I’ve posted about this exact topic before but it’s the only area where i feel like I’m totally failing so I think about it all the time. My 11 month old son is not sleep trained.

History/background: I started sleep training him in September at 6 months, using the CIO method where you go in every 10-15 minutes. He did really well and after 2 weeks, I had him where I could lay him down awake and he wouldn’t cry and would eventually go to sleep. We ended up doing an unplanned trip in October and then one over thanksgiving, which totally threw him off. When i got back in December, I tried getting him trained again. For over 3.5 weeks, it would take him an hour or more to go to sleep even if I was coming in every 10 minutes. It didn’t get any easier so I figured he wasn’t ready. So I waited a few weeks until his 7th leap was over.

Now: I started again on Thursday night (it’s now Friday at 1am). I put him in his crib drowsy around 7:40pm (he was basically sleeping) and left the room (his crib is in my room btw). I went in after 19 minutes of crying and tried to calm him down, but he just pushed my hand away and stood and asked for up. So I gave him a kiss and left again. I did that twice and each time only seemed to make it worse, so I stopped. By 9:15, he was still awake, crying bun not consistently, and sitting/standing in his crib. I figured he was overly tired at this point so I went in, picked him up, and he was out. Put him in his crib, and he didn’t wake until 5:10am which is the most sleep I’ve gotten in months 🙌🏼. I brought him to bed with me and he slept until he left for daycare at 6. Tonight, Friday, I put him down around 7:10, which is normal, and he was so tired he lifted his head once and fell asleep. I don’t know if he even woke up all the way. At 12:15am, he woke up (which has been pretty clockwork for him the last month) and cried so after 15 minutes, I went up. I tried just patting him on the back but again, he pushed my hand away and asked for up. Eventually I did and he fell back asleep, so I put him down and now at 1:30am, he’s up again (he was asleep when I started typing this).

I know it’s only been two days but I’ve been so tired. I’m a single mom so I don’t have any help at night. I’m so nervous I missed the boat and now he won’t sleep train at all. I just want to know if I’m doing the right thing. I know I’m not supposed to pick him up or nurse him or whatever but some nights, I just need to sleep so I can function at work. Has anyone else’s little one struggled with this or have a story like this where their kid is now a good sleeper?? Am i doing the right thing? I feel like i am but then i look at the internet (i know) and i feel like I’m a failure. Halp me. Cute pic of my boy because he’s an angel when I’m not getting him to sleep.