Sleep "Learning" and Easton's 5 month update!

Well, it's been ages since my last blog post... I'm not going to lie, its because this past month was completely exhausting!

We moved into our new house at the end of April (when E was 3.5 months old), and the move actually went really smooth. What STOPPED going smoothly at that time was Easton's sleep! Up until we moved, he was sleeping in a bassinet beside our bed, from 8 pm until 2 am (when he woke for a feed) and then until 6 or 7 am, when he woke for the day. Now, I don't know if it coincided with our move, or something that happens to many babies around 4 months, which I've also read, but seriously the first night in our new house, he woke up 5 times! Since then, (up until 4 nights ago) he continued to wake up 3-5 times a night and the only thing that would put him back to sleep was the boob. He outgrew his bassinet around 4 months, and because I was waking up every couple of hours to feed him at night, we ended up co-sleeping, just to give everyone at least a BIT more sleep.

Enter exhausted/sleep deprived mom, trying to set up her new house, photograph and edit Spring family photos, and plan for a week long trip out of province, just Easton and I! Something needed to change. I was becoming increasingly irritable and stressed out, and its impossible to be the best parent you can be, in that state.

After doing a ton of online research and deciding that letting Easton "cry it out" was not a route I was comfortable taking, I tried every known settling technique in the book. Rocking, swinging, singing, swaddling, white noise, more blankets, fewer blankets, back sleeping, side sleeping, soother, no soother, rice cereal before bed, every possible combination of these things, EVERYTHING. Nothing worked. Except the boob. I knew I couldn't continue this way forever. Letting babies nurse to sleep is not teaching them healthy sleep habits. It's not teaching them sleep habits at all, its Mommy doing all the work! It's imperative that babies learn how to settle/sooth themselves, and fall asleep on their own.

I remember a friend of mine saying that she was beginning to "sleep train" her daughter, so I asked her how it was going. She told me her little girls sleep had done a complete 180 in just a few days. WHAT? Nothing can work that fast, can it? She recommended the book she had followed, called "The Sleep Easy Solution". She told me it DOES require a few tears, but its completely worth it in the end to have a well-rested, happy, healthy baby who can get through the day without fussing, put themselves to sleep, and grow and learn the way their supposed to!  Well, on Wednesday, in my zombie-like state, I rushed to the library and borrowed the DVD (too tired to read) and watched it, took notes, and decided I would implement it that night!

I was scared. I didn't want to listen to my poor baby cry. I thought it would just shatter me to leave him in his crib, in the dark, crying, and not go in and pick him up and cuddle him and nurse him back to sleep like I normally would have. I had to. My old approach CLEARLY didn't work and Easton's sleep (and ours) was just getting worse and worse.

Without going into all the details, the "Sleep Easy Solution", has worked wonders on Easton's sleep in just 3 days, since we started! The first night wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be (it was probably harder on me than it was on him!), and he slept in his crib the entire night (he still had 2 feeds, but we're working on dropping that to one, next week), from 7pm - 7am with very few tears! Night #2 was even better, and last night was incredible! He only cried for 8 minutes total, in 12 hours! His naps have greatly improved as well, and he is consistently taking 3 naps a day. His total sleep each day is 15 hours, which is optimal for his age. I'm so proud of him and so glad I took the plunge into "sleep learning" as I prefer to call it :)

I also feel LOADS better already, from just a few nights of less broken sleep. I've been able to get through the day without stressing over the littlest things, pay more attention to helping Easton grow and develop, and be the mom I wanted to be! I'm sure we'll have hiccups, between teething and growth spurts, but we've set the foundation for Easton to be a good sleeper his whole life, and I owe it to The Sleep Easy Solution. They should pay me! I'm totally going to be their new biggest advocate!

Ok, enough on that, Easton accomplished a lot in his 4th month of life! (He'll be 5 months next week). He rolled over from back to front, then front to back, on his own, and is also able to sit up unsupported for about 20 seconds! He LOVES to stand (with support) and is very strong! He started on solid food a couple weeks ago (our doc gave him the go ahead at his 4 month appt!), and so far he's tried rice cereal, banana, sweet potato and apple puree. He doesn't love solids yet, but he's doing well! He was 15 lb 16 oz at his 4 month appointment and 27" long, and I would guess he's about 17 lbs now. A big boy!

That's all I'll bore you with! Hopefully I'll blog again in a couple weeks, with some photo updates.

Have a good one :)