FINALLY...13 Months Later...

I'm almost scared to write this post - thinking it'll jinx me...but I'm so excited - I have to share. For 13 months Brayden woke in the middle of the night...for the first 5 1/2 months he woke up 5-6 times a night - it was exhausting and frustrating. Unfortunately that was only half his sleep issues - he also had a hard to falling asleep (probably my fault for always rocking him). It was a 30-45 ordeal to get Brayden to go to sleep at night. We would bounce him, rock him...until finally he dozed off. We had no idea what were creating for ourselves. After a couple sessions with a wonderful sleep consultant named Nichole Johnson (you can visit her site here: http://www.picknicksbrain.com/) - at 5 1/2 months we moved Brayden to his own crib and tried the crying it out method. It was horrible. I cried with him the first night - after about 10 minutes I gave in and went to get him, I cried and cried, apologized for doing that to him, and he fell asleep in my arms that night. The next night, I was ready to try again...this time I didn't go get him, but still cried as I watched him on the video monitor. I hated every minute of it and thought there had to be a better way! But I continued to remind myself that he needed sleep and so did Mom and Dad so SOMETHING had to change. Eventually after several weeks, Brayden was going to sleep on his own without our help. That solved problem #1. But for the last 8 months he continued to wake up throughout the night. The number of times he woke up decreased but up until May he was still waking TWICE a night...then finally it dropped to ONCE a night...and THEN on July 5th, Brayden suddenly stopped waking up at night...I thought it was a fluke, maybe I just didn't hear him or maybe the monitor wasn't up loud enough...whatever it was I didn't think it was the beginning of something WONDERFUL...but now 8 nights later...he is still sleeping through the night. I can't believe it!

Every time Brayden would wake up- I'd offer him a bottle, I knew he was to old for that but it was the only thing that would get him to go back to sleep, I was tired and I knew it was a 5 minute fix...my pediatrician kept telling me I'm creating a really bad habit and only making it worse on myself ...but something in me (along w/my Mom) kept telling me, when he's ready - he'll stop...and he did! I hope. :)

Of course I still wake up at least once throughout the night, I don't think I'll ever sleep as sound as I did before I became a Mommy, but that's OK - it's so much nicer to wake up on my own and not to a crying baby!

If your reading this and know anyone who's battling sleep issues with their baby or toddler I strongly encourage you to share this website: http://www.picknicksbrain.com/. Every piece of advice she gave me throughout the last 13 months was helpful...and it's not all just about sleep.

We have learned so much with Brayden. I can promise you that so much will be different with the next one. :) I'll post some new pics soon.


Well...I'm off to enjoy some ZZZZZ's myself. Goodnight!