Nope, not a bad ass athletic conditioning boot camp to get me bikini ready by Memorial Day. No need for that, it's going to rain anyways. Instead, this boot camp focused on sleep training. Specifically, nap training for my handsome son. You see, Dean did not like to nap unless he was sleeping on me. I got pretty relax and just kind of went with it. Hey, there are worse things than having to sit on the couch and cuddle with him every couple of hours. But it was time to face reality. Dean needed to learn to nap on a schedule, in his crib, alone. Shit.
As I sit here and reflect on the past few weeks, my initial thought is that I can't believe I waited so long to do this. Doing so left me scrambling to get it done before I have to go back to work, which only escalated my stress. Second, I am thankful that I only have 8 followers of my blog. I am sure that none of you guys will feel the need to post any comments about how barbaric and inhumane my training tactics are...right? Good, glad we got that settled. Shall we move on to the nitty gritty of my boot camp?
HOW: The progressive-waiting approach - At the first sign of sleepiness I would swaddle Dean up tight, pop in his binky and put him in his crib. If he started crying I would go in, pop the binky back in, and calm him down by rubbing his forehead. From then on I would gradually increase the amount of time before I would go in to calm him down. The goal being for Dean to learn how to put himself to sleep. For an example, here is what Day 1 looked like:
First check - immediately
Second check - 3 minutes
Third check - 5 minutes
Subsequent checks - 10 minute increments until either he fell asleep or the designated nap period was over.
CHALLENGES:
The crying - Duh...listening to your child cry sucks.
Self doubt - After he cries through an entire designated nap period, you really start to doubt that what you are doing is beneficial. "It will never work!" "He is going to hate me!" "All this screaming must be causing permanent damage to his vocal cords!" Oh and any google search you do on the topic will turn up haters that will confirm all of your negative thoughts.
3 year olds - Kaci can't do anything quietly.
Sacrifices - Consistency is key, which means staying home is what needs to happen. So no, you can't go have a beer with your brother at his new house on moving day. Nap time! No heading out to the mall when the urge for new jeans hits. Nap time! Oh you usually drop your kid off at preschool at 9:00 a.m.? Not if that is during nap time. Nope, she goes in late.
So where are we now? I can now comfortably say that Dean no longer cries through the designated napping period. In fact, most times he goes down pretty dang easy. I have also come to realize that he is a 45 minute napper. Almost to the minute. I will take it though, as these naps result in a much happier little man. We will continue to work on things, but I do feel like the hardest part of the sleep training process is over. Thank God.
Well, better wrap this up. Time to enjoy my last evening of maternity leave. Tomorrow I head back to the grind. Bring it on Monday...bring it on.
