Raising little ones is definitely a challenge, what took 5 minutes now takes 45 minutes, so parents need their well-deserved sleep. The challenge is to remind yourself to resist the short-term solutions at long-term expenses. In a nutshell, consistent sleep routine leads to happier, more responsible, and better-adjusted children. I do believe and agree that some crying is natural and healthy for babies. I've notice that Charlotte has three different types of cries: whining, crying, and whaling. Whining is the best sign that she's tired and trying her best to soothe herself to sleep. I usually leave her alone. Crying is where I had to resist myself from holding my child. I would check in every 5, 10 and then 15 min. I never touched her during this stressful time, since that only seem to tease her. I did however let her know I would be nearby and quickly left her room. After 30 minutes, if my child was still crying she was most likely at the whaling stage. Thats when I call it a day and picked her up, told her how great she did and that we'll try again tomorrow. This is where I was different from the book. The "crying it out" method can be benifical but "whaling it out" was too much. Honestly, Charlotte was such a good sport that she didn't cry for more than 10-15 min. and only "whaled" cried once on the first day of sleep training.
These were the two books that I read during my pregnancy to guide me for whats to come. The first book, "The Sleep Easy Solution" by Jennifer Waldburger and Jill Spivack was given to me as a gift from my friend Jennifer Conlon who had twins. This book gives you step by step examples and really educates you in all the different sleeping challenges your child may have till the age of 5. The program takes 5 days and asks to drop an 1 oz/day but since Charlotte was starting early instead of the recommended 5 months, I decided to design a custom schedule that fit my daughter at 2.5 months. The second book, "Bringing up Bebe" by Pamela Druckerman was a book that challenged and inspired me. Druckerman decides to raise her family in France and discovers that French parents have their little ones sleeping through the night at two or three months old while those of her American friends take a year or more. French kids eat well-rounded meals that are more likely to include braised leeks than chicken nuggets. And while her American friends spend their visits resolving spats between their kids, her French friends sip coffee while the kids play. I am convinced that children are educated and taught to be well behaved and the first step to successfully accomplishing that was to discipline myself with consistency, boundaries, and love. Still working on that...
I've attached my sleep and feed schedule that I've made for my daughter Charlotte. I'm currently breastfeeding her and I've heard that breast milk is easily digested than formula milk, hence the baby will get hungry quicker. So for her 7:00 pm feeding before bedtime, I would mix half breast milk and the other half formula. My logic to that if any was... full baby = happy baby = sleeping baby.
Charlotte's bedtime check list
1. Bathe her
2. Feed her in the dark (formula and breast milk)
3. Sleep her in crib
Please note that what worked for me may not work for you. I read these book as a guide and used what I felt was age-appropriate for my 2.5 month daughter. Hope this helps out a little or at least have assurance that you are doing a fabulous job. The mere fact that you would take the time to read this blog shows that you care and that's what really counts. Good Luck!!!
