The final sleep training results!

   I'm uber excited to share this with you guys! It's been 2 weeks and 2 days since we started Brayden's sleep program, so I figured some of you would like the final results! I will first backtrack and remind you of what he was like before...

  Brayden was not very consistent with the hours he slept through the night, and how he would go down to sleep. Then he eventually built a habit of needing to nurse to sleep. Not that big of a deal, (and I didn't mind that much) but it caused him to have night wakings and it was difficult getting him stay asleep when putting him down because that was his way of going to sleep, and almost nothing else. So for a week we had to do a sleep log and it had every single detail written out. Then Nancy, the sleep RN, (or who I like to call the sleep fairy) looked it over and said he was not getting enough sleep per day for his age and noticed right away his habits and the fact that he WAS capable of going to sleep on his own, since he would occasionally. Everything was normal! And that made it easy to give us a plan. So our major goals were to get him to be able to fall asleep on his own with no assistance, (no nursing, rocking, patting ect.) and to sleep ALL night long. At his age and weight she said right off the bat that he should definitely be sleeping through the night. I was not aware of that at the time so I was very relieved to hear it. Then there's the sleep training details, which you can find bits of those in my previous posts labeled with the word "sleep" somewhere in the titles (appropriate right?) And for the final results...........................are you ready?................................You like the dramatic affect? I love to be dramatic and.......ah ok I'll shut up now, I went a little far! Bwahahaha. Silly me. He now goes to sleep for naps and bedtime by me just laying him down in the crib, handing him his loveys, giving him kisses (about a hundred, actually) and walking out of the room. While he is still fully AWAKE, but tired of course. He now just lets me put him down, since babies usually begin to prefer one parent over the other to put them down (weird) and I'm totally happy with that since Jon works most nights and I don't have to do anything but lay him in the crib! He takes 3 naps a day about the same time, and sleeps anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 1/2 hours per nap. It's wonderful guys! Then his bed time every night is 8 o'clock sharp and every single night it takes him 2 minutes tops to fall asleep. And before he goes to bed at night he has his same little bed time routine which is kinda different night to night but same basics, and Jon and I take turns doing them. He never fusses or anything (well, when he was at the peak of his teething it was a different story, you can read that in a previous post lol) accept sometimes for a minute or 2 when he goes down for naps. Only because like most kids, he doesn't like to be told it's nap time! ;) AND, my favorite part, he sleeps ALL night long every single night and doesn't wake up until he's ready to be up for the day which is around 6-7am. And once in a while 7:30. Those days are pretty nice :) So that's it. Need I say more to convince you this is the best program in the world? And his plan was specially picked for him, and our needs too. Our thing was, we want sleep, and we don't want to do any cry-it-out methods. (Actually, she is totally against those methods anyways!) I will recommend St. Luke's over and over (and over again) to anyone who wants sleep, and/or wants their baby to get the sleep they need. And who doesn't like sleep? Duh! Jon and I still talk daily about how we can't believe this is real and that he sleeps like this, and how WE sleep! We have so much freedom at night it's redonkulous. I also feel really good about Brayden starting healthy sleep habits now so it help with the toddler years and won't have to deal with it then, when he's more stubborn! I also have learned that everything revolves around how much baby is sleeping and how well they sleep. Like their moods, eating etc. He was already the happiest baby in the world but now it seems even more so! So anyways, I am going to add the info here so you can do whatever you want with it. It does not matter where in the world you are because she works everywhere by phone! But if you call the number you need to leave a message and also let her know I recommended you, because that's the nice thing to do! :D

Here you go pals: Nancy Birkenmeier 314-205-6350
stlukes-stl.com/pediatricsleep (You'll find some free handouts on there that you can print)

*hugs n' cuddles*