Sleep, wonderful sleep

I have always heard and known that each child is a different person with different habits and attitudes. No where in our children is that more apparent than in their sleep habits.

Cora has always been our easy child. By a few months she was only waking up once a night. By around 6 months she was sleeping 11 hours straight. She never stood up in her crib, never threw major fits, and only fussed or fought when she was sick. The entirety of our sleep training with her consisted of a few days, like maybe 2, of letting her cry it out. Then she was fine. We were those parents that others hate to talk to about baby sleep habits. And we knew it. In fact, we used to joke that we shouldn't have more kids because the next would never sleep and be a terror at bedtime.

Foreshadowing, that's what that last sentence was.

Because Rhys. Oh, Rhys. Dear, sweet, happy baby Rhys. At a few months old he was waking up 3 to 4 times a night. By 6 months he was only waking up 2 or 3 times, and the longest stretch of sleep was about 4 hours. Getting him to sleep for both naps and bedtime involved bouncing his 20+ pound self until our knees hurt, then patting him on the back in the crib until he was silent. Then patting some more just to be sure he was asleep. This was after spending months getting away from nursing him to sleep.

Oh, yeah. He'll sleep in a stroller no problem.

Then we hit the dreaded month of February. Back to back double ear infections led to Rhys waking up every hour or so all night long for several nights. And it would take soooo long to get him to fall asleep for nap or bed that by the time we woke up in the morning we were already exhausted! These infections and lack of sleep had pushed us to our breaking point. We called in the big guns.

John and Stephanie.

My brother and his wife went through just about every imaginable sleep training plan out there to get their oldest to sleep on his own. So Friday the 15th we started sleep training. The first few nights and days were tough, but we almost immediately noticed that he was sleeping longer stretches and putting himself back to sleep more easily. Since we started he is only waking up once per night most nights! Even though he gets up between 6 and 7 am, we are rested and happy parents for a change!

One time prior he did fall asleep on his own. In this super comfy position.

Unlike his sister, Rhys protests going to sleep. First he just sat up all the time, as that was his favorite game. He even fell asleep sitting up a few times.

Trust me, you really want to click to see this one bigger.

Then he figured out how to stand holding on to things other than his parents' hands. Oh, man. This has caused no end of frustrations for me and Geoff. But, it seems after a few days that the novelty of standing is wearing off, and he is more apt to lay down and go to sleep. When he can figure out how to sit himself back down that is, a skill we are working on in earnest.

He's a standing and crying mess.

So tonight, after 12 days and nights of sleep training ,we had the best bedtime ever. Sang him a song, kissed his little head, and left the room. No standing, no crying. The tiniest bit of fussing, and then nothing. Asleep in probably 10 minutes. I tell ya, it's a miracle! Now I'm off to knock on some wood so the rest of the night will go smoothly.