Sleep training is a difficult thing to do.
Right now we’re doing just that with Emilia and, as with everything else, it’s giving us some mixed results. Some nights she can go down and sleep easily and give us four hour stints and be very easy to settle again once she wakes up.
She’s recently moved into her own room into a big girl cot so it’s a huge couple of changes for her to handle at once. Throw sleep training into the mix as well and it’s a little bit of a recipe for disaster, or major success depending on how it goes.
There are so many different ways to sleep train your babies but we’re using the same method we used with Rupert all those many months ago – Lucy Wolfe – The Baby Sleep Solution’. Her sleep training method works by getting your baby up by no later than 7.30am, then you put them to sleep after two hours of them being up again. It’s restrictive to your plans in the day but it’s supposed to teach them a routine that then sees them sleep better at night.
It’s not an exact science and some days we don’t get it quite right, but right now, being stuck in tier two, it’s a bit easier to plan our days around Emi’s naps than anything else.
However, as with last night, some nights just plain suck. Nothing we tried was working. We followed all of the naps through the day and she slept really well in all of them, then we started her bedtime routine on time and put her down nicely and she drifted straight off.
Then she was up and screaming her head off within an hour, and nothing worked. Parents, I’m sure you’ve all been there. Where you try absolutely everything and nothing works. You burp them, you feed them, change them, and put their dummy in (if applicable) and they still scream at you like it’s the apocalypse.
Last night it definitely seemed like the world was ending.
The problem I face is that Emi’s cries sound so sad that I can’t resist picking her up and giving her a cuddle some days – a big no-no in sleep training apparently.
You’re supposed to just stay and sing/stroke their heads and settle them without picking them up, and it’s supposed to be tough for not only the children but for parents too.
As well as the sound of Emi’s crying being heart-breaking, another problem is that she shares a wall with Rupert and I’m worried that he’ll be woken up too if I leave her to cry for too long.
I know she’ll get there, and I know it’s hard work, but she’s already given us one night of sleeping through, so we know she’s got it in her to sleep all night.
It will just take a bit of perseverance, but it worked with Rupert and he’s slept through from 10 months. We’ve started earlier with Emi so maybe we’ll get her used to it earlier too. Either that or we’ve got another four months of her waking up through the night to contend with.
Pass the Red Bull, please. (Other caffeine-infused drinks are available.)
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