Changing Seasons

It's funny how things can change so drastically in such a short amount of time. For instance, one day it's eighty five and scorching and the next it's sixty nine and crisp. You can go from being at the beach and living the easy life to being back home juggling schoolwork, chores and photography clients within just a few days. Your baby can be up five times in one night and then, one short week later, be sleeping until six or seven in the morning.

That's where we are, as of today. The weather is perfect, our schedule is more structured but also more free (if you can have both of those at the same time), and mama is  f i n a l l y  getting  s l e e p.

I posted a few days ago about how my sweet Tyler had been up more than a few times in one night and I was basically ready to sleep train the hard way. Then, of course, I tried it and remembered how it did NOT work for us. So, I came up with a plan.

It goes as follows : nurse him to sleep at bedtime as usual. Rock him if he wakes in the night. Try to get him back to his bed without waking him.

I'll admit, the first two nights were rough. Rocking and swaying and shushing while watching the minutes creep by soooo slowly. Then, when I was sure he was good and asleep, laying him back into his bed about an hour later before silently sneaking back to my own. If I'm being honest, I began to second guess myself, thinking that this wasn't going to work out. He was going to end up back in our bed and I was going to be running on half empty for the  r e s t  of my life. . .

But, then the third and fourth night happened. He nursed to sleep. He woke up around 2am. I rocked him and, within about ten minutes, he was back to sleep and in his bed. (insert all the praise hands here) It gets better though! The following few nights, he's slept all night and hasn't woken until early morning around six or seven (spare a night or two in there)! I'm so excited! My baby (I totally almost just typed toddler...) is finally sleeping! And I have absolutely zero guilt in bringing him into our bed for that last hour or two before the big boys get up.

All of that being said, this isn't meant to be a soap box post or shaming post for those mamas who do sleep train. I don't ever want anyone to feel judged or discouraged by anything you read here. I've said it before and I'll say it again, you do what you do and I'll do what I do. We all have to find what works for us, and we shouldn't feel ashamed or judged if someone else doesn't agree with us or if what we're doing doesn't work for someone else.

I am just SO thankful and grateful that this is working so well so far and I thought, why not share my strategy with other mamas who may be struggling the same way I am. If it helps you, that's great! If not, it won't hurt my feelings. I'm rooting for you mama.

I thought I'd include some of our family photos we had done in Myrtle Beach because they just turned out so good. I'll share the rest soon (hopefully before the warm weather is too far gone!) but, until then, have a wonderful Thursday friends!