You're so brave to put this post out there! Having a new baby in the house is such a whirlwind in so many ways. We sort of used the Babywise model with our first, our daughter and she did sleep through the night well pretty early, but I think it had more to do with her and her personality than us. She has always, even now at almost 6 been an easy transitioner. Plus she's a thumb sucker. We approached our son, baby #2 with the same method more or less with incredibly different results. Each child is sooo different. At 3 weeks old he would be up for hours and I mean hours during naptime. He'd fall asleep and nothing could keep him that way. Swaddling was a joke. We finally learned during tummy time that he liked to sleep on his belly, (a no-no, I know). Suddenly he slept. He always needed more rocking, singing and patting to help him wind down than my daughter, and would sporadically wake up looking for reassurance during a random night, but in time, we figured it out.

I remember feeling frustrated and like a failure when I couldn't figure these things out, or when some mom would brag about her own experience, that far exceeded mine. I survived with trial and error and the wisdom and support of others.

Thanks so much for sharing your experience. It can be so hard and often dark when you're sleep deprived, muddling through this. I'm sure you've helped several new moms out there to feel reassured.ReplyCancel

Thank you for this! I was the same way with No. 1; we got into the bad habit of nursing to sleep so he didn't learn to self-soothe and was still waking up 3-4 times a night until about 9 months. Torture. I'm a total believer in letting them learn to self-soothe. It's so tough for a few days, but the payoff is worth it and the baby is much happier in the end. Will do so with baby No. 2 this summer.ReplyCancel

I have followed your blog for a while, but this is my first comment. I am SO thankful you put this on here! We have a 13 month old little girl and have/are experiencing many things you mentioned with your first. At 6 months we did the "cry it out" (which I know people are against), but we had to for our sanity. She took 2+ weeks of 2+ hours of crying…it was not fun. Now she puts herself to sleep at night time, but naps are still a nightmare.
Do you think because with you second you laid him down awake at an early age this helped him fall asleep easier? I am curious for the future.ReplyCancel