How We Do Sleep
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As anyone who has read this blog probably knows, we are not sleep experts by any means. But we have found a system that mostly works for us, and products that make everything easier. Since we are about to bring baby 3 into the mix I thought I would share it here. Teething, sickness and growth spurts always get in the way, but here is the gist of what we do.
OUR ROUTINES
When Esther was a baby we tried a lot of sleep training and although we saw some improvement it never really worked and caused a lot of grief and heartache. Since then I've learned that it's just so much easier for my to nurse to sleep. Breastmilk is biologically designed to make babies sleepy, and it's just so easy. I'm glad I've been able to breastfeed and have that tool to use. With Adele I let go of the thoughts that I was creating bad habits, or ruining her and just nursed her to sleep. After about 8 months we introduced Leland rocking her to sleep. She slept through the night all on her own starting at 10 months. Then once I weaned I started rocking her to sleep also. Rocking stopped working as my belly got to big to be comfortable, so we have started laying with her. We basically followed the same progression with Esther and it worked well. Eventually she was ok with us sitting in a chair next to her bed instead of laying with her, and now she is (mostly) ok with falling asleep alone in her room. Nursing-->Rocking-->Laying-->Sitting-->Falling asleep alone. This method has been gentle enough for us to feel comfortable, but if at anytime they are playing and not cooperating then we tell them "I will come back when you're ready to sleep" and leave them in the crib or bed. We always come back in very quickly and after one or two times they are usually ready to sleep. Again I'm not saying this is the best method, just what works for us and I'll probably follow the same with baby #3.
We also implement a bedtime routine, and start early. Usually about 6:15. We try to have Adele in her bed by 7. Lately we've been reading longer to Esther and have her lights out around 7:30. With the time change it's been harder to stick to this, but an early bedtime has always worked great for us.
We try to follow this chart and when my babies are small I especially try to make sure they never go more than 2 hours without a nap. We have learned it is much easier to get them to sleep before they are overtired.
1. Swaddles: We are big fans of swaddling. I get a little nervous about using blankets since they can get out and the blanket can cover their face. So we use these 
when they are small. We got this
one when Adele was a few months old since the little chunk outgrew all the other swaddles. It worked great and always helped her sleep longer. Now we use this 
wearable blanket with Adele and we love it. I wish we had one with Esther when she was a toddler since she would always get out of her blankets and wake up cold.
2. Sound Machines: We are definitely a sound machine family. We have this
one for Adele and it works well. (They no longer make the one we use for Esther.) When Esther was a baby we lived in small apartments with noisy neighbors and dogs so it was a must to get her to nap. Now it's not so necessary but it's nice to have. It is also nice to be able to take when we travel, to give them a familiar sleep cue and hopefully help them sleep better. Plus it's nice to not have to tiptoe around when the baby is napping.
3. Bed Rail: A few months ago it started getting harder and harder for me to rock Adele to sleep and then bend over her crib rail to lay her down. We had planned to keep her in a crib until she climbed out but it wasn't working anymore. One day I got fed up so we took the front rail off her crib and replaced it with this
. I have loved it so far. Now I can swing the rail down and lay with her until she is asleep (probably way over the weight limit of the crib but it hasn't broken yet so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯) then I can slip away once she is asleep and put the rail back up so she doesn't fall out. I'm sure we'll get more use out of it when we transition her to a big girl bed.
4. Night Light: My mom bought Esther this cat night light
a while ago and Esther loves it. Neither of my girls has ever claimed to be afraid of the dark, but I just like having a night light to be able to see whenever we need to go in to help them at night. I like that this one is rechargeable and it's held up well to lots of playing with.
5. Video Monitor: A video monitor is definitely a luxury not a necessity, but it makes our lives so much easier. We bought this one
when we moved into this house and man I never knew what I was missing out on. I love the peace of mind being able to see them sleep, and it automatically switches between them all night long. I can talk to them through it and it even works in our back yard so we can go out during nap time. I also like that it's not on wifi so I don't have to worry about it getting hacked. The best part is when we watch movies down stairs after bedtime we don't have to walk all the way up to check on them. We can just look at the monitor and see if they are going back to sleep or not. #lazyparenting
Anyways this was long so thanks to whoever read it all. We will probably be thrown for a loop with baby #3 but I'm realllly hoping I get an easy sleeper. Third time's the charm right?
