HOW DO YOU DO IT???

This post is dedicated to Sarah, and everyone else who wants to know how I got Lilah to sleep through the night by the time she was 2 months. Here's the thing- it's mostly luck. I've read that babies' little tummies can stay full enough to keep them sleeping through the night (which is defined at 6+ hours, BTW) once they weigh 11 pounds. I have found this to be true for my kids. Sophie did not weigh 11 pounds until she was closer to 3 months, and that's when she started sleeping 8 hours straight. Lilah was 11 pounds shortly before she turned 2 months, and that's when she started sleeping 7 hours straight. So it's partly just a waiting game. Sophie's last feeding was formula, so I thought that had something to do with it. However, Lilah is exclusively breast fed, so there goes that theory. The only thing I CAN pass along is routine routine routine. Sophie was horrible with eating and sleeping so I just had to force her into a routine. Once I did, she slept better for longer and was a much happier baby. Lilah pretty much put herself on a schedule, but once I picked up on what she was doing when, I started helping her maintain her schedule. I started putting her down roughly the same time every night to send her the message of bedtime. Then she just kept increasing the amount of hours between bedtime and next feeding. Another thing I have read (and found to be true) is that babies who sleep more during the day actually sleep better at night. So a baby who does not nap well during the day will likely not sleep well at night. If the baby is at least 3 months old, I recommend doing some sleep training to help them learn to nap during the day. This made all the difference in the world with Sophie. Once I helped her learn how to nap during the day, she was a totally different baby. And how did I do THAT? I was dead set against letting her cry it out. At all. If she peeped, I picked her up. Rookie mistake. I was not doing her any favors by letting her stay awake. She was so overtired that she was miserable. One day it dawned on me that she was crying because she was TIRED. I decided to take care of all of her needs- eating, changing, cuddling before putting her down. That way I would know that she was not crying for any of those reasons. Then I let her cry. I would not let her cry for longer than 20 minutes, but it rarely took her that long to fall asleep. And each day it took less and less time until she stopped crying at all. I think first time parents make the same mistakes I did- not remembering that one of the reasons babies cry is from being tired, and thinking that letting them cry at all is tantamount to torturing them. Not so. Robbing them of sleep and of the necessary skill of putting themselves to sleep is much worse than letting them cry for a few minutes. One more thing comes to mind when helping babies learn to sleep longer. I do not get my kids at the first peep. I hear them and I roll right back over. If they continue crying or start crying louder a couple minutes later, THEN I get them. But I often find that the next time I open my eyes another couple of hours have passed. Sometimes babies stir and cry out in their sleep, but they aren't ready to wake up yet. So don't hurry to wake them up!

That's all I got. For now.