as a child gets older it is harder for parents to grasp the courage to sleep train. by this point they are very aware of the bad habits that have been formed and they know that they need to do something in order to change their current sleep schedule. the hard part is they know there will be tears involved. infant tears are just as heartbreaking, but when an older baby/toddler is crying they are often crying out for “mommy” or “daddy.” sometimes they stand up and scream for you to come to them. these acts, along with others, make it difficult for parents to stick to the process. where i am going with all of this is two-fold. one, is i completely understand how hard this can be. i have trained my own kids and it isn’t easy. second, i am fully aware of the pros you will gain if you can just swallow your tears and struggle through your babies’. these pros definitely outweigh the cons. as much as you are worrying about the crying before you begin training, try and remind yourself that you are actually doing them a favour. by training them to sleep properly you are giving them a life-long tool and the opportunity to be happy during their days and learn to their maximum potential!
i bring all of this up, becuase melanie’s mom, anne marie, was having a really hard time wrapping her brain around the sleep training. she contacted me and truly wanted to fix things. she knew she couldn’t go on this way and that she needed some help to change their current situation. through many emails and phone calls i constantly reassured her of the postivies involved with following through. i can now say to all of you that anne marie is witnessing the positive outcome of sleep training first hand. her 13 month old daughter is no longer waking 1-3 times at night crying. she is no longer rocking her to sleep for hours on end or co-sleeping. melanie is napping without a fight. overall, anne marie is seeing an entirely different side to her daughter now that she is a well-rested child!
this outcome wasn’t without hard work. i was there to support her with emails and occasional phone calls. anne marie had many questions throughout the process and i did my best to answer them to the best of my ability. yes, i was there to give them the tools, guidance and support, but the true work was done by anne marie and her husband. they remained 100% committed and consistent throughout the process and therefore, have a success story. she never thought melanie needed sleep. she thought she was just a baby that slept only 8-10 hours at night and didn’t really need naps. here is what anne marie has to say now that all is said and done:
” My child now sleeps 11-12 hours a night without nightwakings, it used to be she woke up 1-3 times a night and I did not know how to put her back to sleep so I breastfed and we co-slept. I don’t know how I managed all this time with so little sleep. Now I am more relaxed when I fall asleep at night knowing she is able to put herself back to sleep without me. And now that she goes to bed for 7 pm, instead of 9 pm like she used to, I have some downtime at night before I go to bed! I am happy with the results, and I know my daughter probably feels more well rested and happier due to longer sleeps. I am more confident now and filled with knowledge with recognizing when she needs to sleep and how long she should sleep for (especially for naps.) I feel I couldn’t have accomplished sleep training without Tia’s guidance, understanding, and warmth. I can’t believe I waited so long to do this. All of us as a family are much happier now, we love our daughter but we love that she goes to bed early at night!”
congratulations to melanie and her family! i hope you are enjoying your new found zzz’s!