Sleep Training

Little man is fast approaching 4 months old and it’s about time we really started sleep training. The past couple days have been pretty tough, but not as hard as I imagined. Yesterday he napped like a rockstar! We are working on a few things all at once so I do expect it to be pretty rough.

We are using the Ferber method as recommended by our pediatrician. We found this article particularly helpful. For using Ferber with naps, this article has been a godsend.

The first thing we are doing is trying to get him to sleep through the night. He still has a 3am wake up most nights. We are trying to wean him off the 3am feeding by reducing it by an ounce every few days. So far it’s going okay. Every once in a while he sleeps right through to 5 or 6am, which is okay, but not ideal.

That’s the second thing, trying to get him to sleep roughly 9pm-7am. If he could stay awake until 9pm Daddy could have some happy baby time when he gets home, often around 7pm. Right now that’s exactly when Little Man is falling asleep or being grumpy about being tired. Then if he can sleep through to 7am Mum can get up and get ready before he wakes up.

Third, we have started a slow transition to the crib. We moved him into the nursery in the bassinet yesterday and it’s going well so far. He doesn’t even seem to have noticed.

Finally, and perhaps most futilely, we are trying to get him on some kind of nap schedule. Following what I see to be his natural sleep/wake tendencies that’s 2 hours awake, 2 hours asleep for now.

So, basically the next however many weeks of my life is set up to be a total disaster. Please send good vibes and maybe vodka. >.<