Almost A Year Later

So, it has been almost a year since I started to sleep train Isabella. 

Reading back through this blog, I can't believe that we all actually lived through that rough time. 

Things have been better but not perfect. 

We have been sticking with the same routine for awhile now with some tweaking and she now goes to bed with no issues at all. 

Although, she is still waking up in the night, usually once or twice a night and it's becoming really old really fast. 

So, I'm looking into re-training her again. 

I haven't had a good night sleep in a VERY LONG time and it's starting to get to me. 

So, once we have a plan in place, I'll be back blogging about our journey to Sleeping Through The Night!  

Sleep Sense Sucsess... I Hope!

It's been a week since I last checked in but it seems like we have made our way to Dreamland... for the most part.
Isabella has been doing really well with our new routine. I did find that her natural bedtime was around 10pm so instead of letting her cry for 1 or 2 hours, we just started putting her to bed at 10pm and she would cry for maybe a couple of minutes before she was out. And lately, she has moved her bedtime up to 8:30/9pm so I actually get some alone time before going to bed.
For the most part, she is crying anywhere from 2 minutes to 15 minutes before falling asleep but there has been a night or 2 where it has been longer but nothing that we can't handle.
She is still waking up in the night for a feed but every night except for one the other night, she is right back to sleep until morning.
So, it seems like things are going well but I've learned nothing is ever certain so to just take it one night at a time and appreciate every hour of sleep I can get.
Thank you for supporting me in this journey and I will update as time and progress goes on :0)

Sleep Sense Night 7

I can't believe that it has been a week already since we started sleep training Isabella.
It has been a crazy emotional week but we are making progress!
Last night for the 2nd night in a row, she only cried for a minute or so before falling asleep and she slept for almost 8 hours. She woke up at 5:45 and I was able to give her a quick feed and back to bed until 8:30am this morning.
I don't want to get my hopes up yet but it is sure nice not having to deal with a screaming baby for hours and hours.
So, I guess we can put another mark in the win column!

Sleep Sense Night 6

It is crazy how every single night is different from the night before. It's hard to stay consistent with times but I'm still keeping the routine the same even though she napping schedule is all over the place.
I tried putting her down for a early evening nap but she just cried so i got her up and just kept her up until bedtime.
We started out bedtime routine at 9:00pm and she was in bed by 9:15pm. I was prepared for 45 minutes of crying as her natural sleep time seems to be around 10pm but she cried for 30 seconds and was out.
I've learned to not do the happy dance cause you never know what tricks she has up her sleeve and I was totally prepared for her to wake up around 10;30pm but she didn't. She slept until 3:30am! I was able to do a quick feed and put her back down. In and out in 10 minutes! she did wake up a second time though at 5:45am but again, just a quick feed and back asleep and still sleeping at 8:30am.
So, I will mark this one in the win column!
But like I said, 2 nights are never the same so we will continue to see what goes on and hopefully she falls into a sleep routine quickly!
My goal is to be able to put her down with no or little crying around 9pm and stay asleep for the night by Saturday..... that's when Breaking Dawn comes out and I would like to be able to make a night of it :0)

Sleep Sense Night 5

So, after having a few really rough nights with trying to figure out what method works for us and trying to stick to my guns and making a few revelations about Isabella's sleep habits, I came up with a plan and stuck with it.
She seems to be a night owl and like a bedtime around 10pm. I put her down for a catnap around 6:45pm and like clockwork, she woke up 45 minutes later. I kept her up until 8:45 then started our bedtime routine. I put her down around 9:15pm seeing if she would go to sleep by of course she cried. After trying a few other methods, I have come to realize that she is going to cry and that is okay. After after 45 minutes of crying (going in to check on her and lay her back down as she keeps standing up) she fell asleep at 10pm.
After falling asleep, she slept for almost 8 hours and woke for a brief 10 minutes to eat and right back to sleep. She slept until 8:30am. That is 10 1/2 hours in a row for her!
Too bad I didn't get that much sleep as Lexi came crawling in at 3:30am with us. I guess if it's not one, it's another. Will I ever get a good night sleep again? lol

Sleep Sense Night 4

I have appreciated all the support that I have received from all of my friends and family about Miss Bella's sleep progress. It makes me feel like I am not alone in the journey and I do understand that everyone has an opinion on what works best but also understand that all babies are different.
I know i have been told (on more than one occasion) to pick a method and stick with it but it is hard to stick to your guns when you are not seeing any progress. You are always second guessing yourself while your baby is screaming away.
So last night, I decided to try something different to see if I would could make any new progress.
I decided to put her to bed like usual but just sit in her room so she knew I was there. I didn't talk to her or giver her any attention but just sat to reassure her that she wasn't alone.
She played for an hour then started to cry. I would lay her back down then sit back down. After an hour and a half, she was crying like I wasn't even in the room. While sitting there, I was going how Isabella used to sleep as a newborn because she used to sleep for 9 hours at night from 6 weeks until about 3 months old. I realized that she has always cried before going to sleep. Even when she was in her swing perfectly happy, she would always cry for about 5 minutes before falling asleep and she does it in the car as well. So I think crying is just an Isabella trait so I'm trying hard not to be scared of it or give in to it, but to just accept it.
I am also figuring out after logging her activity for the past few days that no matter what time I put her down for bed, she will cry until 10pm. I know that is late for a baby but that just seems to be her time.
Slowly but surely, I will figure this little girl out....

Sleep Sense Night 3

Considering Isabella took an hour the night before instead of the 2 hours of crying on night 1, I thought we were making some progress but I guess not.
She cried for another 2 hours last night. I feel like I'm at the end of my rope. I honestly do not know what to do. She only had 2 naps during the day. One being an hour and the other one being 30 minutes. I'm thinking this may have been what led to alot of the crying last night as well but every time I take her in her room (even just to get something) she is starting to cry.
I don't want her room to be a negative place for her but not quite sure what to do.
On a positive note, when she is waking up in the night, she has only been up for 15 minutes the past 2 nights.
I have a couple of ideas that I'm going to try tonight and we will see how they pan out. If not, I'm out of ideas.