The Dreaded...

... Sleep Training.

Over five and a half months of Dinah's life has flashed before my eyes.  It hasn't been easy, to say the least.  She is a picky eater... snacking here and there throughout the day.  She's gained weight slowly and caused her Daddy and me plenty of stress.  But thankfully, she's hitting her milestones and is extremely happy (well, except when I hand her over to someone she isn't too familiar with)!

A couple of weeks ago, I decided it was time to sleep train her to nap in her crib.  She has been sleeping at night in a bassinet in our room.  Having only a small 2-Bedroom home makes it tricky to coordinate nap/bed times with both kiddos.  At least for us.  So we opted to have Dinah in our room and eventually move her to Eloise's room when the time was right.  Before the sleep training began, we were holding her for EVERY nap!  I had several people ask me how I ever got things done.  Well, I didn't.  Or else I'd do them when Cory was home... and I tried to be OK with that because she won't be a baby forever.  I want to soak up the precious moments as long as I can!


 (Meet "Mean Boy")

Because I have a 2 yr old running around, Dinah hasn't been much more than a cat napper.  I bit the bullet though and have been laying her in her crib.  Originally, the plan was to stay in with her and soothe her... walk out for a few minutes and if she was still crying, go in to soothe her again (my own modified version of The Ferber Method).  It worked with Eloise!  Well, that Dinah-girl has a temper!  It turns out that trying to soothe her makes her furious!  Then it just takes that much longer to get her to calm down.  So as much as I hated to do it... we've been "crying it out".  And thank goodness, it's been working.  I truly believe that an almost 6 month old is capable of knowing how to cry to get what they want.  Not that they want to be manipulative... they just want the comfort they are used to!  So... though, it's still a work in progress... we ARE making progress with Dinah.

And it's nice to have some time with just me and Eloise!

When she's not asleep... Dinah has been enjoying her walker!

And of course, Eloise loves play in any way, shape or form!

If you're a mom trying to get your little one to sleep train... don't give up!
There were plenty of times I wanted to pull my hair out or just walk away.... (Ask my sister, I don't know how many times I called boo-hooing to her!)... but if you stay consistent, your baby will learn!  Feel free to email me if you have any questions about exactly how I've been handling it!