Sleep training - one month later

Say cheese!

I have a confession to make. Up until one month ago when we began our 'sleep training', I was still nursing Caleb to sleep. Nursing or sometimes bouncing, but either Alan or I stayed with him until he was sound asleep. This doesn't sound like the worst thing a parent could do but stopping this habit was essential to the progress we've made on the sleep front. The great news is, we have made progress and A LOT of it! I've achieved and surpassed my dream of sleeping for a 3 hour stretch and I consistently get 5,6, 7 hour stretches so I truly feel like I'm over the hump of the exhaustion that comes with a newborn (or a one year old in my case).

I now put Caleb in his crib drowsy, but still awake, after going through our night routine and he is able to sleep from 7-5 without waking. If he does wake, he can put himself back to sleep like a pro. He will sometimes wake and fuss for a few minutes, but it rarely amounts to anything more than some moaning. If he does really start to cry, we go in for a quick back rub and then let him cry for a few minutes until he is back to sleep.

We have yet to get the full 12 hour sleep, and I admit that when he wakes up at 5, I have been bringing him into bed with me to sleep until 7. This isn't ideal and I know I'll need to deal with this another way soon, but it seems to make the most sense at 5 am when I'm desperate for a couple more hours of sleep. For the first few weeks, this didn't lead to him waking up earlier each night, but this weekend he woke up at 3 then 2, so I feel like it is time to deal with this so we don't slip back too much. I should really start either nursing him in his room, letting him cry for a few days until he sleeps longer or just getting up with him at 5. None of these options sound overly appealing, but I will have to try something soon. I don't mind feeding him once at 5, but he seems to feed for at least half an hour in the morning and I'm reluctant to give up sleep at that hour of the day....which is why he ends up in back in bed with us. I feel like I was misled into thinking that once your baby began sleeping well, they would just continue to sleep well, but in actuality it is something you always need to keep on top of. Alan and I can't let our guards down yet!

All in all, I would say we've made amazing progress on the sleep front. We actually have evenings to ourselves, and I feel much more rested. Things are not 100% where I want them to be yet, but I still feel like we are doing great, especially compared to where we were a month ago.

My parents were in town this weekend and we went to see Tyvonn play hockey. Cale, of course, found a broom at the rink and my dad took this great shot (the other photos are from him, too)

Although brooms are still unquestionably his favorite thing, Cale has found a new household item to play with and he even developed a new party trick we like to call 'vacuum lips'.