There are a lots of different methods out there for getting babies to sleep. As I was scrounging for my new baby to sleep, I felt like I researched every method out there. In the end, it wasn’t one method that seemed to be a quick fix. For my kids, I had to combine several. There were things that worked, and things I scrapped before even trying because I was sure they weren’t a good fit for my family. When sleep training my kids, I went with my gut. I trusted my own body’s needs and my mommy instinct.

I survived sleep training three babies, and I’m here to say, sleep training saved my sanity.

The truth is, we all need sleep to function and be healthy. You cannot sustain yourself in the long run without adequate sleep. My kids are monsters without enough sleep. And if I’m being honest, I am too.

With my first, I was under the false impression that babies would sleep when they needed to. I was wrong. I was HAGGARD by his first bday. 10+ months of interrupted sleep wore me out. I was on edge, and I was about to LOSE MY EVERLOVING MIND if I didn’t get some sleep. Don’t believe me, just ask my poor (and very patient) husband. God bless him. So when my second came around, I was determined to have a sleeper. If I thought I needed my sleep with one child, I most defiantly needed a good night’s rest to take care of two. I got progressively “better” at sleep training once I got to my third kid.

I, personally, like to sleep train when I’m alone. As in, when my husband is traveling for work. It becomes more about survival mode then, and my way of forcing myself NOT to back out. Sleep is a must or I will not have the mental or physical energy to be awake all day and all night caring for our littles.

Here are the sleep training tricks that what worked for me…

• Start at 2 months old AND 10 lbs. By this point, our pediatrician promised that babies are able to physiologically sustain themselves for 12 hours at night.
• Merlin suit. They aren’t lying when they call this suit a magic sleep suit. Within two nights, my 2-month-old was sleeping 9 hours straight. Twelve hours straight by a week of using it.
• Kids can’t be flexible without stability first. Pick a bedtime and stick with it. Pick a bedtime routine and stick with it. I was strict to the routine in the beginning, and eventually, my kids are all excellent sleepers now. But it didn’t start out that way.
• Cry it out isn’t as cruel as it sounds. Walk not run to get them. Dare I say it, sometimes they actually GO BACK TO SLEEP! On. Their. Own.
• Awake to sleep. Lay them in their beds when they are drowsy but awake so they learn to self soothe.
• In their own room. With risk of getting into the co-sleep debate, I’m totally all for babies sleeping in their own room-away from mama. Those sweet little humans (that hate sleep) simply wake up more when they smell mama, and know that milk is just a few feet away.
• Sound machine. Sound machines in my house are a must. I have three boys, so it’s just not realistic for my house to be quiet. Pretty much EVER. So a sound machine to drown out the noise is a must around here. A quiet house during nap time for #1 was doable. A rarity when #2 came and impossible once #3 joined our family. I decided quickly that I was not about to spend my days shhhing (and threatening) my boys to play quietly while brother slept. Within reason, I can’t handle screaming and running in the house-no matter who’s sleeping BUT sleepers in this house have to be able to tune out a little noise. Sound machines are my life savers. I use them, my kids use them.

What is your sleep training advice?