Sweet Dreams ...

This is an update to share that we are sleep training our baby.  Ha, or more like she is training us. Our nugget slept so well at 3 and 4 months, then she changed and was waking up every 30/45min at night.  She also wakes up screaming if she is alone in her bassinet so every night to keep our sanity she went in the bed with us.  Our default was to nurse to sleep and that had to change, because I had reached zombie status at work.  

I read many, many, MANY articles on sleep training methods - cry it out, no cry, minimal cry, comfort, etc.  Cry it out is not for us, absolutely not, however I don't think it is possible to avoid crying all together. We can't control her naps or schedule during the day at daycare so we try and keep things as consistent as possible in the afternoon. 

Our "process"-

1. Playtime, floor time, practice scooting, standing, and sitting
2. Dinner time (starting solids mini post coming soon!)
3. Bath time otherwise known as "daddy time", I'm not sure if R loves it but I think it's his thing
4. Bedtime story and quiet time
5. Either she gets a bottle or we nurse and then it's off to sleep

That's the easy part.  She has learned to take some comfort from dad in the form of rocking and bouncing.  Now when she wakes up we let her cry for about 3-5 minutes and very occasionally she will put herself back to sleep.  Then we go in and make a "shhh" sound while rubbing her tummy and chest for comfort.  After another 3-5 min if she is still upset or if she gets uncontrollable (with the screaming) then we start all over again with some rocking, bouncing, or nursing.  She still wakes up twice at night to feed which is fine with me.  Once we get her back to sleep we try and put her back in the bassinet.  So far we do this process several times a night and she is sleeping for longer periods on her own! 

Things that we find helpful:

• using a humidifer, it prevent stuffiness so she doesn't wake up unable to breathe
• warming her bed and blanket with a heating pad and removing it before we lay her down
• A Miracle blanket, it's a swaddle that she can't break out of.  We don't use it on her legs in favor of footed pjs.
• Prayer

I'm not sure if this is part of a developmental milestone, teething, or the beginnings of separation anxiety but I'm hoping we can help her through this hurdle. For now, some nights are better than others but we are surviving.