LETS BE HONEST - ABOUT SLEEPING BABIES

Yessssss! Me - congratulating myself on another sleeping baby success story. Finally. 

It took me nine looooong months to kick my habits of mid-night rocking sessions to let baby O learn to sleep through the night. (that was a mouth full... go back and re-read it slowly if that helps.) And it has taken me an entire YEAR to let him learn how to nap by himself. Because lets be honest, the reason he's been a crummy sleeper is two fold.
 1. He inherited Kday's genetically crappy sleep skills.
 2. I babied him, I encouraged poor sleep habits.
       a) because it was easier in the beginning
       b) because I liked snuggling him

 Any who, I've learned a lot about baby sleep habits and parenting techniques over the past 15 months and it is as follows.

 Sday's Facts on Sleeping Babies: 

1. Sleep is a necessity - however napping and sleeping on a schedule is a learned behavior. Babies don't come from the womb with the skills to consolodate sleep during the night and how to fall asleep when tired during the day. It is a parents job to teach a baby how to develop healthy sleep patterns.

 2. Yes sleep training is more work in the beginning... but it is soooo worth it. (not just for mom's sanity, but studies show ADHD is often a common occurance in children with poor sleep habits.) No, it's not bad to rock your baby to sleep or whatever other habits you get into in order to induce sleep... but - understand that they're not going to suddenly figure out how to nap alone and consistently.  Sleep props always come back to bite ya.

3. It is hard to sleep train a baby no matter their age. However, young babies don't "come with bad habits" so there's no time frame in which you have to spend breaking habits before teaching new ones. Also, young babies have shorter endurance levels. So they don't cry as long - if Crying It Out is the technique you're using.

 4. There are many different techniques - just as there are many different babies. I USED TO BE 100% CERTAIN that CONSISTENCY was the ONLY factor in teaching a child to sleep. Not so. Finding the right technique for mom and baby is JUST AS IMPORTANT as CONSISTENCY. But you can't have one without the other - or else you'll fail.

 5. White noise machine = every mother should be handed one the minute they walk out of the hospital. Can you say NECESSITY AND MIRACLE WORKER.

 5. FOLLOW your intuition. Sometimes a baby isn't ready to be sleep trained until a later age (hello... Owen) or they're really sensitive and can't tolerate the "Cry It Out method" and need something like the "Pick up put down" method. Other times at a very young age a baby will only thrive if they have a VERY consistant schedule (hello... Layla) And sometimes you'll just get lucky with a baby who loves their crib and loves to sleep and they never cry about sleep, unless you wake them up before 9am (hello.... Rider)

 Owen has successfully been sleeping 12 hours at night without waking and he is now napping out of my arms and in his own crib. Twice a day now I get to have a 1.5 hour break from my little toe-head boy and it has opened up a whole new world of opportunities. Like doing crafts with Layla, making dinner, doing my makeup, reading books to Rider... the possibilities are endless. Motherhood is a CONSTANT state of metamorphosis and I think it's our nature to want to fight the change... but I'm learning to enjoy the ride and without focusing on the outcome. Just enjoying the miracle of growth, change, maturity, physical state and life.