Within the first few days of life, it is encouraged to demand feed your baby. Paul and I wanted to get Eloise on a schedule as soon as possible, so by making sure Eloise got full feedings each time, she put herself on her own 2.5-3hr routine. Once we got home, we stuck to this. We also wanted to informally begin sleep training. For us, we choose the
Babywise method. Part of implementing this was to wake Eloise up if she was sleeping past 3hrs during the day. Newborns sleep A LOT, so this also helped make sure she was getting enough to eat and wasn't sleeping through it.
Being a parent is hard. All parents, I think, want the same end goal: a happy, healthy baby, and a good nights rest. But, knowing the best way to achieve that is challenging. There are so many "methods" to raising a baby, but learning your child and learning which way is best is the toughest part. Last week, we formally began sleep training. We wanted to begin sleep training early, because we didn't want her to get accustomed to a certain way of falling asleep and then all of the sudden change it on her later. We wanted her to learn it right away, so it would be all she knew and be more comfortable with it. Along with Babywise, we have been trying some other techniques including Crying it out, and the 4 S's.
We start and end our day at the same time to establish consistency and to help differentiate between day and night. Each day includes a routine of feed time, wake time, sleep time - in that order. Having wake time after feeding, along with putting her to sleep while still awake, helps her to avoid a habit of falling asleep with outside soothers. We don't want her to only be able to fall asleep while eating, rocking or being held. While these things are not bad, we just don't want them to become the norm. Crying it out and the 4 S's have come into play during nap time. We have learned that crying it out does NOT work if she is past a certain point in how tired she is or if she has been overly stimulated. We have had to learn her "time for a nap" cue. After about 45min-60min of wake time, we will notice her eyelids become heavy and she starts to relax a bit. This is when we begin Setting the stage, Swaddling, Sitting, & Shh-pat. The first three are done immediately after we notice Eloise becomes tired. If we miss the cue, nap time will not go as smoothly. For us, sitting has become the most important part in recognizing when to put her down. We sit with Eloise up over our shoulder and pat her back. Within a few minutes, her body becomes relaxed and her eyes begin to open and close. She is still awake, but sleepy. This is when we put her down. After putting her down, 1 of 2 things happens. She falls asleep on her own, or she cries. If she cries, we use a combination of CIO and the last S: the Shhh-pat. For Eloise, the hardest part of sleep time is learning to calm herself down or self-sooth. After putting her down, we allow her to cry for an allotted amount of time, then we will go check on her and "shhh" while rhythmically patting her back. We do this only for a couple of minutes and then leave. Never picking her up out of bed. If she continues to cry, we wait for a longer period of time - then go in again. CIO is definitely difficult, and not for everyone. No one wants to sit and listen to their baby get upset, but each day gets a little better and if watching the clock, you'll begin to notice that they really don't cry for that long before falling asleep.
Night time is by far the easiest. We set the stage by changing her into her sleeper, swaddling her before we feed her, and minimizing all the lights and sounds. Nighttime is the only time when we allow her to fall asleep while feeding, but still making sure she is alert enough to get a full feed in. She is still young and wakes up at exactly 2am and 5am every night. Immediately after I feed her, I put her right back to sleep. I also avoid changing her diaper if I don't have to because changing her diaper during the day indicates wake time and we want to encourage her to recognize a difference between day and night. My hope is, by recognizing my own baby's needs as well as being consistent in these practices that she will be sleeping through the night by 12 weeks. This has been true for most of the people I know who have tried it. I'll keep you updated on how it goes.
*Now, this method of sleep training is not for everyone nor am I saying that my method is the best of all. Paul and I began praying for the guidance and wisdom to parent our child since before she was born, and we currently feel this is what is best for us.
