Friday, June 18, 2010

family friday: sleep training

We've been a co-sleeping family. I started co-sleeping with Hadley when she was brand new to facilitate nursing to simply keep my sanity. I was tired. And it was easy to nurse and fall back to sleep without dealing with waking her.

We've done quite a bit of moving around before landing in our own home that we purchased here in Minnetonka. Our last move was out of our rented condo in South Orange County and into my mothers home for three months while we waited for Hayden.

Prior to our move, Hadley was finally sleeping in her room, in her crib with a couple of wake ups at night. Right before we moved, she climbed out of her pack n' play and after witnessing attempts of her trying to escape her crib, we decided to take it down and move her into a big girl bed. Which ended up being a challenge considering we had two moves ahead of us and a new baby about to join our brood. Sleeping in our household was survival.

Last Saturday marked one week in Minnesota and we felt Hadley was understanding that this house is home enough to start sleep training... Again.

And so it began.

I was thinking that since we were sleep training one, we should sleep train both. But the crying hasn't been what I thought it would be, so in an effort to get Hadley to sleep train, I try to keep Hayden quiet and calm, versus letting her scream in her bed (yes, I will let her fuss, but if she isn't going towards sleep, I grab her). So, hopefully because we have slept Hayden in her bed for the most part from the get go, sleep training wont be a big deal when she is a little older.

So, the method I am using is one I saw on Super Nanny. Basically, I put Hadley in bed. Tuck her in. Say night nights and I love you's. And I leave the room. When she gets up, I calmly take her hand, walk her (sometimes I have to carry her) back to bed and say tell her it's night night time. I do this with the second pop up. After two pop ups, I don't speak to her, just put her back in bed. Generally after two or three more pop ups, she falls off to sleep.

But the last two nights have been different. Hadley has suffered from sleep terrors, which doctor told me was not uncommon with all the change. She had one night before last and last night she just woke up and some how ended up in bed with us (wonder how that happened, daddy?).

So now the challenge... How do we train her to stay in bed without waking the baby?

She is such a stubborn kid. She was whipped last night, but was trying to play as her eyes rolled up in her head.

Any advise for the tired parents?

4 comments:

  1. there's a tape called Spinoza: Dream on the Water..it may only be available on cassette though, sorry..it's a great little tape to help them fall asleep..very soothing...told in a "Fairylike" voice..it may work..good luck

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  2. How do you feel about lying in bed with her until she falls asleep? Modified co-sleeping? The big risk is that you will fall asleep before she does and find yourself still in her bed in the morning!

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  3. Nell - that is exactly the problem. Fortunaltely, we bought a king sized bed, so when we give in late night we all fit more comfortably.

    I'll give Spinozaa a looksie.

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  4. Great call on getting the king-sized bed! Or how about getting her a cat to sleep with?!

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