Baby/toddler SLEEP TRAINING

How my toddler learnt to sleep on her own ?

I cannot tell in words,these days when I woke up in the morning, how fresh and energetic i feel  ? YES, I am normal again. I missed these sleeps for a year.Sleep deprivation has made me mad.My baby never wanted to go to sleep. when she became cranky I had to either rock her or breastfeed her to sleep. we all are sleeping past midnight.But to add to my horrrors , she used to wake up again in one hr at 1 :00 am.......i had to again rock her or feed her .......but then again she woke up in one hr at 2:00 am ..................and this whole cycle runs for the entire night .And in the morning, i even didnt feel like coming out of bed.

i didnt knew whn wud be the end of all these sleepless nights.How long we have to suffer? 
But finally one day i made up mind to do whatever i cud to sleep train my baby and luckily it worked , i want to share my story but for that i have to go few months back...................when my toddler got into such bad sleeping habit.

do check here  Summary of toddler /baby sleep training if u don't want to read this long post


Sleeping habits as a Newborn

When my baby was a newborn ,after six weeks or so, i started bedtime rituals and  it worked at that time,After i used to finish my dinner at 8:30 pm , i  brought her upstairs in our bedroom(she saw a lot around while i bring her thru stairs). it was very peaceful upstairs. At that time she cudn't move much , but she played with her hands and feet.I started my ritual with massaging her a little bit,changing cloth and diaper,then feeding her ,rocking her a little and then making lights dim,(this was something she used to notice) after that, some days she continued with her little plays, or started showing signs of sleepiness, i used to pat her and sing lullaby, mostly she went to sleep easily around 9:00pm or 9:30pm.
i did not sleep then but enjoy that time in reading book or listening radio. she used to wake up again at midnight for feeding or if she didn't i dream  feed her before going to bed myself.

she woke me once for feed again around 4:30 or 5:OO in the morning or sometimes twice (but thats good with a newborn)
so over all,I was waking for two or three times only.lateron somedays I don't have to wake up between midnight till 4 am.Upto five months i didnt face any sleeping problem .
( bringing upstairs,massaging, changing clothes,dimming of lights, singing..................these were repeted everyday and helped in sleep training.

Then HOW SHE GET into SUCH A BAD sleeping habit?

The credit for this goes to us,my husband started coming around 9:30 in evening or night u can say from office.  My lo who has already gone to sleep at 9:00 O'clock, used to wake up, hubby started playing and talking(obviously he wants to) and then TV got on in full volume. and the sleep time become more entertaining and interesting compared to dull day.

 My baby got the idea that coming to bedroom means playtime, she was becoming more active at that stage, she has started standing and crawling by then,so was more eager to practice it day and night.

when clock struck midnight, we switched off our TV to sleep,but my lo wud be in such excited state that she cudnt sleep straight. all bed time routine were lost somewhere, but still she used to sleep on her own whn we went to sleep ,though woke at night to breastfeed.

But to make the situation worst at nine month she fell ill with fever and body pain. and for two days she refused to sleep on bed , she wanted to sleep only in our arms, we rocked her thru out the night or breast feed her.After that rocking was the only way to go to sleep and breastfeeding was the only way to sleep if she woke up at the middle of night. And she was waking up many times(may be looking for me in dark ) and wants to be fed only no matter what we do, she started screaming for milk.for many months she woke us around 9 to 10 times the entire night.
i got so tired of this that bfeeding seemed like punishment at nights.
some days i asked my husbabd that i cudn't feed her , he had to rock her to sleep.so both us were literally sleep deprived.
this was the worst sleeping habit i guess ( i think many parents can relate with our situations who have gone thru this, or many r going thru it..............)


HOW i started Sleep Training?

A day came; when i cudn't bear it anymore.i read on forums that even two yr olds or above are not sleeping at night,....i wanted sleep no matter what ....and i made up mind and acted accordingly in coming months.......its simple ......but it worked for me

Step 1

First of all i decided to break the link between sleeping and breast feeding.
i breastfed before she shows signs of tiredness or sleepiness, so this way i stopped bf to sleep.
but my husband had to rock her because she used to  wake up till midnight and after midnight we had no better option for putting her to sleep.

