Sorry if this isn't your thing, but right now it is a huge learning curve for both me and Kai.
As most of you know I have been pulled in many different directions not knowing which way to go to work towards better sleep habits for me and my little man. I have co-slept since the beginning, and have been reluctant to give that up. I have read countless books on sleep training, and am almost always feeling torn by the time I finish them. There are so many different techniques, and honestly I really wish I lived in the day and age where there weren't so many books, suggestions etc. Then I could just go about my business and figure things out day by day, asking friends and family for their personal experiences.
In today's North American culture, it is pretty rare that a mother can afford to sleep when baby sleeps, even though countless books tell us this is one of the best things to do. I think that a lot of us assume that the "sleep when baby sleeps" rule ends after the first 2-3 months. It's around this time that our schedules start to fill up again, your feel like we need to keep a clean house, and get countless other things done.
In most tribal societies when a woman has a baby she is expected to take care of the baby and herself. She nurses baby when she needs it and doesn't think to worry about the number of times baby is up at night, because she's going to be napping right along side her. Nowadays, most of us are working moms, or just plain used to being busy moms! We can't afford to be tired and waking up 5-7 times a night!
So while I struggle with the idea that I am NOT a tribal mother, I have decided that it is about time I get some sleep. I still really enjoy sharing a bed with my son, so unless nothing else works, we're going to continue to co-sleep even through "sleep learning" (a term I much prefer to "sleep training").
The latest book that was recommended to me by an old friend called The Sleep Easy Solution, seemed to be the right fit for us. Basically I've decided to begin to wean Malakai at night in hopes that this will solve his 4-5 average night wakings.
Over the past few nights I tracked Kai's night time feeds and was surprised I the amount he was actually nursing. So I came up with a weaning schedule where I physically get him up to nurse about an hour before he would normally wake to feed. I repeat this throughout the night with each feed a set amount of time. Every night I will reduce each feed by 2 min, and hopefully within a week he will no longer need to feed through the night.
Kai's weaning schedule:
First night: Saturday Sept 8
7:30 Bedtime
8:45pm feed 10 min
10:15 feed 12 min
12:35 feed 14 min
2:30 feed 8 min
4:00 feed 12 min
6:30 Wake time
Night 2: Sunday Sept 9
7:30 Bedtime
8:45 feed 8 min
10:15 feed 10 min
12:35 feed 12 min
2:30 feed 6 min
4:00 feed 10 min
6:30 Wake time
Night 3: Monday Sept 10
7:30 Bedtime
8:45 feed 6 min
10:15 feed 8 min
12:35 feed 10 min
2:30 feed 4 min
4:00 feed 8 min
6:30 Wake time
Night 4: Tuesday Sept 11
7:30 Bedtime
8:45 feed 4 min
10:15 feed 6 min
12:35 feed 8 min
2:30 feed 2 min
4:00 feed 6 min
6:30 Wake time
Night 5: Wednesday Sept 12
7:30 Bedtime
8:45 feed 2 min
10:15 feed 4 min
12:35 feed 6 min
4:00 feed 4 min
6:30 Wake time
Night 6: Thursday Sept 13
7:30 Bedtime
10:15 feed 2 min
12:35 feed 4 min
4:00 feed 2 min
6:30 Wake time
Night 7: Friday Sept 14
7:30 bedtime
12:35 feed 2 min
6:30 Wake time
Night 8: Saturday Sept 15
7:30 bedtime
No Feeds!
6:30 Wake time
Tonight was day one...and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised! Instead of reading stories in bed and nursing him to sleep, I brought a comfy chair into my room, and we read stories and had song time and nursies there. When I could see that he was almost ready to fall asleep I put him down in our bed with his stuffed animal and lay down next to him. He whined a bit and for about 20 minutes or so climbed over me and rocked himself. When he was really tired he started to cry and within 7 minutes he was out like a light! And he wasn't even sprawled out in top of me!!! 40 minutes to fall asleep is spectacular for a first night of sleep learning. An hour is said to be average!
Here's hoping the rest I the night goes as smoothly!
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