Sleep is something all moms seem to talk about constantly, and it seems to be always changing for little ones. I decided to start a “Sunday Sleep Stories” series on Hello Hughes to talk about our experience with sleep over the first 16 months of Wyatt’s life. This series will have a post once a week on Sundays and some topics I will cover are sleep schedules, sleep gear, co-sleeping, postpartum sleep support, sleep training, and sleep while traveling. As always, comment, email or DM me about anything else you’d like to hear about or with any questions you have.
Let me just preface this series by saying that EVERY BABY IS SO DIFFERENT. What I share may or may not work for your baby and family. Everyone has their own theories on sleep, and I’m not trying to convince anyone my way is the right way or will work for your baby. I had, and still have, no idea what I’m doing! I’m definitely NOT a sleep expert, and I know plenty of mamas have had much trickier sleep stories with their babies, I’m just sharing my experiences in the hopes that it might help out one sleep deprived mama, or at least let her know that she’s not alone and IT WILL GET BETTER!
I had people tell me to read certain books or that if I just “follow that theory” my baby would sleep through the night. Let me be the first to tell you mama, your baby might not be “by the book.” If there was a book or strategy that worked for EVERY SINGLE BABY, or even the majority, we wouldn’t be talking about this. I did read Baby Wise and 12 Hours by 12 Weeks (that title is still a joke to us) and there are some great ideas in those books, I definitely recommend them to new parents. HOWEVER, for us, neither one was a magical source of special tactics that made my baby sleep. I tried the strategies presented in both and nothing was very successful until Wyatt was older. I wasn’t wishy washy about it either, I DID IT BY THE BOOK. So read the books, but know that they might not work at all for your baby, they might be the lottery ticket to sleep, or you may not even feel comfortable with the strategies, and that’s fine too!
In this post I’m just going to list some aspects of our sleep story so far, in my next post in the series, I’ll outline what the past 16 months have looked like in regard to sleep. In additional posts in the series I’ll go more in depth with specific topics, but I wanted to give some fast facts that people might relate to and be able to get a snapshot of our sleep story from.
Sleep Snapshot
Wyatt wasn’t born with any health concerns, so that was never a factor that has affected our sleep story.
We co-slept with Wyatt when he was an infant (we DID NOT originally plan on doing that.)
My quality of sleep while I was co-sleeping was much worse than when Wyatt wasn’t in our bed.
I breastfed Wyatt for the first year of his life.
Wyatt slept in a DockATot for the first few months.
We never hired a night nanny or sleep coach, but some of my mom friends have and most have helped their situation.
For a few months, the longest stretch Wyatt would sleep was 3 hours, (but 45 minutes was more the average) and he was up at least 5 times a night.
For the first 2 months Wyatt would only nap if I was holding him or wearing him in a wrap.
For the first 6 months the average nap time for Wyatt was 45 minutes.
Now our long nap is 2-3 hours.
Wyatt didn’t really like a pacifier until he was a few months old.
We aren’t afraid to let Wyatt “Cry It Out,” (CIO) but have had to draw the line a few times when he cried for over 2.5 hours straight- he does not give up!
During Wyatt’s first 6 months we did 4 cross-country trips of 1+ weeks each, a cross country move, and in his 16 months he’s been on 44 flights on various trips.
Wyatt slept through the night for the first time around 6 months.
Sleeping all the way through the night started when we weaned night-nursing.
When Wyatt was breastfeeding and we traveled, we co-slept and night nursed, even though he slept through the night at home in his own bed.
After I weaned completely, his sleep while traveling improved drastically.
Sometimes I miss co-sleeping, then I remember how I desperately missed sleep. (But those baby snuggles are nice.)
Teething didn’t really affect Wyatt’s sleep that much. A few nights we noticed a difference when he cut a tooth.
We attempted sleep training a few times, it finally worked at 6 months.
To sleep train we didn’t use one specific method, but a hybrid of the Ferber Method, Weissbluth Method, and our own parental instincts.
Wyatt now sleeps 7am-7pm with no wake-ups.
Next Sunday, for the second post in the sleep series, I’ll highlight Wyatt’s sleep story month-by-month over the past 16 months and include some sample sleep schedules.
What do you think?