Just a few of the questions us mummy’s ask ourselves at 3am in the morning and get asked about our little darlings and do you know what I am thinking inside, just itching to shout out? NO! My baby does not sleep, he has not slept for 6 months and I even tried to sleep in the shower the other day. But I reply with an exhausted ‘Oh sometimes…’ and they return with a pitied smile and that’s the end of the conversation about the ‘S’ word.
But now at 7 months old our baby does sleep through and oddly I miss getting up. I don’t miss thinking I am the only person up in the world wrestling a baby to sleep with a singing sheep, swaddle blankets, and made up lullabies about a baby called Noah. I miss the cuddles and snuggles and the special bond of breast feeding my baby and the feeling of him only needing me.
Now the biggest question of them all – How did we do it? Well it has not been easy but I can reassure you in saying how we have gone from a short napping, waking several times through the night to only falling asleep on the boob or on me with lots of cuddling and rocking till he would sleep for 3 hours top at night. 20 minutes max in the day to now go to a baby who self-settles, sleeps 12 hours in a row and naps 3 times a day for 1-2 hours. As I write this I still can’t imagine that I am actually talking about the same baby a few months on. A lot had changed in month 6-7 for Noah.
2. Starting 3 meals a day - We have been so lucky with Noah’s weaning journey so far he loves food and I mean loves it! He will eat anything and enjoys 3 varied meals a day. Therefore when he goes to bed at 6.30-7.00pm I know he has a lovely full tummy and has had everything he needs through the day. With 21oz of formula and his 3 meals. This leads on to my next step: Controlled crying.
3. Controlled crying you ask? Torture, un-ethical, bad parenting, you name it - I’ve thought it. I never would have imagined doing such a thing to my child, But through extreme lack of sleep and me and my partner Sam at breaking point. He put his foot down. He is the most supporting partner and father and would do anything for either of us. After going up to Noah 3-4 times in only an hour Sam trawled the internet for solutions we had not tried. And there it was - ‘Controlled crying’. We read many articles and it sounded so simple. But letting my baby cry? Oh hell no! Just come and poke my eyes out now for me! But Sam made a plan of putting Noah down ‘drowsy but awake’ and to leave him for 2,5,10,10... Minutes to cry before we went in to let him know we were there, rub his back but not taking him out which went against anything we had ever done before but we were willing to try it and we did! I cannot write in to words how well this went for us we had about 3 wake ups of no more than three sets of crying at a time and our little babe stayed in his own bed from 7-7.30. We put him down for his naps in his cot and it took us just 3 nights to crack it and just like that he slept through! He desperately needed this sleep training and we are all reaping the benefits now. I can now remember my own name – wahoo! It certainly wasn’t easy listening to him cry for me, in fact I cried more than Noah did but we told ourselves it was for the best. I am sharing this because I cannot believe how simple it was for us. I know everyone is different but it’s certainly nice to know we are not alone! I would love to hear your thoughts on your babies sleep, controlled crying and what has worked for you!
Love,
My high flying Mummy and Me x
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