Sleep Training Zander
What plan are you following? We are following the Taking Cara Babies ABC's of Sleep course.
What sleep sack are you using? Kyte Baby Sleep Sack
What age did you start? 5 Months
What is his feeding schedule like? He is eating between 25-30 oz of milk during the day + a morning oatmeal + puree at lunch + oatmeal at night. He typically takes a bottle every 2.5-3.5 hours.
What are you doing for naps? Right now we are still rocking / feeding to sleep. He is held for most of his naps because the snuggles are too good and I'm not quite ready to give them up. The course recommends sticking to your normal schedule with naps for at least the first 14 days of sleep training. Once they master night sleep, nap training becomes easier. We will introduce nap training in the next fews days.
How did you stop night feedings? The course actually instructs you on how to drop/wean night feedings. We dropped them cold turkey because I was keeping track of the ounces he ate during the day and knew he was getting enough. He was waking up 2-3 times a night before we started sleep training. He only took a bottle to be soothed back to sleep, not because he was hungry. He would never eat more than an ounce and fall right back asleep. That is because he didn't know how to put himself back to sleep. NOW HE DOES. The beauty of sleep training. This may not be the case for every baby. Ask your doctor how much your baby should be eating in a day and track how much they eat during the day so they have filled those calories.
What time do you put him down now vs. sleep training? He goes down between 7-8pm. He was going down anywhere from 8-10 pm before sleep training. I hated not having a schedule and just guessing if he was going to stay asleep once we put him down. It was a bit unnerving.
Is it possible to be successful at this program if your child doesn't take a pacifier? Yes, absolutely! I think Cara recommends a pacifier but you definitely don't have to have one for your baby to learn sleep. Zander actually spits his out as soon as we lay him down, falls asleep without it, and doesn't use it all night long. He's never been a big Paci boy!
What is your routine before bed? We usually have oatmeal at 5:30 and then go for a walk as a family. We start bath time anywhere between 6-6:20. From there, it's jammies, book, bottle, sing, pray, swaddle, bed.
How did you know when to start? The ABC's of Sleep course starts for babies that are 5 months old. She has courses for newborn and 3-4 months as well.
Does Zander take a pacifier? Every once in a while he flirts with the idea of the pacifier and it does settle his nerves sometimes. For the most part, he doesn't care too much for the pacifier. He likes the Ryan and Rose pacis to use as teethers.
How long did you let him fuss before checking in? The course will explain the wait periods, how long and what to do when they are over. You initially only wait 5 minutes and then check-in on them if they are upset. It increases to 10 minutes and then caps at 15 minutes. The first night he was upset, with us standing outside of the door and checking in every 15 minutes, for about 2 hours. It was a really rough night but we were prepared for that and it helped. I cried more than he did. Hehe
How did you prepare to start sleep training? I did my research, talked to friends, took the ABC's of Sleep course, and prayed. We had the hardest time with Zander's sleep since the day he was born. It's been difficult on all of us. Talk to your doctor about sleep training as well.
Does TCB give tips transitioning from co-sleeping to sleep training? Yes! Check out her instagram highlights and blog. She talks about safe sleep and transitioning.
How long did you use the snoo? We only used the snoo a few times. If you've been around for a while I'm sure you remember the swaddle saga. Zander HATED the swaddle. We tried and tried... and tried. We ended up back in the nested bean sleep sack. If I told you how many sleep sacks / swaddles I've tried with this child... you wouldn't believe me. That is a story for another day. Due to the fact that he wouldn't swaddle down, he hated the snoo. I was okay with him not taking to it because I honestly didn't want him dependent on the movement. I wanted him to be able to sleep in a still bed.
How do you know if he's waking because he's hungry vs. needing to go back to sleep? I keep track of how many ounces he eats during the day so I know that he is eating enough, if not more than enough, to be able to comfortably sleep through the night. If there is a day that he doesn't eat enough, the plan is to wake him for a dream feed. That hasn't happened yet. Cara also talks about that.
Would you have started sooner? This course is meant to begin at 5 months. If you have a newborn, I definitely recommend her newborn course. It helps you get to this point much easier than our journey.
How did he do his first night? He actually did better than I expected. He was upset for about 2 hours. We initially laid him on his back when we put him to bed. It finally dawned on me that he HATES sleeping on his back. Let me preface this by saying that I am NOT encouraging you to allow your baby to sleep in any position other than their back. Doctors recommend that babies sleep on their back and I support that. With that being said, we have the Newton Baby Mattress that is 100% breathable (code TANNER50 for $50 off). That is the ONLY reason that I allow Zander to sleep on his tummy. The minute I flipped him over on his tummy.... he was out. The second night we laid him down on his back and he was upset for about an hour. We came in and turned him on his tummy and he was out. Night 3 to night 14 (where we currently are) we have put him into his crib on his tummy and have had zero issues with him putting himself to sleep. I would not feel comfortable doing that without that mattress. In fact, we go on vacation at the end of next month and are bringing our Newton Baby Mattress.
What does his nap schedule look like? Right now he is waking up around 6 am. His first nap is usually from 8-9:30 am. Second nap at 12:30. Third, and last, nap at 3. This varies every day depending on how long each nap lasts and what time he woke up.
What is your biggest piece of advice in this journey? Have a support system. Chandler has to reassure me that we were doing the right thing 100 times that first night. I wanted to give up every time I heard him get upset. Someone put it into perspective for me. They said "This is the best gift that you can give your child, the gift of sleep." That helped me push through and know that this was for him. He has been so much happier and content during the day since we started sleep training.
Is it really worth it? 100000%! Sleep training has literally changed our lives. I mean that. It was the best decision we ever made.