Sleeping through the night - oh how I miss thee!

People warned me that having a baby would change my life and I wouldn't get the same amount of sleep I had before....but honestly nothing can prepare you for the lack of sleep that becomes your life after a little one is born. and those out there with more than one child or twins - my hats are off to you!!

Don't get me wrong - I am getting WAY more sleep than I was when she was first born, but I have to say the little stinker spoiled me in October and a little bit in November with her sleeping through the night. Almost all of October she was doing a great job and sleeping in her swing from about 8 or so until 6am. it was so nice!

Nap time at 2 months old

Since she is almost 5 months old and getting a lot bigger I don't feel safe/comfortable having her sleep in her swing all night. she is a little wiggler and I don't want her to hurt herself, not that I really think she could. and just a note when she slept in her swing all night it wasn't moving. So we started moving her to her crib. We are still swaddling her and we had some really good nights where she would sleep from 8 or so until 2 or 3 in the morning and then I would feed her, change her and get her back down and wake her up at 7 to get her ready for the day. I actually didn't mind getting up at 3am, it was late enough in the morning where I could get some good rest from when I went to bed at 10 or 11 and it was early enough where I could get back to sleep after putting her down and get a few more hours before getting up at 6 or 7 to start my day. However this past few weeks haven't been the greatest. I am hoping that it's because of a few things. 1. I think she is teething so that is helping her not sleep the best 2. The holidays were the worst for her routine and since they are now over I am hoping that she will get back into her routine better and thus sleep better at night and 3. She is sick has a bit of a cough and 4. I think she might have started a growth spurt.

This presents challenges. So with the advice of many online friends and friends IRL (In real life) I have done a few things.
1. Created a Nest - No I didn't go out and get a bunch of twigs and branches. I rolled up a sheet, folded it in a U shape and put it under her crib sheet to give her a little "nest" to feel a little more secure in her crib and make her crib not feel so large. They do this in the NICU so I figure it can't hurt. She is still swaddled.

2. I put an open weave blanket (Thanks Sarah!) over her legs to keep her warm but yet feel secure

3. I am not going to rush up there at the first sign of crying like I normally do. This will probably be the hardest on me, but I really have to let her soothe herself. Now if it's 2am or something and she hasn't eaten since I put her down, then I will go in there and feed her and get her back down, but if it's been only a little while then I am going to let her cry for a bit. (5 minutes or so). Not sure if we are going to start that tonight or not. She has been down for 45 minutes so we will see how long she goes before she wakes up....and then I will decide if tonight's the night I want to do it.

4. I have let Daycare know that she can only sleep in her crib. for awhile they were putting her in a bouncer and stuff, so by them doing that I am sure it will help. Luckily she has a pretty consistent nap schedule there so that will help me with keeping a routine here at home at night.

5. Keep her bedtime routine the same (around the same time, between 7 and 8, no later than 9) every night - with the exception of a bath and that will be every other night or every 3 nights. and hopefully that will help her to know that it's going to be the same and she will be safe in her crib.

So that's my plan, I am going to try my hardest to be consistent....wish us luck!