Adventures in Sleep Training

Disclaimer: I'm not writing this post to create any type of controversy or debate -- I know that every one of us has our own ideas and opinions about sleep training/co-sleeping. This is our account of sleep training and what worked best for our son.

 

If you've been around my part of the Internet for the last year or so, you know all about our co-sleeping adventures with Jackson. 

As some of you may remember, Jax was born two weeks early and was admitted to the NICU hours after being born because of his grunting and inability to cry. Fortunately, after a day and a half, Jax showed signs of improvement and we were sent home. Once we were home and began adjusting to life as a family of three, we discovered that Jackson wasn't the greatest sleeper and was always wanting to be cuddled and fed. Since this was our first child and we had virtually no other experience with a newborn, we decided to just roll with the punches and let him sleep in bed with us for the time being since he was a bit premature and may have just needed the extra comfort and warmth.

Fast forward a year and Jackson was still sleeping in bed with us.

We had (kinda) tried crib training Jackson in the past but it wasn't working--we tried letting him cry-it-out during his regular nap time but my mamma heart couldn't take the crying and I'd end up picking him up and laying down with him a few short minutes later. Then in November, when I was sick with a bad case of bronchitis, my doctor prescribed me a codeine cough syrup to help me get some much needed sleep and we attempted some "emergency" crib training (I'm normally a very light sleeper and feel Jax's every move but wasn't willing to risk rolling over on/nursing him in my narcotic induced state). Needless to say, he was back in bed with us 45 minutes later and I settled on just taking some Robitussin.

Then on New Year's Eve, Brandon found a deal on airline tickets that got us thinking about taking a weekend vacation away.. just the two of us.. without our darling little bed sharer. Long story short, that ended up not working out but the next day, I found a good deal on a flight and hotel in Vegas and decided to just go ahead and book it.

That was the final nail in the coffin (so to speak)--we had to sleep train Jackson.

Enter:

By that Friday night, Brandon put Jackson in his crib against both his and I wishes we were ready to give it a shot. After our nightly nursing session, we put Jax in his crib and without skipping a beat, he began to scream bloody murder. It took every fiber of my being to not go in there and rescue him from his cold jail cell of a crib--I finally had to go downstairs to do dishes just to resist the urge to "save" him.

While Brandon was taking his "shift" and checking in on Jackson every couple of minutes, I let the hot tears pour down my cheeks and onto the dirty dishes. I prayed for strength and self control on my part, patience on Brandon's, and peace for our confused little Jax. After I finished loading the dishwasher and turned off the faucet, I braced myself for the shrill screams of an angry and tired toddler. Do you what I heard instead? Nothing.

I heard nothing.

I tiptoed upstairs, peeked into Jax's room, and saw my husband leaning over the crib, rubbing our sons back, and reassuring him that everything was okay while Jax laid there in a calm and dreamlike state.

Was this real life? Was our son actually calm? In his crib?

I had every intention of just letting Jackson cry it out all night but my husband surprised me and tried a different method he'd read about earlier that day.

Here's what he did:

• Quietly walked into the room and softly reassured him that everything is okay.
• Encouraged him to give Elmo a hug (Elmo is Jackson's version of a security blanket or lovey), which got him to lay down. 
• Rubbed his back until he fell asleep.

I wish I could say this method kept him asleep for hours straight but alas, Jax was up again a few short hours later (which is when we started the process over again). But it was progress.

We've been consistent in using the same method for over two weeks now (with the exception of the night he was running a high fever and just wanted to be held) and things are getting better and better each night. Jax now LOVES his crib and squeals with delight every time he sees his Elmo and music/light machine waiting for him. We still need to work a bit more on teaching him ţo self sooth and fall back asleep on his own but we figure we'll take everything one night at a time. One great article I read in regards to sleep training recommended letting your child hold onto a stuffed animal/lovie/security blanket during nursing sessions so they begin to associate that item with being comforted and cared for. I've done that with Elmo and it has made a huge difference.

I never thought that Jackson would be sleeping on his own (in fact, I figured he'd be co-sleeping until he was 16) so the fact that he's falling asleep and staying asleep in his crib for a few hours at a time is a really big deal. I also forgot how nice it is to be able to sprawl out in bed, cuddle with, and be a little more, err.. spontaneous with my husband--I'd say that sleep training has been a win/win/win for the entire family.

Over the next week, we'll be working more on drinking whole milk (versus breastfeeding) and self soothing so stand by for another lengthy blog post.

Which method worked best for your little one when it was time to sleep train?

Lately

As you may have noticed, my blog game is kinda weak this week (sorry about that) so I thought I'd do a quick catch up on all of the exciting adventures of the Sandmeier family!

Sleep Training/Daddy & Mommy's Baby-less Vegas Trip

Since Jackson was born, he's slept in our bed. When he was a tiny newborn, he'd begin each night in his Rock & Play next to our bed and then move into his Boppy (on our bed) after his first early morning nursing session. Anyway, when he turned about a month old, we ditched the Rock & Play and Boppy and he'd just sleep on top of the covers in the crook of my arm (which makes for much easier nursing sessions). Fast forward a year and nothing has changed.

