Aaahhh... sleep

If you are an avid reader of my blog, you may recall that at Maya's 2-month appointment the doc told her, quite plainly, that she was to start sleeping through the night within the next 2 months. Of course, this was more my responsibility than hers, but it was nice to not feel like I was the one he was pressuring.

My instructions were simple: feed her less and less each night until eventually I don't feed her at all. Just give her a binkie and quietly leave, and soon she will not wake at all. My thoughts were something to this effect: Yeah right! She will cry all night! But I guess that's the point?

So I started trying it. And you know what? It was hard not to give her full feedings! Usually I would get distracted because I bring my phone with me so that I will stay awake. So I tried stop taking my phone. Then I would fall asleep. But about a week ago I decided it was time to get tough on myself since her next appointment is rapidly approaching.

I took my phone, but I was much more attentive to the clock. Her feedings were getting shorter and she wasn't crying! After one particular night, I told Ryan that when I went in to get her up to feed, her eyes never opened. That was somewhat intriguing to me, and I told Ryan that I thought she was almost ready to go without eating.

That night she woke up at 12:30 AM (she goes down at 8 PM). I got up and thought, "Let's do this." I gave her a binkie and left. She fell asleep without a peep. She woke up again at 2:45 AM. I was feeling gung-ho about my new game and tried it again. She fell asleep again without a peep! She woke up again at 4:00 AM. By now I knew I was just playing with fire, but I had to keep trying. She did it again! She finally woke up at 7:00 AM, her normal waking time for the day. I was so excited!! The next night we tried it again, and she only woke up once, and promptly fell back to sleep after I gave her the binkie. The next night was the same. And last night she slept all night without waking up until 6:20 AM.

(That last paragraph would drive Ryan nuts - way too many details!! Ha!)

Now I hate to jinx my awesome luck, but I feel confident in saying that Maya can now sleep through the night! And it was SO easy to do! (I just knocked on wood.)

I wish upon a star that all of our babies are that easy to sleep train!