Sleep Training - Days 3 Through 12

Well, just like the first couple days of sleep training, we've had good and bad days. But honestly, they've mostly been good. We haven't had a single day where Tyler has cried as much as the first night. After crying for 50 minutes on day 3, Tyler had a pretty good rest of the night. Day 4 was better than day 3 - I didn't have to check on him once!

7:35 - 8:05 - diaper change, pajamas, bottle, story, lullaby
8:07 - put Tyler in his crib (no crying!)
8:13-8:16 - crying
8:17 - silence
8:21-8:24 - crying
8:25 - silence

Since then, I think the longest Tyler has cried has been about 25 minutes. I've had several nights where I've only gone into his room once after 5 minutes to calm him down (he fell asleep before my 15 minute check) and even a couple nights where he's cried for less than 5 minutes so I haven't had to go in at all. I've had a few nights where Tyler has fallen asleep while eating during his bedtime routine (oops - maybe I should have started earlier). And then there was the one night my parents babysat so Matt and I could go on a date for Matt's birthday... they tell me Tyler went to bed all smiley and didn't make a peep after they laid him down. They went and checked on him several times thinking maybe the baby monitor wasn't working. I think I'll call them the baby whisperers. I guess I know who to call if Tyler won't go to sleep!

For the most part, I think I have Tyler's sleep schedule figured out:

• Wake up around 1:00 am (only about half of the nights) - He usually isn't awake long at this time and falls asleep on his own without any checking after just a few minutes of intermittent whines.
• Wake up around 3:15 am - I have been feeding him when he wakes up at this time.
• Wake up around 4:45 am (about three quarters of the nights) - I have been feeding him at this time too, thinking maybe he didn't really get enough at 3:15. I think starting later this week I might try to get Tyler to fall back asleep at this time instead of feeding him.
• Wake up around 6:30 - About half of the time Tyler is awake at this time and ready to start the day. Some of the days he is still sleepy. If I didn't feed him at 4:45, I might feed him now and put him back to bed until he wakes up around 7:30 for the day.

I was quite lucky on two nights when Tyler didn't wake up at all during the night and slept straight through until after 6:00 am. Here's to hoping there are more nights like this in the near future! For now, though, I am really happy that Tyler is sleeping in his crib. I can pretty much count on having my evenings to myself after 8:30 now because both kids should be in bed/asleep by about then. That gives me a little time to work or clean the house. I'm also hoping to start working out in our garage gym some nights after the kiddos are asleep. Now to work on nap time... Tyler typically only naps 30-45 minutes at a time, an hour if I'm lucky. I would love longer naps if possible! I'm thinking about trying to get his naps on a schedule too... We'll see!