Sleep Training: Update

To naysayers of sleep training, I ask you consider this. Before embarking on this parenting experiment, we were waking up every two hours to a screaming, unhappy baby, who refused to fall asleep on her own, and would wake pretty much every time you tried to put her in crib. That same baby is now back to sleeping at least 10 hours a night. Last night, she racked up 12 hours and 15 minutes. What's better is she then coo'd and amused herself in her crib for another 30 minutes after waking up.

I got nine hours of sleep last night. For the first time in a looong time. It was delicious.

It's so counter-intuitive. I never would have thought that simply moving Abbey's bedtime up from 7.30/8 to 6/6.30 and letting her put herself to sleep would have such an impact. It did. It's amazing. And though the early bedtime is tough on days when both Scott and I are working outside the house and getting home at 5. We feel like we barely get to see her. It's well worth it. the new bonus is that we get more time together as a couple these days. That's nice. This week, we've watched two movies together. Movies! I remember those. Abbey also falls to sleep with a lot more ease at night these days. We still have those evenings once in a while when there is protest crying, but it's nothing like before.

We'll revisit nap training in the next month or two. I've been keeping track of her napping patterns, and she's definitely starting to fall into a bit of a routine on her own. I'm hoping to extend these 30 minute naps into hour long naps. Wishful thinking?

Here's my bottom line with the whole sleep training bit. Yeah, it sucks to hear your baby cry. But to see her sleep through the night is wonderful. She's happier. I'm getting rest, so I'm happier. Because, as the tacky country-kitsch signs always say, "If Momma Ain't Happy, Ain't Nobody Happy."

Isn't that the truth.