How Madeline Fought the Sleep Monster...and LOST!

Remember this guy??

And how every night in our house used to look like this??    

                                                                                      Now, they look more like this:

We may have a stubborn baby, but I'm happy to report that the Sleep Monster is even more stubborn.

The last "rough" night we had with Madeline was Christmas Eve.  (Please don't smite me  Internet Gods!!!)  Since then, she has become an excellent sleeper!  (Seriously, I'm about ready to dodge lightning bolts here.)

She's now working twelve-hour shifts at night.   The past two weeks she hasn't even woken up to eat during that time.  That means she's a well-rested happy little baby and I'm a well-rested happy chubby little mumma!

Before anyone starts throwing daggers at me through your computers, let me tell you that the first three to four months of Madeline's existence, she was not a good sleeper.  I would literally spend at least six hours every night trying my damnedest to rock her to sleep.  She wouldn't let me put her down, she wouldn't let me sit down, and once she did finally fall asleep in my arms, she'd wake up the moment I put her in her crib.

So what changed?

I can't really take full credit for Madeline's awesome sleep schedule.  She's simply a easy-going baby, and that has nothing to do with me.  Once she grew out of her colic, she wasn't interested in fussing for endless hours a day anymore, and like her Mumma, gal loves her beauty sleep!

However, there are a few things we started doing that helped Madeline's sleep pattern along...

• First?  Routine, routine, routine!

When Madeline was a teeny thing, we used to bring her to bed whenever we went to bed.  That meant she wasn't getting a consistent bedtime every night.

Now, our bedtime routine looks like this:

1. Bath
2. Lotion (I tried infant massage, but she hates it.  Now, I slather the stuff on her as quickly as possible before she starts freaking out.)  
3. Get in jammies  (She also hates this part.  Gal loves to be naked!)
5. Eat with Mumma...while she...
6. Listens to a bedtime story
7. Move to co sleeper and lights out when she's finished eating

• Second?  An early bedtime is key!  

Even after we started Madeline's nightly routine, she had a hard time falling asleep.  I was up till 2 am most nights bouncing her to sleep.  I read The No Cry Sleep Solution which suggests putting the baby to bed as early as possible.  The author stresses that, although it may seem backwards to put your baby to bed earlier if you want them to sleep longer, an early bedtime prevents baby from getting overtired.

We start our routine every night at 6.  By the time she starts falling asleep it may be closer to seven, but if we miss her bedtime, she gets extremely fussy!

Madeline sleeps a good twelve hours most nights, which means she wakes up around 6 am.  This works for us because I get up for work by five and am out the door by 6:20.   The weekends are rough, but we usually cuddle in bed with her for a few hours before officially starting the day.

Also, we don't have real jobs (Ha.) so I'm home from work by three on most days.  If I worked until five or six in the evening, the early bedtime wouldn't work for us.  (When would I spend time with my pumpkin?!)

• Third?  Bedtime Accessories!   

The two bedtime accessories we rely on are the noisemaker and Madeline's pacifier.

Madeline likes white noise.  She likes the rain forest setting on her noisemaker the best.  We turn it on every night when we put her down in her crib.  By the time it automatically shuts off a half-hour later, she's usually asleep for the night.

A lot of people don't encourage the use of pacifiers these days because they feel it will interfere with breastfeeding or because they don't want their child to form a pacifier dependency.  Madeline never had a problem using both a pacifier and breastfeeding.  Also?  Right now, it's more important to me that she (and I) gets a  good night sleep.  If the pacifier helps her achieve that goal, I'm all for it.  If she's, you know, twelve years old and still rocking a pacifier, we'll deal with kicking the habit then.  We also only use it when we're trying get her to sleep, so she's associated it only with sleeping.

• Fourth?  Repeat, Repeat, Repeat

If Madeline is having a hard time getting to sleep, we simply go back into the room, give her the pacifier, and quietly leave again.  If she spits it out, we go back again.  And again.  And again.

If she refuses her pacifier, we'll stand by her co-sleeper for a few moments with our hands on her belly until she calms down.  (She likes to hold our fingers while she falls asleep.)  Other than gentle hushing noises, we don't talk to her or try to play with her.  When she's calm, we leave the room.  If she cries, we go back and start again.

The only time we pick her up out of her crib is if she really starts wailing and won't calm down.  In that case, we pick her up, bounce her a bit, get her calm, and start the whole process over again.  These days, it's very rare that Madeline can't be calmed at bedtime....but it does happen occasionally.  (Lightning bolts?!?)

This process used to take a really, really long time, but now that she knows what to expect, we usually only have to return to comfort her once or twice an evening.

• Final Thoughts?

This is what works for us.  I know every baby is different.  I also fully expect that there will be many more sleepless nights in our future.  We'll have to readjust our plans as Madeline moves into her own bedroom, (hopefully this week!) and when she becomes more mobile, etc.

But for now, we're thanking our lucky stars for our little sleeping beauty!