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.

Sleep Sense Night 2

After the night before, I wasn't sure what we would be in for last night but we stuck with the routine (and our guns) and it seems to be getting better.
We started her bedtime routine at 7:20pm and she was in bed by 7:40pm. She cried for 10 minutes and was asleep. I thought I had hit the jackpot but of course, nothing is that easy around here. She woke up at 8:30pm and started to cry. I was starting to get the kids ready for bed and her crying was getting worse. After getting the kids in bed, i went in to find Don rocking her..... of course she was crying!
Once, I had her settled and routine done over again, I was able to put her down awake, she cried for 10 minutes and slept until 2:30am.
I waited 10 minutes to see if she would fall back asleep on her own but she didn't so after a quick feed and put back down awake, she wined once and was asleep until 7:30am when the kids got up and woke her up.
I'm still torn as to what to do in the middle of the night. Should I be giving her a quick feed or try to cut it out?
I know she doesn't "need" the feed and will continue to wake up for it if I let her but right now I'm just happy that she isn't up for 2 hours in the middle of the night, that i really don't mind if she is back out within 15 minutes.
I know I will have t cut it out at some time but just trying to focus on getting her to fall asleep on her own in general right now.
She is cranky this morning so I know she didn't get enough sleep last night. I'm going to move up her bedtime to 7pm tonight and see if she can get an extra hour or so in before the kids wake her up again tomorrow.
But all in all, it was a pretty good night.

Sleep Sense Night 1

So, I have decided to try the Sleep Sense program. It is similar to what I have been already doing but eliminating the sleep props like nursing and rocking Isabella to sleep and teaching her to fall asleep on her own at bedtime and in the night.
I was in the middle of reading the program when it was her bedtime so I did a few of the tips that I had already read at bedtime to see how it would go.
Let's just say, it didn't go well at all.
In the end, she cried for 2 hours before she fell asleep. I do go in and check on her every 20 minutes as I can't fathom the thought of just leaving her until morning. I'm glad I did too cause she had 2 poopy diapers before she fell asleep. Lexi used to do the same thing, i swear she did it on purpose.
So once she was asleep, I did a big mommy no no and checked on her. Of course, she woke up and I wanted to die. I know I should have learned from last time but I wanted to make sure she wasn't cold. She is crawling all over and pulling herself up to standing so I can't put her in a sleep sack (although, now that I look back, maybe i should so she will stay down)
So, of course the crying started again and I caved. I nursed her and she was out.
She slept for 5 hours and was up at 3:30am. I went in, nursed her and put her down awake and the crying started again. Again, I went in every 20 minutes and I'm not sure how much longer she cried but I fell asleep at 5am. But she did fall asleep so that's a good thing.
I finished reading the program this morning so have some more info on what to do in the nights going forward.
I know she is not going to go quietly in this process but I am more then done.
I am going to make a few changes tonight and see how it goes.
I'm going to try putting her down earlier then I have been and doing a longer bedtime routine to settle her down instead of her playing then pow, it's bedtime. I'm going to nurse her but put her down awake and take it from there.
Please pray this doesn't take too long and that our sweet stubborn little girl gets the hint that Mommy can not do this anymore.

Nights 20+

I have blogged lately cause there hasn't really been anything to blog about. Every night is the same.
I put her down, she wakes up, she cries, we are up for hours, she falls asleep, I put her down, I close the door, she wakes up and cries.
It's been the same thing every night and I'm at a total loss and totally exhausted. I can't even describe how tired I am.
I was reading an email last night from a sleep program that has been trying to get me to get their program but I thought if I just kept doing what I was doing, it would get better.
In the email, it talked about insanity.
Did you know that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over but expecting different results?
So it's official! I AM INSANE!
This was an uh-huh moment for me. This is exactly what I have been doing for the past 3 weeks.
So, I finally bought the Sleep Sense Program, read most of it last night and started our journey... again.
It is alot of what I have been already doing but with this I need to eliminate the sleep props that I use with her and teach her how to fall asleep on her own.
I know we are going to have some rough nights but honestly, we've had a rough 3 weeks already, I don't think another week or 2 weeks will kill me.... or maybe it will ;0)
I guess we will find out.......