Baby & sleep

I got a question about sleep training the other day and so I thought I would share a little about our experience. Not because I think I'm an expert (mostly I think we're just lucky) but because some things we read did work in addition to the fact that my mum's advice proved to be quite useful as well. 

I knew before she was born that her sleeping in her room right away would not be happening so we purchased this co-sleeper crib and put it in our bedroom. What I didn't know is that even that would be unrealistic those first few weeks. I personally have been against co-sleeping but it became key to our survival, especially those first few days. I hated it because I was always so worried and never really slept very well since I had one eye open so I knew that I would want to transition her to the co-sleeper crib as soon as possible. My mum gave me a good suggestion that I have stuck to even still and I think it was important to her sleeping success - she said that we should not train her to sleep in anyone's arms but instead as soon as she falls asleep (day or night) put her in her crib. And that's exactly what we started doing; whether it was during one of her naps or for the night we would always put her back in her crib. 

By four weeks she was sleeping for four hour stretches at a time in her co-sleeper crib so I decided this would be a good time to slowly start transitioning her to her "big girl" crib. I started putting her there for her naps and then at around six weeks I put her down in her crib for the night and she miraculously slept for an entire six hour stretch!

Here's another thing I should note - I have mentioned swaddling in a previous post and I have to reiterate again how key it is to her sleeping soundly and successfully. Our routine right now consists of "play time" during her witching hour which is between 8 and 10. Then around ten we either give her a bath or go straight into calm music, low lights, a diaper change, swaddling, feeding one last time before bed and rocking her until she falls asleep. Usually by 10:30 or 11 she is sound asleep and does not wake again until 5:30 or 6. 

That has been our experience so far. I hope you find this helpful. And as always if any of you have any tips that have worked for you and your baby please do share! We're all learning here!