Over Thanksgiving we "Ferberized" Miss Ingrid because I couldn't take her sleeping in the bed with me and waking up every hour any more. That had become the standard drill after I returned from Orange County and it was SOOO not okay. The Ferber sleep training method involves putting her to bed, going in after 5 minutes of crying, patting her (not picking her up) then leaving. Then going in after 10 minutes and after 15 minutes. Repeat the 15 minutes until she is asleep and then start over again if she wakes up. The second night, same drill starting with 10 minutes, going to 20. Mike and I took 4 hour shifts during each night. The first night it took less than an hour altogether for her to really fall asleep. She woke several times during the night. The second night she fell asleep in half and hour and barely woke at night. It wasn't necessary to go in to see her because she fell back asleep before the time was up. I thought we would have a week of crying to deal with. Nope. Now she sleeps from 7 or 8 p.m. until about 6 a.m. Often she doesn't wake (or not enough for the baby monitor to wake us up) during the night. When she does, it is usually only for a minute or two around midnight or 3 a.m. I get to sleep. And Mike is no longer in the guest room down the hall. Sanity has returned. These pics are of her current daytime napping technique: bouncy chair, double swaddle, pacifier and musical aquarium. Those Fisher Price scientists are really onto something with that aquarium. Once it is turned on she loses consciousness within minutes. She's had a few naps in the crib (with the swaddle, pacifier and aquarium). I figure we can change one thing at at time with the eventual goal of accoutrement-free napping.
