Sleep Battles

Since the beginning Eli has had sleep issues and admittedly we weren't proactive with addressing these issue. Firstly as an infant he was unsettled a lot and didn't sleep for long periods of time. We co-slept in the same bed for his first 18 months of life and when he did finally get a bed we weren't strict on any sleeping routine. 

As a result all of us didn't sleep well through the night. We just accepted this as a fact of life and adjusted accordingly by catching up on sleep where we could or learnt to survive and function on less than 7 hours of straight sleep.  

With the arrival of Kai we knew we had to avoid these habit with him but more importantly, get Eli sleeping through the night unassisted.

After a month of trialling various methods I can finally say we have success.  

We knew the crying out method wasn't the method for him, especially now as a toddler. He's too mobile, too mentally aware and too old for that method to work. 

What worked for us was finally enforcing a nightly routine and sitting away from him and his bed, moving further away each night until we could walk out and close his bedroom door, knowing that he'll fall asleep. I love how saying good nights are a happy and loving experience now instead of the long and painful process it use to be. 

We committed to the change and never looked back. It's so easy to revert back to the old ways, especially on days when Ian has had a late one at work and would be much easier if the boys and I just stayed together in one room and let Ian rest. But despite the fatigue and common sense we keep up the routine and it worked.

And since we've made these changes, he's been sleeping through the night. Well ... we know he still wakes because we hear him whimper or even call out to us, but he doesn't come out of his bedroom anymore. He's confident enough to put himself back to sleep without needing us.

We're so happy we're finally here.

It took some time but we got there in the end, like I knew we would.       

What process worked for you to finally get your little one to fall asleep on their own and through the night?