It is about time...

I can hardly believe it - my sleep anarchist went to bed at 7pm this evening. I was shocked and thrilled to say the least. Last night she went to bed at 7:30pm and slept till 7am this morning - only waking up briefly twice during the night. For the past 7 months I had become accustomed to being woken up nearly every 45 minutes throughout the night. Needless to say, I was a walking zombie with sore nipples.

What changed you ask? Well two weeks ago I hit the wall - literally, figuratively and symbolically. I was DONE! I could barely function, I was constantly crying, on the verge of depression and too exhausted to enjoy my daughter - let alone my husband or life. I was venting on facebook to a friend and she recommended a book called "Healthy sleep habits, healthy child" by Dr. Marc Weissbluth. I did a bit of research online to see what others had to say about the book and then decided to buy it myself. I was very skeptical but desperate so I followed what Dr. Marc said and put my baby to bed at 7:00 after lots of soothing activities (dark room, cuddles, a warm sippy cup of milk and her giraffe blanket). Then, I put her soother in, laid her down in her crib (awake), walked out of the room and waited for the screaming and protesting to begin. Not only did she not cry - she was asleep within 10 minutes. When she woke up a couple hours later I put her soother in and laid her down and walked out. She cried for a couple minutes and then fell asleep again. The next day she napped incredibly well and was a much happier baby. Honestly, I can't believe it is working. I keep expecting things to go sideways but perhaps they won't. I used to dread going to bed but now I actually look forward to it.