Sleep training, night two

We see a lot of this. Hopefully when night wakings aren't a problem,
we'll see more smiles!

Let's start by saying, neither of my girls have proven to be good sleepers in the first year of life. I was consistently up with Gracelyn once or twice a night when she was a baby, and now the same with Jemma. Comparatively, though, the situations are very different. Gracelyn's weight started falling off the growth chart by the time she was 4 months. Though we didn't know something was wrong with her health until she turned a year, I still felt guilty about depriving her of food. So, I kept feeding her during the night.


Jemma's weight is fine. Although she is still on the small side on the charts, she has maintained appropriate growth and our pediatrician is convinced that her 1-year labs will prove her health. Therefore, sleep training continues!


Night 2 (March 26):


Brad rocked Jemma to sleep to enter the night. We don't mind that right now. My main concern is middle of the night wakings. Plus, I don't think I could handle sleep training for two naps per day, bedtime AND mid-night wakings!


3:39 a.m.--Wow! I really got an extra couple hours sleep from her normal waking around 1:30-2 a.m. I felt good enough not to be crabby as I implemented Ferber's Method, beginning with a 5-minute wait.


3:44 a.m.--I went into Jemma's bedroom to settle her down. Stayed a couple minutes and went back to bed. The intensity of her cries increased as I left, and she immediately stood back up. On to the 7-minute wait.


3:53 a.m.--She was still crying, though not as bad as when I left before. I soothe, leave and listen to increased crying. Toward the end of the 10-minute period, she starts to settle.


4:05 a.m.--I still have to go in to soothe. She settles quickly, and is basically asleep before I get back in bed. I start the 12-minute clock, but don't need to. Aside from a few whimpers, she's asleep!


*The second night's intervals were: 5, 7, 10 and then continual 12 intervals as needed. We improved our wake-time from night one's 45 minutes to 30 minutes. Amazing!


See also: Intro and Night One