I’m not much of a reader. Never have been and at this point, probably never will be. When I found out I was pregnant my sister gave me a slew of pregnancy and post baby books so I could read up and be prepared for what was in store. I think the only one I read was Jenny McCarthy’s “Belly Laughs”, which was actually a gift from my baby shower and parts of “What to Expect When You’re Expecting”; All the others collected dust for 9 months. Based on what I read (I never read past the infancy period) I just assumed I would be breast feeding Lincoln every 2 hours for the rest of his natural life. Ha!

After a month or two his sleeping patterns started changing and we weren’t eating as frequently, but we were still waking up at 2 am, 4 am, 6 am, etc ready to play and occasionally eat. Not knowing what to do, because we hadn’t read any books, Wesley and I decided that we would try to keep Lincoln up really late. We figured the later he stayed awake at night the longer he’d sleep through the night and into the morning. Ha again!

His little eyes would be rolling in the back of his head and we’d be tickling him, singing to him, and basically anything else we could think of to force him to stay awake to ensure he’d sleep longer at night. We would try to keep him awake until 9 or 10 pm, but he naturally wanted to fall asleep between 7 and 8 pm.

After a month or so of this we realized that no matter what time we forced him to stay up to that he was still waking up at midnight, 2, 4, 6 am, etc. My sleep deprived and cranky husband was moaning to a co-worker about our sleep deprivation and whacked sleep schedule and she recommended a remedy; “Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child” by Marc Weissbluth, M.D.

I was incredibly skeptical and didn’t think I needed a book of all things to get my child to sleep. For about a week Wesley would ask me if I had gone to Barnes and Noble to get the book. I would sigh, “Nooooooooooo”….. Finally I got tired of him asking me so I broke down and bought the book.

I began to read the book and couldn’t put it down! One of the most important things I remember it saying was that the more sleep deprived your child becomes the worse and less they sleep, therefore specific nap times and a specific nightly bed time are crucial. Makes sense, right? This book was a step by step guide in how to get your child the quality sleep they need from infancy through toddler years. The book offered example sleep schedules and with Lincoln being 4 months old the recommended sleep time was 7 pm with 2-3 daily naps. Even though I had read the book cover to cover I remained skeptical that the new sleep schedule would work. My concern was keeping him asleep. I just knew that come 12 am my little tyke would be rearing to go especially since he was going to bed SO early.

The book recommends getting into a nightly bedtime routine in order to wind them down. Based on this recommendation we began giving Lincoln nightly baths. Up until then they were sporadic, because he wasn’t really doing anything to get dirty and I feared that I would dry out his skin with frequent baths. We would start bath time around 6:15 pm, sing songs, get clean, dry off, comb his hair, apply butt paste, get a diaper, get a onesie, read a book, get swaddled, and get a final bottle with the lights off and the sound machine on every single night… we still do this same nightly routine (minus the swaddle) at 18 months of age.

Night one was pretty easy in putting Lincoln to bed. He went down like a champ… I think he was just happy that we weren’t forcing him to stay awake. To my amazement Lincoln didn’t wake up at midnight. In fact, I got to enjoy catching up on my television shows, sipped on a glass of wine…okay 3, sat alone with nobody touching me or needing me, and got to enjoy the company of my husband ALONE for the first time in 4 months! It was pure bliss! Yes, Lincoln still woke up around 3 or 4 am for a feeding, but he went right back to sleep until 7 am. Around 6 months of age he dropped the middle of the night feeding all together and would sleep from 7 pm to 7 am every single night and would take a mid-morning and mid-afternoon nap every single day. This sleep schedule has been our life for the last year and truly changed our world for the better.

I love being a mom, but just like all people, I’m human and have to re-charge and have “me” time. I am so thankful to have the most amazing little sleeper and recommend this book to anyone and everyone that has a child whether they sleep well or not! You never know, baby #2, #3, or #4 may not be so great at sleeping and you need to be armed and equipped to whip him/her into shape. There are definitely times when Lincoln is sick or teething and may not sleep as well, but 95% of the time he sleeps perfectly! Having a good sleeping child really makes the difference in Mom’s day, night, and overall quality of life. We need sleep too!!! The only downfall of having a good sleeper is you are confined to your home starting around 6 pm for the “routine” aspect…. Gotta take the bad with the good, I guess!

How does your kiddo sleep? Are you jealous of my sleeping baby yet? 🙂

8 COMMENTS

  1. I agree, this is not fair!  I’ve been working really hard to stick to a routine with Isaac at night.  I’m a working mom so picking him up from daycare, rushing home, cooking dinner, getting him fed, bathed, ready for bed, and a bottle is exhausting all on its own.  I have been strict on him being in his crib by 8pm.  It took awhile, but he is finally going down like a champ.  He is STILL waking up at least once if not twice a night begging for a bottle.  I can hand it to him, and go back to bed, but he is almost a year old, and I am supposed to be taking the bottle away soon.  I don’t know how I am going to do it…..

    • Hey Laura!!! Lincoln was having similar problems in terms of wanting a bottle when he didn’t “technically” need it any longer. My pediatrician recommended doing less formula with more water for a few days and then eventually giving him only water. I did that for a week or so and eventually he knew it wasn’t worth even getting up for. You have to train their little bellies that they really aren’t hungry. You might give it a try and see if it works. Since Isaac is older you might have to do it longer, but if he knows he’s only going to get water he might eventually just stop getting up and crying all together. Good luck!!!! No sleep stinks 🙁

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