A Sleep Story

Hi.  I've been a bit MIA.  Our return from vacation resulted in sicknesses, sleep difficulties, and projects that have kept us very busy.  However, we have managed to have a bit of fun - including some visits to local festivals like the Delaplane Strawberry Festival and Falls Church Memorial Day Parade and Festival. We also started Liam on solid foods, which has been a whole adventure in itself!

Our sleep difficulties made me realize that Liam needed some sleep coaching.  I've avoided this for as long as I could, and kept telling myself that our lack of schedule or predictability was okay.  It was okay if Liam had 30% of his naps on the road, and I didn't mind rocking and/or nursing him to sleep.  That was all fine, until it just wasn't anymore. I started realizing that I was just too involved in Liam's sleep, and I needed to back off so he could learn on his own.  The few times that I did actually see Liam put himself to sleep, he slept so much more soundly and for longer periods of time.  I also began craving some predictability to our day. 

We started our coaching this last weekend, using inspiration from Kim West's Sleep Lady Shuffle.  Within just a few days, I noticed a huge difference.  Liam has begun settling into better sleep patterns, and while he initially protested the fact that we were no longer rocking or nursing to sleep, he now (mostly) falls asleep in his crib after rolling around and finding the position that's best for him.  And we've done all of this without letting him cry it out by himself. 

He's still waking up more than I'd like him to at night (2-5 times), but at least our days are getting more predictability.  I'm hoping that will lend itself to our nights settling into a longer sleep pattern as well. 

This whole process for us has made me think a lot about our culture and how it's related to our sleep and our children's sleep.  I sometimes wonder whether our short maternity leaves and focus on individuality can cause us to push our babies to fall asleep by themselves and sleep through the night before they are developmentally ready to do so.  I don't have any answers, nor do I want to judge anyone else for the choices they make about their children's sleep.  But, these questions kept me from wanting to push Liam into a pattern he just wasn't ready for yet.  Now that we've begun a gentle sleep coaching process though, I have no regrets.  We're doing the right thing for our family, and at the end of the day that's what matters.