Brandon has been saying since Day 1 that we need to crib train and stop letting Jackson sleep in bed with us but I was never on board (I love being able to snuggle all night with such a cuddly little baby!); however, Jax was starting to pull away from me in the night to lay on his stomach which set off a green light in my head that he was probably ready to sleep on his own. 

I just wasn't ready for him to sleep on his own. And the most selfish mom of the year award goes to..

While laying in bed on NYE, Brandon noticed that one of the major airlines was having a big $20.15 (one-way) sale to select destinations and made a comment about how we should take advantage and go somewhere. Long story short, none of the $20.15 times/days worked with our schedule but it put the idea into both of our heads of how nice it would be to go away for a weekend with just us. 

No changing diapers? No cutting food into bite sized pieces? No having to constantly hold a curious toddler up to the door so he can play with the locks/handle? Time alone with my husband? It sounded like a dream come true! (Don't get me wrong--being Jackson's mom is my favorite job ever but a nice little break to recharge sounded heavenly)

While Brandon was at work the next day, I began browsing travel sites for vacation packages and found an awesome one to Vegas that I decided to book and surprised Brandon with. When I told him the news, he was thrilled and immediately began looking at different shows to see (we're seeing Cirque du Soleil's Ka--we try to attend a different Cirque show every time we go on vacation and have seen the one in Orlando as well as Beatles Love in Vegas) while I scoped out the Groupons. 

The sad (for me)/hard part of taking this vacation? It was finally time to crib train Jax. 

We've tried crib training a few times in the past but it was never anything we really stuck to but knew that this time had to be different. So last Friday night, we began--and he actually did way better than we'd expected! I nursed him and then Brandon put him in his crib and stood by him, rubbed his back, and talked to him until he fell asleep. He slept for about an hour before waking up again which is when I went in and did the same thing (back rub/talking) for about 10 minutes--and then he slept for 3 1/2 hours! I felt invincible and wondered why we hadn't tried this months earlier!

That's when it happened.

I woke up at around 2am feeling incredibly engorged (I'm used to Jax "comfort nursing" on and off throughout the night) and felt a gigantic lump in my right breast. I figured it was the start of mastitis and began to panic. When Jax woke up again at around 3am, I brought him back into bed with us so I could let him nurse for awhile and hopefully kick whatever I had before it got worse. Long story short, I had a clogged milk duct (most painful thing EVER) that luckily never turned into mastitis but took a good 3 days to work out. 

On Saturday night, I went ahead and kept Jax in bed with us so he could nurse off and on again all night and promised Brandon we'd try sleep training again on Sunday night. And we did..

..but with the Pack n' Play in our room. 

He didn't seem to be able to get very comfortable in his Pack n' Play so we ended up moving him back into his crib on Monday night (where he kept waking up over and over). I'm pleased to announce that Jax is currently napping like a little angel in his room after fighting the urge to sleep, his crib, and me for 2 whole hours!

It's definitely going to take some time to get Jackson sleep trained but we're going to keep at it.. it'll definitely help Grammy & Grandpa out a bunch when they babysit him during our Vegas trip! Stay tuned for an even longer blog post regarding our experience with sleep training/my clogged milk duct (a story that I'm sure you're all dying to hear). 

Sunday night snoozing in the Pack n' Play.

Nap time on Monday--I'd nurse him until he was just barely awake, would lay him down, and then he'd jump up ready to play.. it was a looooong day.

It took two hours but I was finally able to get him to take a nap in his crib!

Out & About

Jackson is such a social little guy and loves to be around other little kids (he shrieks when he sees them--it's so funny!) so I make it a point to get us out of the house to play at least once a day. This week, we've taken several trips to the library, ran/jumped/slid around like mad at a toddler gym, climbed around at the park, and played around in the kids room at the place where Jax gets his hair cut. 

I sure do miss the newborn/tiny baby days but I do have to admit that this is such a fun stage--Jax has the most fun little personality and it's so fun to watch him play and explore! 

Doing his own thang post haircut.

He had such a fun time at the toddler gym and wanted to play with all the "big kids"--mommy got quite the workout in too by taking Jackson up and down the giant inflatable slide several times and by jumping (while holding Jax) in the bounce house.

We stayed with my parents on Thursday and discovered this awesome puzzle at my hometown library--it has all different types of locks and doors to open and close!

These girls were so sweet and patient--Jax was in heaven!

He thought he was pretty hot stuff in his little red car :) He drove, ate his cookie, and yelled at everyone we passed while we grocery shopping on Monday (and mom managed to run into only one display!).

Pinterest Fail

Last February, I designed cute little Valentines with a few of Jackson's newborn pictures and thought it'd be fun to do it again this year. I've seen those adorable pictures of babies with lipstick marks all over them and thought that'd be simple and adorable to do with Jax! This is what happened:

It looks like he's crying but he was actually doing his fake smile and had a hard time keeping his eyes open because of the flash.

If I'd had a better background, lighting, and actually knew how to use our Nikon, these might not have been so bad! I did get a couple decent shots (below) and may still work on editing them and making cards.. we shall see.

Hope you're having a wonderful week!