For this month’s blog post, I’ve decided to do something a little different.
Today I want to share Allison’s story and her journy to sleep training.
The best part? It is in her own words.
Allison first contacted me when her twins were 4 months old. Like many Mom’s when we first chat, Allison was hesitant about sleep training and about hiring a sleep consultant. Maybe you can relate?
Enough from me. Let’s give the floor up to Allison.
Written by Mama Allison herself:
The Background:
When the babies were around 4 months old, I was starting to lose it a little bit. I’m a very routine person, and it had been four months of no real schedule. We would put the babies down at 8 p.m. every night, but we had no real control of how the night was going to go. The babies were never terrible sleepers. They would both sleep for decent stretches some nights, but having two of them, I was still getting up multiple times for nighttime feedings.
Because I never knew how the night would go, I would feel very anxious when bedtime was coming and I didn’t want to get my husband up at night with me. I was exclusively breastfeeding and he had to go to work the next day, so I felt the nighttime wakings were on me. Most nights I was exhausted. I can remember being so worried I would fall asleep in the middle of a feeding and a baby would end up on the nursery floor. Nights were hard and long.
But days were harder and longer lol. I was stressed from the minute we would wake up and I was trying to anticipate how the day would go. What should it look like? What would it actually look like? I needed a schedule, but I just couldn’t figure out what that schedule would look like.
I didn’t know why they weren’t napping as long as I knew they needed to be. Were they hungry? I tried feeding right before their nap to see if that would lengthen naps. Didn’t work. And then when I would get the occasional long nap, I was trying to think what happened today to get this long nap?
I was spending sooooo much time rocking babies to sleep. I would finally get one baby to sleep, and by the time I would get the second baby to sleep, the other baby was already waking up. This was leaving me with zero time for myself to try to eat, shower or get dressed.
The Action:
I had been flip-flopping at that point for probably about a month on whether or not sleep training was right for us. After talking to Christine about what I could expect from sleep training and what my goals were, I finally made the decision that we were going to try it.
I scheduled my consult with Christine, and we were excited to get started. After the phone consultation, I cried. I was sick to my stomach thinking my baby was going to wake up on night 1, and I wasn’t going to feed them or rock them like I had been every night for the last five months. With the support of my husband, and Christine at our side, we got through those first couple of nights, and I am so thankful we did.
The Result:
Both babies blew us away with how quickly they figured out how to fall back asleep on their own without those nighttime feedings. Within just a few nights, both babies were sleeping 7:00 pm to 7:00 am and napping just as we were hoping. We stuck to the plan and never looked back. Both babies were sleeping through the night at 5 months old, and along with the nighttime sleep, they were having solid hour and a half-ish naps. Before I knew it, this perfect schedule had fallen into place. I no longer had to try to guess if my babies were tired or hungry or bored. I knew, and they knew, what the routine was and everyone was happy.
What Life Looks Like Now (9 months later):
Valentine and Loretta are now 14 months. Through travelling, teething, colds, fevers, they have had no trouble sleeping whether it was naptime or bedtime. They have both slept through the night, every night, since we finished the 2 weeks with Christine.
People often tell me how lucky we are that they are such good sleepers, but I know it has nothing to do with luck. I attribute so much in our lives to the sleep training. People often compliment us on what good, happy babies we have. I believe that they are happy because they are well rested, not fussy and crabby because they are tired.
Stats:
- Mother: Allison
- Children: Valentine and Loretta
- Age: 5-Month-old twins
- Package Purchased: 2-week full support – over the phone consultation
This story is not an uncommon one.
There is not one parent that I work with that doesn’t feel some apprehension or worry after we are done the one hour consultation.
Sleep training can feel overwhelming and this is what I am here for.
You do not have to do this alone.
If you feel hesitant to reach out to make the change in your family, feel comfort that every parent I’ve talked to feels that same reluctance.
You can do this, and I’ll be there every step of the way guiding you.
99% of my clients have come back to report that night one went better then they thought.
Do not let a couple nights of potential protesting trump a lifetime of lasting healthy sleep habits.
Thank you Allison for sharing your story. It was an absolute blast working with you and the twins.
With Love,
Christine
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