Parent to Parent
A âTeachable Momentâ
âAn Explosion of Family Homelessnessâ
The Housing Crisis Created a Boom in First-Time Homeless Families
Ask the Parent!
âHelp! My Sonâs a Lazy Bum!â
The Sexy Sexless Parent
Bedroom Death? Here are Six Tips to Put You Back on the Road to Sexy Town.
You Worry Too Much!
Competitive Sports; Non-Competitive Kids
Build a Better Parent
Sleep Training... for Parents!
True Book Reviews
Raising Boys and Girls: There Is a Difference
Mom, You Are Kind of Weird
Coming Out in Front of Other Parents is One Thing... But What Will the Kids Think?
The Journey to âOhana
How One Grieving Mother Followed Her Vision to Help Other Parents
Dangerous Parenting
My Kid, the Pantywaist
At a year old, my daughter Sarah was sleeping though the night. Yay! Then at 18 months, she started waking up again at 3 amâevery night, for months. Boo! I was tired. I was annoyed. And I was awake.
Why was this happening? What made her start sleeping through the night in the first place? Thinking back, I realized it began when I caught a terrible cold, and slept soundly through the night thanks to a hefty dose of cold medicine. Now, while I wouldnât (officially) recommend taking cold medicine as a sleep aid, one thing could not be ignored: Sarah started sleeping though the night when I started sleeping through the night. If I slept, she slept. So if I didnât want Sarah to keep waking up, it was clearly time to start sleep trainingâfor me.Â
Step One: Timing Is Everything
Thereâs a lot of debate about what age you should begin sleep training. But at 41, I felt more than ready. Seriously, if your baby is under four months, these techniques probably wonât work for you yet. In my case, Sarah was over a year old and developmentally capable of sleeping through the night. Her 3 am wakeups were merely routineâsheâd cry, Iâd come nurse her, sheâd be back asleep within 15 minutes. Weâd fallen into a bad habitâand worse, she had trained me to wake up every night and listen for her cries!
Step Two: Bedtime Routine
You probably already have a bedtime routine for your baby: a bath, cuddles, a stuffed animal. Now turn that same loving attention on yourself. Make your bed as comfy as possible, and replace your phone with a good (trashy) book. Slip into your pajamas and get psyched for a good nightâs sleep!
Step Three: Donât Wake the Baby
This may seem like a no-brainer, but please make sure youâre not doing anything that will wake your baby. I used to have this little ritual where Iâd tiptoe into Sarahâs room at night and make sure she was still breathing. Yes, I was a little neurotic. Not only did that occasionally wake her up right then and there, but I think it contributed to her middle-of-the-night wakefulness. So close that babyâs door (also a good fire safety tip), resist the urge to check on your little monster, and let her sleep!
Step Four: White Noise
When youâre trying to sleep without distraction, fans are your friend. Put one in your room. Put one in your babyâs room. Next, turn down the baby monitor. You want a good balance in terms of noise: You want to hear your child if theyâre genuinely in distress, but you want to tune out any middle-of-the-night âHey, Iâm bored, anyone up for a midnight snack?â fussing.
Step Five: Cry It Out
When all else fails, thereâs always the cry-it-out method. Yes, itâs controversial, especially for todayâs helicopter parents and their special little snowflakes. But Iâm not here to judge: You can cry as much as you like, parents. Tire yourself out!
Fortunately for me (and for Sarah), my sleep training techniques were mostly successful. The combination of these strategies and, frankly, giving myself permission to stop being an all-night milk machine worked like a charm, and I was soon sleeping though the night like a baby. Like my baby!Â