After our initial consultation with Katie at The Sleep Experts it was time to put our new routine into practice and see how Taylor would react. Phase #1 involves teaching Taylor to fall asleep after he’s been fed and not during, this means he’ll still be breastfed at bed time but taken off before he falls asleep to then be rocked to sleep.
If he wakes in the night before 1.30am he isn’t to be fed. Any wake up before then I can give him a few minutes to settle and if he is getting upset go in and rock him back to sleep
If all goes to plan after 3 nights we can move onto phase #2 of our new routine which is to hold him after feeding and cease rocking. We’ll be using the Joey Swag Sleeping Bag and Blanket from Bubbaroo to help Taylor settle and sleep well during this transition.
Night #1 – Taylor only napped for 30 minutes through the day so I was concerned he might be over tired and kick up a fuss at bed time. After a lovely dinner of lasagne and an hour of play time I took him to bed where he fell swiftly asleep being rocked for 5 minutes after being breastfed. The next time he woke was 5:00am and we were up for the day.
Night #1 of our new routine and I’ve managed to stop him from falling asleep breastfeeding! #BubbarooBabySleepDiary https://t.co/fHp0ejeJDY
— Lisa LeeLeeLovesBlog (@LeeLee_Loves) November 5, 2015
Night #2 – Today we managed two hours of nap time. I took Taylor to his bedroom at 7:30pm as normal, he wasn’t too pleased to begin with but after 45 minutes of fussing he finally went to sleep in my arms. An hour later cue screams when Taylor is awake, he would not go to sleep just being held and wanted feeding but I have to persevere and not give in! Between teething, being given anbesol and cuddling it was 11:30pm before he went to sleep and stayed asleep.
Only one wake up last night although he wasn’t happy about not having a feed. #BubbarooBabySleepDiary — Lisa LeeLeeLovesBlog (@LeeLee_Loves) November 7, 2015
Night #3 – This evening went smoothly, I think he’s getting used to being rocked and not fed, we only had one wake up during the night. It was before 1:20am so I wasn’t allowed to feed him. The endless fireworks going off haven’t helped in getting him back to sleep but an hour later we had success. I’ve spoken to The Sleep Experts who have suggested I introduce phase #2 already which is to simply hold him still after feeding, no rocking. Well see how he reacts to that.
Only one wake up last night although he wasn’t happy about not having a feed. #BubbarooBabySleepDiary
— Lisa LeeLeeLovesBlog (@LeeLee_Loves) November 7, 2015
Night #4 – Introducing Phase #2! This evening felt impossible to get Taylor to sleep, he wouldn’t go to sleep being held and was very fussy, I thought maybe it was too soon for phase #2 maybe I should rock again? I’d try anything but I can’t feed him to sleep, that would spoil everything we’ve achieved so far. He woke up twice in the night, once before 1:30am and once around 3:00am where he fed back to sleep.
Tonight Taylor stopped feeding to kick up a fuss, he then wouldn’t be held or rocked to sleep! #BubbarooBabySleepDiary — Lisa LeeLeeLovesBlog (@LeeLee_Loves) November 8, 2015
Night #5 – Another evening of being fussy, he doesn’t like to just be held. He’s okay with rocking but still wants a feed which he can’t keep having. Tonight I switched on the baby monitor before starting his feed. Our monitor has a feature that can project stars/planets onto babies ceiling and also play lullabies or classical music. Having switched this on beforehand he fed for only 5 minutes then was trying to turn around to look at the projection and got fussy. I decided to lay him in his cot whilst I popped out to grab my book. I could see a long evening ahead of me.
I expected him to start screaming the moment I put him down or left the room, to my surprise it was silent… So much so I got my book and chose not to re-enter his room.
He’s asleep, that’s self settling right? 😁 *Mummy Dance* #BubbarooBabySleepDiary
— Lisa LeeLeeLovesBlog (@LeeLee_Loves) November 8, 2015
I watched in amazement on the monitor as he lay contently listening to Canon in D Major, who knew he was a fan? Ten minutes later he was asleep and I was stunned…. What happened to phase #2?
I entered into this feeling apprehensive and a little sceptical but I’m starting to see amazing results from such small changes we are on our way to having a baby who can go to sleep independently, it feels so good.
Taylor has shown that he is capable of going to sleep by himself, he can self settle and he doesn’t need to be fed through the night. Who knows we might be back to rocking or holding tomorrow night, it’s early days. For now I am one very proud mummy.
