Sleep Training... Our Way!

[Can I please preface this saying, this was how we did it.  I am writing this to help/encourage/ and document our life. I STRONGLY encourage you to do what you feel is best for your family.  We tried other forms (of cry it out methods) weeks ago and honestly, they did not work for us me.  I was not ready at all to let my baby girl go to her room and I was not ready to let her cry... like REALLY cry!  Thankfully, I just waited it out (and the sleep only got worse not better- yes, you read that right) but everything fell into place like magic. 

 God is so good and I am so thankful for the sleep I have gotten this past week.  

To all of you new mommies out there- give it time.  I have several friends with (almost) six month olds and it seems as though all of our babies have started sleeping wonderfully during the past few weeks so maybe its their age.  None the less, I am enjoying every moment of sleep I can get- keep your chin up!]

OH. MY. WORD!!! {Insert angels singing!}

What in the world has happened to my crazy little girl that doesn't sleep? 

This week has been LIFE CHANGING in the sleep department! I mean SOOO good... my mom has been here and to say that she was a HUGE help is quite the understatement! You can see how it all started {here...} - she pretty much did. it. all! 

[previous to this RG was sleeping primarily in her bouncer in the pack-n-play in our room.  She was sleeping through the night at around 6 weeks but around Christmas when things got crazy her sleep did too.  It has progressively gotten worse until she was sleeping plus or minus 2 hours a night...]

Recap: 

Night One: 

So mom got here Tuesday night and promised me a good nights sleep- agreeing to take care of RG for the night.  We put RG's bouncer in her crib and mom put her to sleep. RG wasn't really thrilled about sleeping in her room/mom putting her down but none the less the fell asleep around 2am (we put her down around 1:30... it was a late night for us).  She only woke up once (3am) and mom rocked her back to sleep- which was HUGE- last week she was waking up every hour to two hours to eat- yikes! She got up again around 6:30am- I fed her and she went back to sleep for a little while.

Night Two:

 Mom put her down in the bouncer in her crib.  RG slept from 1am-6am!!! This was the FIRST night that RG has slept "through the night" since about 6 weeks old. I'm sooo esthetic that she can even do this! 

Night Three: 

Mom asks me if its okay if she tries to put Raleigh Grace down in.her.crib. (gasp!) I'm totally okay with this and agree with the disclaimer that I knew Raleigh Grace was NOT going to be happy about it (we have tried putting her down in the pack-n-play in our room and that nevvver worked- even for naps).  Mom puts her down and cue the crying... mom worked and worked and RG kept crying. Mom never gave up (GO MOM!)... she would pick RG up and rock her and talk to her and massage her and sing to her, then try putting her down again.  RG fought like a true fighter. (We did NOT cry-it-out... they say to leave the baby crying for several minutes- we just let her fuss a minute or two and when it turned to real crying we would pick her up. I could not do the CIO method... it just didn't work for me.) Eventually, mom was holding her and she just fell right asleep.  Mom put her down in the crib and she slept... she woke up one time (I think around 4am) and demanded food so mom made her a bottle and she fell right back asleep and again, mom placed her in the crib.  Raleigh Grace didn't wake up until around 7am.  

Night Four: 

I tell mom that I want to put RG down (in case it doesn't work with me, she can be there to save the day and teach me her magic). I lay RG down in her crib and she doesn't cry, and she doesn't even fuss! It was AMMMAZING! She went right to sleep and slept until about 6 am (around 6 hours!). 

Night Five: 

Moment of Truth! Mom is gone! :( I'm on my own tonight... I put her down, again, no cries. not even one. Just sing and rub her head and she falls asleep.  She wakes up a few hours later and I give her her passy... she falls back asleep for a few more hours.  Sleeps a total of 11 hours! YES! I think I can do this!

Night Six:

 Put her down- she fusses and cries some (maybe 10ish minutes- while I am still in the room singing and rubbing her head) but eventually fall's asleep for 11 (YES ELEVEN!!!) hours then wakes up, I feed her and she sleeps 2 more!!! thats a total of 13-THIRTEEN- HOURS! YES, please and thank you!!

Night Seven: 

She cries and fusses (for approx 10-15 minutes- again, I'm in the room) but I get her to sleep. She sleeps around 7 hours without waking. Thank you LORD!! We are on a roll! 

Did you sleep train? How did you do it? Did it work? Let me know what you think... again, many thanks to my Mom for all her help!!