As promised, here's the scoop on our family's quest for sleep.
Bub started sleeping through the night at 8 months. Prior to that, because of the acid reflux and accompanying tummy issues, I was getting up with him 5-7 times a night. I am the first to admit that I L-O-V-E my sleep. Which is why, once we finally got him on a formula and medicine he could tolerate, we decided to try sleep training.
I did my research and talked to other mom's about what worked for them. I think I was so sleep deprived that any suggestion was a good one. But when it came down to it, I knew we had to let him cry it out. This is one of those parenting decisions that will either make or break ya. Thankfully my experience was the former. Was it as horrible and gut-wrenching as I thought it would be? Yes. Was it one of the best things I could have done at the time for Bub (and me)? Absolutely.
What I wasn't at all prepared for is how easy he made the transition. I had heard and read that it takes most kids 3-5 days. I didn't believe it. Not one bit. I truly thought this applied to other people's kids, but not Bub. I mean, I was up every 1-2 hours with him. How could this possibly work?
But it did. Just like they said it would. I was floored.
Most nights he sleeps 10 - 11 hours. Every third night or so he'll wake up at some point and cry for a few minutes (sometimes longer), but he can usually get himself back to sleep.
That is until the NG tube. It took him a while to get used to having the pump on all night (let alone the mere existence of a tube up his nose), but he got through it. As if getting your child to sleep through the night on a regular basis isn't hard enough, there's nothing like adding a feeding tube and an IV pole to make the process that much more challenging.
You might be wondering why we didn't try sleep training Fin at the same time. If it worked for Bub, why wait so long to try it again with her?
I could come up with plenty ofexcuses reasons, but it really comes down to this: It was quicker and easier to just get up with her.
We tried a few times to let her cry it out, but we weren't as committed (or desperate for sleep) as we were months before with Bub. And since it was almost always dh who got up with her, and since he can survive on significantly less sleep than yours truly, and since he's a sucker for his baby girl, he would always give in and make her a bottle. That's really all she wanted. A bottle, a diaper change, and she was back asleep within minutes.
But after 15 months, even dh was hankering for a full night's sleep. And I was more than ready to have both babes on a healthy, uninterrupted sleep routine. If anything just so I could finally say "Yes!" when people ask if my kids are sleeping through the night.
This time we were 100% committed. *Gulp.*
And ...
SHE'S SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT!
HOORAY!
Night 3 was ok, nights 1, 2, and 4 were ugly. Really ugly. All I can say is, the girl has lungs and she knows how to use them. For hours on end.
But we survived. And I've realized (among other things), that I'm so much nicer when I get a good night's sleep!
Bub started sleeping through the night at 8 months. Prior to that, because of the acid reflux and accompanying tummy issues, I was getting up with him 5-7 times a night. I am the first to admit that I L-O-V-E my sleep. Which is why, once we finally got him on a formula and medicine he could tolerate, we decided to try sleep training.
I did my research and talked to other mom's about what worked for them. I think I was so sleep deprived that any suggestion was a good one. But when it came down to it, I knew we had to let him cry it out. This is one of those parenting decisions that will either make or break ya. Thankfully my experience was the former. Was it as horrible and gut-wrenching as I thought it would be? Yes. Was it one of the best things I could have done at the time for Bub (and me)? Absolutely.
What I wasn't at all prepared for is how easy he made the transition. I had heard and read that it takes most kids 3-5 days. I didn't believe it. Not one bit. I truly thought this applied to other people's kids, but not Bub. I mean, I was up every 1-2 hours with him. How could this possibly work?
But it did. Just like they said it would. I was floored.
Most nights he sleeps 10 - 11 hours. Every third night or so he'll wake up at some point and cry for a few minutes (sometimes longer), but he can usually get himself back to sleep.
That is until the NG tube. It took him a while to get used to having the pump on all night (let alone the mere existence of a tube up his nose), but he got through it. As if getting your child to sleep through the night on a regular basis isn't hard enough, there's nothing like adding a feeding tube and an IV pole to make the process that much more challenging.
You might be wondering why we didn't try sleep training Fin at the same time. If it worked for Bub, why wait so long to try it again with her?
I could come up with plenty of
We tried a few times to let her cry it out, but we weren't as committed (or desperate for sleep) as we were months before with Bub. And since it was almost always dh who got up with her, and since he can survive on significantly less sleep than yours truly, and since he's a sucker for his baby girl, he would always give in and make her a bottle. That's really all she wanted. A bottle, a diaper change, and she was back asleep within minutes.
But after 15 months, even dh was hankering for a full night's sleep. And I was more than ready to have both babes on a healthy, uninterrupted sleep routine. If anything just so I could finally say "Yes!" when people ask if my kids are sleeping through the night.
This time we were 100% committed. *Gulp.*
And ...
SHE DID IT!
SHE'S DOING IT!
SHE'S SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT!
HOORAY!
Night 3 was ok, nights 1, 2, and 4 were ugly. Really ugly. All I can say is, the girl has lungs and she knows how to use them. For hours on end.
But we survived. And I've realized (among other things), that I'm so much nicer when I get a good night's sleep!
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