In this post, I talked about how difficult the first 10 months of Lucy's life were for us. I feel bad saying that, because we truly love her more than life, but the unpredictable nature of her life was such a struggle. Along with my bouts of postpartum anxiety, were Lucy's bouts of stomach issues (constipation, spit up, food allergies, etc.) and severe ear infections. Because of these different factors, her sleep became more and more sporadic over the months.
Many of my close friends and family know that I have always been pretty confident with my ability to sleep train my kids! I started out reading this book when Ande was a baby, and it worked wonders with all three boys. So when Lucy and I were struggling to get a good night's sleep, I was at a loss because all of my usual tricks weren't working for her. After months and months of hoping that it would all just work itself out, we finally decided to contact a sleep trainer! I didn't even know such a thing existed until recently! I found Pam Nease Sleep Consulting on Instagram a few months ago and very skeptically decided to give them a call!
After our first call with Jessica, our personal consultant, we immediately felt understood and hopeful. We explained our schedule and sleep issues with her in detail, and she created a sleep plan for us that we were to follow for the next two weeks.
Curtis took charge for the first little bit of our training experience, and I'm so thankful he supported me in this! I struggled the first two days! It was SO hard for me to give up control, and I kept trying to "cheat" the sleep plan... but luckily he made sure we stuck to it! Our original nap and bedtime routine wasn't terrible but I was unknowingly doing a few things that made it hard for Lucy to sleep on her own. Like I said in my post about my postpartum anxiety, Lucy and I were attached at the hip!
After two days of following our sleep plan, miracles started happening! I know it sounds corny, but it's so true! On the third night, we woke up at 6 am and were in shock that Lucy hadn't woken up during the night!
During those two weeks of sleep training, we saw so much improvement and any time we had a question or hit a bump in the road, Jessica was just a phone call away with the answers we needed!
I truly am thankful for the help we received from our sleep trainers! I'm so glad I realized that I didn't know everything and asked for help! The thing is, this wasn't just about getting Lucy to sleep through the night. It was about making a change to improve our family life. The tips that we implemented in our sleep plan helped to squelch both Lucy and my anxieties, her fear of strangers (and really anyone that wasn't me) and my need to be in control.
I don't have to be the ONLY one who takes care of her every need now, and it is so freeing. And now we get to finally enjoy every moment of her happy, chatty, and precocious little personality!
Predictability and order in our "sleep life" has allowed us a little fun and unpredictability during our waking hours! This past summer, with the boys home from school, was some of the most fun and relaxing weeks we've had in a long time! We are loving life, and soaking it all in, one squishy little kiss at a time!
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This post is sponsored by Pam Nease Sleep Consultants, but all opinions are 100% my own! If you can't tell already, we loved our experience and are so grateful for Pam's wonderful team!
If you're struggling with getting a good night's sleep from birth to age ten, you can find Pam at any of these locations:
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