Sunday, September 14, 2008

Nite Nite

Gracie is now 7 months and wakes up 2-3 times at night.  I have always gone into her room for just about every little whimper I've heard over the monitor.  She will eat while she's half asleep for 5-10 minutes and falls right back to sleep for another 2-3 hours.  She's never been the type of baby that we've had to pace the halls with or rock to get her to sleep.  I tell myself we are very lucky because she really is a happy, good baby and only cries when she wants something.  

However, 7 months waking up 2-3 times at night even for just a few minutes each time has taken its toll on me.  So, after searching the internet....I found a wonderful website on teaching your baby to sleep through the night.  It's called Sleep Sense.  I have struggled with and have flat out avoided the theory or philosophy of letting babies/children "cry it out".  After reading through the program, I decided that it was time for Gracie to "learn" how to fall asleep on her own and that we would be there along the way.  

It hasn't been easy!  There have been tears - both from her and me!   But we are making progress.  I haven't been able to fully commit to it because Gracie got a cold last week and I just can't stand to see her upset when she doesn't feel good.  So, I am happy to report that we are both getting several more hours of uninterrupted sleep.  She's not sleeping all the way through the night yet, but I'm sure she will be soon!  Here's pictures from a week ago when we started.  

Gracie hearts her Daddy!  

After falling asleep on her own!

1 comment:

Katie said...

Hope things are getting better and you are getting more sleep :)