As anyone who has read this blog probably knows, we are not sleep experts by any means. But we have found a system that mostly works for us, and products that make everything easier. Since we are about to bring baby 3 into the mix I thought I would share it here. Teething, sickness and growth spurts always get in the way, but here is the gist of what we do.
OUR ROUTINES
When Esther was a baby we tried a lot of sleep training and although we saw some improvement it never really worked and caused a lot of grief and heartache. Since then I've learned that it's just so much easier for my to nurse to sleep. Breastmilk is biologically designed to make babies sleepy, and it's just so easy. I'm glad I've been able to breastfeed and have that tool to use. With Adele I let go of the thoughts that I was creating bad habits, or ruining her and just nursed her to sleep. After about 8 months we introduced Leland rocking her to sleep. She slept through the night all on her own starting at 10 months. Then once I weaned I started rocking her to sleep also. Rocking stopped working as my belly got to big to be comfortable, so we have started laying with her. We basically followed the same progression with Esther and it worked well. Eventually she was ok with us sitting in a chair next to her bed instead of laying with her, and now she is (mostly) ok with falling asleep alone in her room. Nursing-->Rocking-->Laying-->Sitting-->Falling asleep alone. This method has been gentle enough for us to feel comfortable, but if at anytime they are playing and not cooperating then we tell them "I will come back when you're ready to sleep" and leave them in the crib or bed. We always come back in very quickly and after one or two times they are usually ready to sleep. Again I'm not saying this is the best method, just what works for us and I'll probably follow the same with baby #3.
We also implement a bedtime routine, and start early. Usually about 6:15. We try to have Adele in her bed by 7. Lately we've been reading longer to Esther and have her lights out around 7:30. With the time change it's been harder to stick to this, but an early bedtime has always worked great for us.
We try to follow this chart and when my babies are small I especially try to make sure they never go more than 2 hours without a nap. We have learned it is much easier to get them to sleep before they are overtired.
I don't sleep well when kids are in our bed (though Adele was in bed with us for her first 7 months) so for us rocking them or sitting with them is easier and we all get more sleep. Luckily they've both been good about staying in their bed and have learned that we will come to them if they need us in the night.
PRODUCTS WE LOVE
when they are small. We got this
one when Adele was a few months old since the little chunk outgrew all the other swaddles. It worked great and always helped her sleep longer. Now we use this 
wearable blanket with Adele and we love it. I wish we had one with Esther when she was a toddler since she would always get out of her blankets and wake up cold. 2. Sound Machines: We are definitely a sound machine family. We have this
one for Adele and it works well. (They no longer make the one we use for Esther.) When Esther was a baby we lived in small apartments with noisy neighbors and dogs so it was a must to get her to nap. Now it's not so necessary but it's nice to have. It is also nice to be able to take when we travel, to give them a familiar sleep cue and hopefully help them sleep better. Plus it's nice to not have to tiptoe around when the baby is napping. 3. Bed Rail: A few months ago it started getting harder and harder for me to rock Adele to sleep and then bend over her crib rail to lay her down. We had planned to keep her in a crib until she climbed out but it wasn't working anymore. One day I got fed up so we took the front rail off her crib and replaced it with this
. I have loved it so far. Now I can swing the rail down and lay with her until she is asleep (probably way over the weight limit of the crib but it hasn't broken yet so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯) then I can slip away once she is asleep and put the rail back up so she doesn't fall out. I'm sure we'll get more use out of it when we transition her to a big girl bed. 4. Night Light: My mom bought Esther this cat night light
a while ago and Esther loves it. Neither of my girls has ever claimed to be afraid of the dark, but I just like having a night light to be able to see whenever we need to go in to help them at night. I like that this one is rechargeable and it's held up well to lots of playing with. 5. Video Monitor: A video monitor is definitely a luxury not a necessity, but it makes our lives so much easier. We bought this one
when we moved into this house and man I never knew what I was missing out on. I love the peace of mind being able to see them sleep, and it automatically switches between them all night long. I can talk to them through it and it even works in our back yard so we can go out during nap time. I also like that it's not on wifi so I don't have to worry about it getting hacked. The best part is when we watch movies down stairs after bedtime we don't have to walk all the way up to check on them. We can just look at the monitor and see if they are going back to sleep or not. #lazyparentingAnyways this was long so thanks to whoever read it all. We will probably be thrown for a loop with baby #3 but I'm realllly hoping I get an easy sleeper. Third time's the charm right?
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