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After several nights of continuous night waking, I thought my six month old baby would never sleep properly. Baby would sleep for about one hour and then wake up crying. I found that not only was I getting frustrated and exhausted, but baby was as well. There are multiple views on baby sleep in society today but the main ones would be attachment parenting and the “cry it out” approach. I knew that I could not tolerate extended bouts of crying, so I felt that the attachment parenting style best suited my lifestyle. Attachment parenting focuses on building trust with baby through quick attention to baby’s needs, feeding on cue, and sleeping close to baby during the night. First of all, it was important to identify our current bedtime routine and the methods which help baby to sleep. Our bedtime routine was simple. We started with a bath, followed by baby massage with lotion and the putting on of pyjamas. Then, we relaxed on the couch reading stories and having quality snuggle time. When baby began fussing or rubbing her eyes, I knew it was time for bed. This was time for the final breastfeeding, during which baby would fall into a deep, peaceful sleep. Baby began sleeping in her crib at 2 months (previously would only sleep in a moving, vibrating, soothing chair) and I slept on the floor beside the crib. However, within one hour baby would wake crying and I would have to pick her up, breastfeed, and let her fall asleep again in my arms. This continued often all throughout the night. Thankfully, if I got to her quick enough she would settle right away and I would only be disturbed for about fifteen minutes. I knew that I could not continue on this path, and I decided to look into different strategies available regarding baby sleep. With so many programs available today, it was overwhelming and difficult to know where to start. After three programs failed to improve her sleep patterns, I began to think that nothing would help her sleep consistently. Sleep training did not work for me, as I did not want to drop the attachment approach to parenting. I finally found a successful program that helped me to understand the reasons for baby’s night waking. Within one week, I had reduced baby’s night waking to only 2-3 times per night. Currently, she wakes once per night, which I actually enjoy as I see it as our special time together. I do not feel pressured to get her to sleep throughout the night, as I do not believe she is ready nor can she last all night without feeding due to her weight. Not only am I more rested, I feel that I have the energy throughout the day to keep up with baby and enjoy our time together. Lack of sleep can be extremely frustrating for new mothers and can affect your daily functioning and coping mechanisms. Thankfully, both baby and I are sleeping dramatically better throughout the night and it continues to improve every day. For any mothers who are having troubles with their child’s sleep pattern, I encourage you to please visit http://moms-probs-odds-and-jobs.blogspot.com for more information.
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