyone up.

Anyway, that's a record of the most notable sleep training methods I have tried (there were others, but these are the three that stand out the most). Wish us luck with our new endeavor!