Sleep Sense - Sleep Training

10 days ago, just before Dom turned 4 months old, we decided to give sleep training another try. (We tried a month ago, but that was at the start of a sleep regression so it didn't go so well. We didn't last long).

There are so many different methods and recommendations out there, and I've read a lot about them. Different things work for different people/families, but the Sleep Sense Program seems to be what works best for us and Dom. I am also using some aspects from the "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" book by Dr. Marc Weissbluth. 

Why now? Dominic used to sleep 6-7 hours straight at night, but the last month has been up every 3.5 hours (like clockwork - predictable within three minutes every time), but not because he's hungry. When I feed him he lazily eats until he starts falling asleep again. He even makes it during the day longer than 3.5 hours between feeds, so I know he's not hungry! We think he was just waking up at the end of every sleep cycle and realizing his soother was gone. The only thing to soothe him back to sleep would be me. 

Of course if he is hungry I am more than happy to get up to feed him. This is not sleep training to get him to sleep through the night necessarily, as he's still little and growing and may not be able to just yet. It is just training him to learn to fall asleep on his own. Never too young to learn good habits!

What is Sleep Sense? Sleep Sense is a program written by Dana Obleman. It's not cry it out (CIO), but there generally will be some crying. It is all about teaching your little one to self-soothe so that when they wake up at the end of every sleep cycle they can go back to sleep on their own without parental intervention. Eliminating "sleep props" (nursing to sleep, rocking to sleep, car rides, lullabies, cuddling baby to sleep, co-sleeping, pacifier, etc.) For us, this means eliminating the soother at bed time. How do you do that? Simple... put baby down in the crib without the soother. 
Well... that of course is going to cause protest! 

About a month ago we implemented a good nap/bedtime routine that seems to work well. He is on a pretty regular nap/sleep schedule, and is never awake more than 2 hours at a time. By schedule, I mean I follow his cues and get him ready for a nap when he is getting drowsy instead of over-tired. 

One drowsy sign! :O

Our routine upon noticing drowsy signs:
1. Calmly pick Dom up and bring him upstairs repeating "It's nap-time/sleep-time". 
2. Place Dom on the change pad and change him if necessary (putting on PJ's and new diaper)
3. Hand him his teddy-bear to snuggle
4. Read two books. Lately I've been doing "British Columbia Lullaby" or "Go Dogs Go" and "Goodnight Moon" (always ending on Goodnight Moon). It may seem silly reading to a 3 or 4 month old, but no matter how fussy or tired he is, he always lights up when I start reading to him. He's most often looking at me instead of the book and starts smiling and interrupting my reading/singing with his own input. It's pretty adorable how excited he seems to get about it. 
5. At the end of Goodnight Moon I pick him up for a quick cuddle and say, "Goodnight Dom, and goodnight Mom." and then turn off the lamp, walk over and turn on his sound machine. 
6. If he's going down for the night, I will feed him in the nursery, but be sure not to let him fall asleep while nursing!
7. Still awake, I'll go calmly place him in his crib (he sleeps on his tummy) with his stuffy close by, and his knitted blanket on him. 

I have set a personal "time limit" for letting him cry before going to check on him (I should add we have a video monitor, so he's not completely unsupervised). Maybe I have thick skin, but I am willing to let him cry for 10-15 minutes before going in to check on him. 

On Day 1, Dominic didn't cry for more than 10 minutes for any of his naps or bedtime. 
Day 4 Dominic woke up 4 hours after being put to bed, and Dave went in and patted his back, and eventually he fell back asleep and slept for another 4 hours!
Day 5 Dominic started sucking his fingers, which started to make things a little easier. 
By Day 6,  Dom went down with no fussing and slept straight for 6.5 hours! 20 minutes later he PUT HIMSELF TO SLEEP!!! However, 10 minutes after that he was awake again so I went and fed him, put him back to bed, and he slept another 5.5 hours until 7:45 am. This felt like a major breakthrough for us. 

By Day 9 or 10, Dom has started putting himself to sleep by sucking his fingers every nap and bedtime. I'll take it! He is up maybe once per night to feed, but he did go one night (a week or so in) where he went 11 hours between feeds! 

This is such a relief! He really seems happier since he's getting better sleep, and is more confident in his crib. He will occasionally fuss a bit when I first put him down, but will ultimately settle himself most times.

The days are still up and down, but over-all I feel like we've made some amazing progress, and will continue to work hard at it! The longest he has ever cried/fussed is 38 minutes on and off, and that was in the middle of the night when he wanted me to come rescue him, but we stuck it out and comforted him and he eventually went back to sleep. 

Wish us luck as we continue our sleep training! It's never over, we've just had a few days of great success!