Step 2

After a month ,I started giving my lo dinner around 7:00 pm and again give her something to eat with us at 8:00 clock.Then she drinks her milk at 9:00 pm , if interested i give her some snacks again at bedtime.this way she is able to eat more ,and her stomach is full for night.

Step 3

I moved up our bedtime two hrs early , it made sense ,weather was freezing outside, winter has started, i started finishing my lo's and my dinner before 8:30 ,my husband was reluctant initially but i left him there to watch tv. i enjoyed this time to snuggle with my lo, played peekaboo, now a days i show her video of "five little monkeys jumping on bed", she jumps too on bed and do her moves, this way i have time to drain her energy in all these activities.

Step 4

I start my bedtime ritual after this , which is very simple., i massage her with warm oil but massaging a toddler is not easy(some days she let me or some days she doesn't.)i read her a book(i think she is reading the same book for 4 or 5 months).then i give her two teddies to cuddle with them(consider them her sleep buddies or comforter,but mostly she use my pillow as her comforter) .whn her father comes to bed, she ask for milk,now see, she dont ask for milk to me), she finish her bottle,some days i breast feed too(but i think she has herself started weaning now).no when she starts showing signs of tiredness but still not ready to go to sleep.,we make sure to make it dull and boring, we don't talk a lot to each other too(its difficult too, somedays we want to talk but dont ) whn my husband  goes to sleep , i read my book or work on ipad which i hide under the sheets (obvoiusly ur toddler wud snatch it if seen), she either play on bed or try to comfort herself , also try every direction and sleep position , but again stand up to play.

Step 5

At this point, when she start showing signs of tiredness but still don't want to sleep, she tries to stimulate me to react.......at that time ,I dont even look at her; let her make efforts to sleep on her own , some days she pull my hair , i behave as i am sleeping, somedays she pull my ears & eye lashes too, but i don't react , simply remove her hand,and behave i dont want to play , so she come next to my pillow and put her head there , I  pat her and sing . but some days i just dont look, whn i look back she is already asleep.Hurray, now i can  enjoy this time. whn she has already gone to sleep at 9:30 pm .i still had plenty of time for myself.
and to my surprise when she wakes up at night , she looks at me and go to sleep again.(she only comforts herself by finding me close to her and can go back to sleep on her own)
so these days i don't even wake up at night  too but i am sure my baby wakes up many times at night and go to sleep again on her own( by seeing her on different sleeping positions)
now she sleeps for uninterrupted 8 to 10 hrs.

Right now when i am writing this post,my lo is trying to sleep for almost half an hr but still she didnt come to me for help though she tried to wake her father by pulling his nose.but in vain she comes back to her pillow and by the time i have finished this post she is already asleep.

Yes, i kiss her and say goodnight after this.

do check here  Summary of toddler /baby sleep training to help moms ,written it in points for clear reading.


PS. ......... we make the time before bedtime so boring that my baby has no option other than sleeping.

• bedtime ritual is the key- repeat the same boring routine everyday , it will let u to go to sleep too.
• don't expect ur newborn to sleep thru the entire night, they are supposed to wake up for their survival and needs to be fed regularly for they are growing very rapidly.
• It takes time and patience to train ur baby to sleep on their own.
• Even sleeptrained babies somedays woke up at night and cries for feeding or comforting.

something more to add

• yesterday, my lo woke around 5:30am (after 7 hr of continous sleep). i tried to breast feed her to sleep with little apprehension. but she didn't sleep , then I rocked her but that didn't helped too.......final put her next to my pillow , patted her and gently stroked her hair ......and she went to sleep in few minutes.............now I can say she has associated patting with sleeping.

it helped me but every baby wakes for different reason , so try what is best for u and suits u more......hope it cud help.

• pls do write abt ur experience with ur babies sleep.
• r u following bedtime routine , at what age u started sleep training ur lo?
• do u agree with my method or u think it cud be done in other way ?

next post........... what to cook for babies?which veggies and fruits to give to babies?how to prepare six month old babies food?