Ferber Sleep Training | I'm No Longer A Zombie

I'm pretty free spirited and I typically just bee bop throughout my day. I lack structure and that drives Justin crazy in more ways than one. Now while that default may have benefits in some situations, it also has its drawbacks. Luckily for me, Sweyzie was a baby that just went with the flow of my free spirited ways. When she was little, I didn't have a nightly routine. Every night looked different, and bedtimes altered. I am aware that the idea of my ways may be stressing some moms out right about now.

Now that we have welcomed our son, we have begun the infancy process again. We got Benji at 3 weeks (we added to our family by way of adoption, click >>> HERE<<< to get up to speed) and right out of the gate he was a pretty good sleeper, waking every 3-4 hours to feed like any newborn. We came home from Tokyo and even still, he was only up once or twice during the night. I thought man, we really lucked out with the whole baby sleep thing. I felt sorry for the moms on my social feeds who were crying out in desperation, because i just couldn't relate. I kind of thought mothers who were strict about bedtimes and their routines were uptight and missing out on all kinds of fun.

BUT THEN...

Out of nowhere my sweet sweet 5 month old was up E. V. E. R. Y. 2 0 M. I. N. U. T. E. S. [ ALL NIGHT LONG ] for 14 nights. Don't think I didn't want to cuss... Before this, coffee was a nice perk up in the am. It was a morning luxury that wasn't completely necessary, yet nice to have. But with this new freak sleep schedule, I was all but crawling to my Ninja coffee bar. At one point I thought to myself, do I really need to brew this, or can I just eat the grinds...? I could see Justin now, coming around the corner looking at me with a look of disgust, as I hovered over the bag of coffee like a scene out of the walking dead.

After 2 solid weeks of this new, and purely hellish sleep pattern, I began Googling as any smart woman would do. I was quite desperate and willing to try anything at this point. I researched a few techniques and just decided to try the Ferber Sleep Training Method, also known as the "Cry It Out method". Now i'm aware, across the mommy boards, the CIO method can be a hot & cold subject, however, done as directed (in short periods) I don't see any harm in letting a baby learn to self-soothe in short stints. That said, I gave it a go.

First things first - nightly routine. I'll be honest, I'm a struggle bus at any kind of routine. I mean taking my vitamins everyday is a challenge. I knew that if I wanted a shot at some shut eye, I had to give it an honest go. This became Bath, Bottle & Bed.

Another recommended change is that he sleep in a separate room. So, I moved his bed into another room thinking this is going to be terrible. He wigged out as soon as I left. The method directs you to let them cry a few minutes before entering to soothe. [And by "soothe" it doesn't mean holding them] each time I left I let him go just a bit longer. After 10 minutes he was out. I had a Christmas Story moment, because I felt like I just won a "major award"! Indeed I did...5 hours of solid sleep! Can't put a price on that.

At this point, we are 5 days in and each night has been better than the last. This has also made laying him down for naps a whole lot easier for the both of us. In the end, we are all happier (and well rested) people for it!