Sleep training sounds stressful.. and at first, it most definitely was. It sounds like an unnecessary hassle… but after taking the time to sleep train my now fourteen month old son a several months back, it was one hundred percent worth the effort.
What is Sleep Training?
The gist of sleep training is that you practice laying your child down sleepy but awake at the same general time every day for bedtime and naps. This likely means listening to your (very angry) child fussing until they fall asleep, and refusing to “rescue” them from their crib unless there is an actual need…
And when in “rescue” mode, you don’t leave the room they are sleeping in unless absolutely necessary. They are learning that it is sleep time now.
You can read more about the method we use and the mistake that led to us finding this method in the article Our Biggest Sleep Mistake (So Far).
Is it Worth it?
Absolutely.
But you’d probably like more reasoning than that…
Before sleep training, my son would sometimes often be awake half the night, despite waking him up at the same time every single morning. We would be absolutely exhausted, just waiting for him to fall asleep so we could go to bed, too.
As for naps, well, we started calling him “no nap baby” – because there were days in a row where he wouldn’t nap at all. This is despite short nights, and multiple consecutive nap-free days.
He just would. Not. Stop.
The Aftermath
In the beginning of our sleep training adventure, I questioned my sanity for even attempting it. At that point, it didn’t seem worth the effort (or the tears on both sides).
We started with enforcing naptime.
Every single day, we would lay him down in his crib, sleepy but awake… and he would WAIL. He would stand up and jump up and down holding the bars and I would feel like the worst mother that ever lived.
After a few days – a week, tops – the time he was wailing got shorter.
Soon, he was laying down almost immediately. Now, he takes an hour nap minimum every day, AND sleeps the full night! Not just that, but he goes to bed ON TIME. No more waiting for him to go to bed… we know that when bedtime or naptime comes, we can lay him down and go to bed.
Now, this mama is a huge fan of sleep training. I’m here to tell you it is worth the effort (and the tears, because there will be tears).
Have you tried sleep training your little ones? Why or why not? Let me know in the comments below!
Christian, wife, “hybrid” mama, I run the site All Behind A Smile to help others like me.
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