Sleep training success!

So I posted the other day about sleep training because I was at my wits end. You see, my husband serves in the military and we moved when my son was 2 months old. When we moved, my husband ended up moving to our duty station and I stayed home with family because my husband had to prepare for his deployment. He was sent overseas when my son turned 4 months. Essentially, parenting our son has fallen primarily on my shoulders since day 1. Consequently, I’ve had NO help in the middle of the night with baby boy. So since my hubby left, he’s gone through regressions, and on average, wakes 3-4 times a night. I have been exhausted, emotionally unstable, and feel unhealthy because of all the stress and lack of sleep our “situation” has presented itself with.

So on the night I started sleep training, I had really tough skin. I knew I HAD to do it for my son to feel better and for myself, as well. I chose extinction method and took all pacis away (my son lives for the paci..only way he sleeps). We started his bedtime a little earlier than usual. So between 6-7 rather than 7-8. When I put him down he cried for an hour straight. It was hard, but I held my guns. We both needed it. Needless to say, he finally drifted to sleep on his own, and woke again 3 hours later. Again, I let him cry until he fell asleep 30ish minutes later. He then slept for 4 hours, was awake for 10 min, and fell back asleep. An hour after that he awoke and I fed him and back to sleep he went. He finally woke up at 7:00 (so had gone about 4 hours of straight sleep after bottle).

Surprisingly, this was an improvement from previous nights. I was still tired, but impressed with the longer sleep stretches and ability for my son to sleep without a paci.

The next day naps actually went pretty well. No paci again all day and he survived!!

Last night, again bedtime between 6-7. He slept until 10:30 and I fed him. And then he slept for 7 hours straight!!! This is THE BEST sleep this little guy has ever gotten. Ever. And I honestly can’t tell you the last time I’ve slept more than 4 hours at a time. It’s been a while.

I’m planning to stick to sleep training with my guy and hopefully we will all start improving one day at a time. I know a lot of people struggle with this topic, so I thought I’d offer a positive experience and encouragement if you’re on the fence with sleep training. Just try it if it’s for you! ❤️