Teaching a Pumpkin How to Sleep

So, we have an adorable five month old… who doesn’t like to nap and isn’t always the best sleeper. Therefore, we have decided it is time to start sleep training. A couple of weeks ago at a mommy group Jane goes to ,an Infant Development Specialist spoke about sleep and recommend the book “Good Night, Sleep Tight” by Kim West (aka “The Sleep Lady”). We got the book from the library, read it, and decided we were going to use it for Pumpkin’s sleep training. The three big points that we took away from the book were: at least once a day put Pumpkin to bed drowsy but still awake; have a schedule for bedtime and naps and do our best to stick to it; and be consistent with how we respond to crying and the like when she is in bed and choose our responses wisely because we might be stuck with them for years to come. Based on those points we started the following bedtime plan on Monday with plans to tweak it as necessary and add naps later.

1. Before 8:30pm change Pumpkin’s diaper and put her in her PJs
2. At 8:30pm read Pumpkin a book and then feed her making sure she doesn’t fall asleep
3. After feeding her, get her drowsy if she isn’t already (this usually means a bouncy walk around the room and is definitely part of this we want to phase out)
4. Put her in her crib then walk away and leave her alone, no matter what, until 7:30am (okay not really, but it has felt like that)
5. For real: put her in her crib and hope she falls asleep. We are allowed to comfort her however we can with our hands and words, but we are not allowed to pick her up again or feed her
6. At 2:00am we feed her again then repeat steps 3-5
7. At 7:30(ish) we wake her up and feed her. If she wakes up earlier we try and occupy her as long as possible to try and get her used to the idea that breakfast isn’t until 7:30

We have now done this for three nights, so Jane and I are both going to share our thoughts on how things are going.

Judah

Monday: Monday was great. We were going to do everything we planned and it was going to work really well and, surprisingly enough, it mostly did. When we put her in bed initially she definitely fussed for a little bit (less than 10 minutes) but then fell asleep, slept until her feeding, and then went right back to sleep without any fuss. She woke up a little earlier than we would have liked, but we were mostly okay with that. She had done well.

Tuesday: Tuesday was terrible. When we put her down initially for the night she fussed and fought me for her pacifier for over 30 minutes. By the end of it Jane was also crying in the next room. Then after her feeding she decided she needed to step up her game. She fussed and cried even louder than before, this time on and off for an hour. (I was with her the whole time comforting her so she wasn’t alone or anything). On the bright side she did sleep past 7:30.

Wednesday: Wednesday was a relief. Almost as soon as she was in her crib she rolled herself onto her side and fell asleep after 10 or so minutes. She woke up at 1:30 so we went ahead and fed her then and she fell back asleep pretty well again. The biggest downside was that she woke up at 6:40 in the morning.

Jane

Let me start by saying that I’m so glad Judah has been doing the bulk of the work with sleep training. I do NOT have the fortitude to stick with it when she cries. I’m also glad to know that Judah is right there with her, shushing and patting her, and comforting her in whatever way he can, instead of just letting her cry on her own. Still, she has been crying, some nights more than others, so I’ve been hiding in our bedroom and crying. Also, I am NOT a morning person. Just ask anyone who has ever lived with me. 7:30am is pushing it. 6:40am is awful and I feel like I’m dying. And if that wasn’t bad enough, I’m dealing with a nasty cold. So if you see me this week and wonder why I look like a “mombie,” this is why.

Pumpkin

WHY ARE MY PARENTS DOING THIS TO ME?!? I BETTER YELL REALLY LOUD SO THEY PICK ME UP AND GET ME TO SLEEP!!!