Baby Sleep - My 6 Mnths+ Baby Is Now Sleeping Through The Night
But I had to change tactics. Big style.
In this sleep post from March, I shared what our sleep 'big picture' was and concluded that it is just fine, I could cope with it as it did not hugely disrupt my day. Well, that big picture changed drastically when Coco decided that she was no longer keen on day time naps, would wake up what felt like every hour or two for food, refuse to be put down to sleep (she would wake up just as quickly as I put her down, crawl back to me on the bed and lay her head on me), and displayed other such disruptive sleep habits.
I had to resort to putting her in the sling on my back and bringing her around the flat with me, after her night time routine, just so I could get stuff done. Things were getting out of hand is what I quickly realised. I was tired (for other reasons too, but this was not helping) and miserable, and I knew she could not be well rested either. I threw my hands in the air and decided something needed to change - I moved her into a cot in a separate room.
Drum roll... she is now sleeping through the night, a feat she had not managed up until now. I am all smiling, all dancing and most importantly all-night sleeping these days - it feels good.
10 Things I've learnt now that we seem to have cracked the (previously elusive) night time sleep:
- I should maybe have moved her out even sooner. I thought the transition would be long and drawn out. I thought it would involve a lot of crying-it-out, which I do not have the heart for, but as you can see from below, it's been easier than expected, for her.
- I am the traumatised one! The first night, I could not sleep. I made all these jokes about how I was free now to my Husband, but then closer to bed time I felt like I had lost a limb. It was so hard for me to just let go, relax and sleep. I was so relieved when she cried at 5am and happily declared that that was enough for one night and brought her into bed.
- I expected to have to battle with her waking for a feed, with me having to insist on not giving her one half-way through the night. I have not had that problem, so far.
- She has dropped a nap time. These days (even before I moved her), she has one nap at about 8am and another at mid day for about two hours (if I am lucky), and then no further naps. I think she does get tired by about 3/4pm, but really fights it. If we are out, she may sleep for under an hour in the pram, but if we're home, it's a struggle, especially in her room. By the time its 5pm, I don't want her to sleep because it's so close to night time, but she has conked out a few times, so night time routine is pushed back.
- I think the amount of food she has in the last 2/3 hours before she goes down for her night time sleep makes a difference. The more she has, the later in the morning she is likely to wake up, it seems.
- I am finding that where before a feed after bath was part of the night time routine, but I would put her down drowsy or sometimes awake and she would either cry or play or simply fall asleep depending on how tired she was. These days, she is quite resistant to me putting her down in the room and walking away and she pulls herself up and just stands in the cot, leaning on the rail, which makes me incredibly nervous. So I am now letting her feed to sleep.
- Her diaper stays more or less dry all through because she is no longer feeding during the night. When she would wake up to feed a number of times during the night, I made sure to change her at least once, so we wouldn't have a leakage.
- If this can happen for me, it can happen for any Mum and baby. The first time I put her in the cot was the first time we had not slept in the same room since she was born. And in less than a week, she no longer wakes up.
- For now, there is no real pattern yet, in terms of how many hours a night she sleeps everyday. So we are not into a proper routine yet.
- This may not be a perfect happy ending baby -sleep story, although I would love it if it is, but there may be some more changes/surprises along the way for us. Regardless, I am happy with the change. Now, I only need to start relaxing and getting a good night sleep - instead of staring at the monitor, which is literarily next to my head on the pillow.
Her sleep diary, if you're interested, from first day I moved her into her room.
Day 1
7:20pm Put her to sleep in cot. She cries.
7:30pm I go in to check on her and sing her a few lullabies and then leave. She cries a little bit more
7:40pm She's asleep
12am She wakes up, for food and then goes back to sleep
3am Wakes up for food then goes back to sleep
5am Wakes up again, I concede that we've done well and bring into our bed and she has food ad sleeps
Day 3
5pm Goes down for a nap
7pm wakes up from nap, fed and bathed
9pm has food and I attempt to put her down. She cries and screams for over 15 min. I give in and pick her up
10:30pm Plays up until she looks sleepy and started falling asleep on my chest. Put her down to sleep in her cot, falls asleep no problem
8am Wakes up!
Day 4
6pm Goes to bed
8pm Wakes up for food and then plays
10:30pm Has more food and then put into cot for bed
7:30am Wake up
Day 5
7pm Goes to bed
5:30am Wake up
Day 6
6:30pm Goes to sleep
3am I see that she's awake and looking around (via the monitor). She moves around a little in the cot, plays with her blankie and then maybe five minutes, she put her head back down and went back to sleep. This makes me feel better about the feeding to sleep - she is capable of self soothing, already.
9am Wake up
That's where we are with sleep just now. I am under no illusion that this moving baby to a different room technique will be possible or work for every mum and baby, but if you have the option it could be worth a try? I do know Coco is a very light sleeper, as am I, and also that she thrives on consistency, so perhaps these two factors have helped and maybe timing too. Previously, I had her sleeping in the same bed as me. Whereas now, I put her in the gro bag, take her into her room, put on the white noise, and I think she expects sleep to be next on the list and does just that after her feed.
How are you guys doing? How are you feeling about sleep with your baby? Hope you're enjoying the long weekend.
Happy Saturday
B
image: me with Coco in a sling, one desperate evening during the sleep battles.
Baby Sleep - My 6 Mnths+ Baby Is Now Sleeping Through The Night
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