Sleep Training

As much as I have enjoyed having Iyla sleeping in my bed for the last few weeks tonight is the night that the first step is being taken to hopefully have her back in her room and sleeping in her cot. Having her in my bed was great for a while as it meant I didn’t have to get up in the night but unfortunately it has made problems worse as she now wants my nipple in her mouth pretty much ALL night. As well as this meaning that no one sleeps properly I also think that it is a major cause of the problems in my previous post due to her being so full up from the continuous night time feeding.

'Let me out'

So after speaking with a sleep expert that @the_moiderer very kindly set up for me I have the confidence and an exact plan on what I need to do. My aim for this week is to get her to sleep in her cot even if its just for 20 mins and to try and get her to do this me and OH have to take it in turns sitting next to her cot and put her down for 2 mins then pick her up for 2 mins. It sounds so easy but apparently we have to be prepared for the fact it can take hours but she said after 3 nights we should see an improvement. She also said to put cotton wool in my ears as this blocks the part that is so badly affected by crying.
I was really hoping there would be some other solution but I have tried everything and all its done is make it worse, I feel guilty because if I hadn’t always fed her to sleep in the beginning or ended up falling asleep with her in my bed then it might not have come to this but its so hard at 3am when you are so exhausted.
To be honest I am finding it hard to believe that my complete insomniac of a daughter who at 2.30am this morning sat up laughing and then tried to crawl of the end of the bed is ever going to be able to fall asleep on her own but I guess we shall find out…….
The sleep expert told me to write a list of the reasons why I need to do this so here goes:
•so we can all get some proper sleep and wake up feeling refreshed instead of tired and grumpy
•so Iyla can learn to fall asleep by herself which is so important for her independence
•so I can have an evening to relax and spend some time with my OH
•and finally so I will be less stressed and tired so will therefore be a better mum.

'No, I won't go to sleep in here'