Sleep Training - Night 1

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WARNING: This is one of those posts you may choose to skip - but this is our life and that's what this blog is all about!!
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So if you follow the blog...you'll know that Bella has been in our bed since around February of this year! This was something I swore never to do - but it started around the time I went back to work and most nights it was just easier to let her snuggle with me in bed, plus I felt bad for going back to work and them being in daycare when they were used to having Mommy around 24/7 - it was an adjustment for us all. Well - baby #3 will be here in 8 short weeks and this 3-year old (as adorable as she may be and she is quite a good snuggler) has got to get out of our bed!

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So Sunday night was the night to kick it all off! We attempted a nap time run through which ended with her climbing up in my bed while I was napping and snuggling with me. We told them it was bed time and we went into their room (their beds are now pushed together because they both agreed that they wanted one big bed - hey whatever works, right?), we talked and said prayers and then we all laid there together for a few minutes before Brannon and I left. She screamed, of course. We left the door open at this point but each time either of them left the room, we would gently walk them back into the room and put them back in their bed. Well, long story short - I ended up laying down with them until they were both asleep - not exactly what I had planned. Well - then I was up no less than 4 times because Bella would come in our room and say "I want you lay down with me" - so I did. I figured it was the first night and we would ease into this new routine for them (especially Bella). All in all - not a horrible night, but not a great one either.

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On a side note - we were not ones to put our babies to bed awake when they are newborns as everyone suggests. In my case - the baby usually falls asleep nursing, so I'm obviously not waking the baby up just to put her/him to bed awake. At around 9 months - we start the "sleep training" where we start putting the baby in the crib while he/she is awake. With Bella - she cried for over 2 hours the first night (we seriously questioned whether we were tormenting her, or ourselves for that matter), the crying lessened each night and on the twelfth night - there were no tears. Brooklyn was a little older when we started this because of our living situation. Brooklyn maybe cried for 5-10 minutes the first night and very rarely cries at bedtime when we put her in her crib! So we know this works and it just takes a little time - maybe more now that Bella is older and we've already created the habit of her sleeping our bed...

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Stay tuned for updates...Nights #2 and #3 to follow shortly!