Everything About Sleep

My Elliot is not a very good sleeper. By that, I mean that he wakes up a lot. With Henry, I stressed, worried & tried everything under the sun to get him to sleep better and in a consecutive way. I had read a book with a very specific sleep strategy and, while I've known people that loved that strategy & their kids did well with it, I did not and he did not. Every baby is so different. Don't even go there with the baby-mama comparison/envy game. It's ugly. I am thankful that God has seriously given me such a new perspective with Elliot. As in, the perspective that He'll get there!

Basically, he is 4 months old as of Friday. If you're trying to get your kid to sleep better, I think you have two main options: You can let them cry or you can go in and tend to them (i.e. put a paci in their mouth, nurse them, etc.) I am not ready to let Elliot cry so I am in camp #2, tending to him when he cries.

With Henry, we transitioned him out of the swaddle between 3 and 4 months old. I was getting ready to do that with Elliot (he was getting his arms out and getting frustrated). So, with Henry, it was the easiest transition ever- that first night that I didn't swaddle him, I told myself, okay...he'll probably wake up a lot. I will give him 5 minutes every time he wakes up and, if he's still awake, I'll go tend to him. So, he did end up waking up around every 45 minutes but he was able to just fall back asleep within the 5 minute time period almost every time. The next night, he didn't wake up every 45 minutes. It was easy-peasy.

With my Elliot, we tried this same philosophy the other night. The 5 minutes ended & he still cried and cried and cried. Finally, I couldn't take it anymore. He was so upset. So, I swaddled him, wrapped his swaddle with the wing from a halo sleep sack and put him back down. In my mind, I'm thinking:

A. he's clearly not ready to be unswaddled
B. I am definitely not ready for him to cry like that.

So, onward we go. Here's the thing: he's not a great sleeper but he's healthy and so happy and God has helped me so much in the energy department and the not-stressing-about-it department.

And also, there is this awesome product that helps me every morning called coffee and I love my daily cup with assorted coffeemate creamers.

I look back at Henry & sleep issues and I was so worried and trying new things all the time- I was so inconsistent. But you know what? He got there and now he's a great sleeper. So, in my mind, you pray, ask for wisdom & then you follow your heart & your Mama-gut. Everyone's babies are different & everyone's convictions and breaking points are different. But now, when new moms ask me for advice on sleep training, my first tip is...just breathe.