Avery has been sleeping through the night for about 4 weeks now. And let me just tell you its been amazing. I mean just look at her...doesn't she look so comfortable...and peaceful.
After hearing that she's such a good sleeper I've been getting a lot of questions about how I managed to get her to do it...and honestly it wasn't really me...it was her. Babies are so different and most will just sleep when they're ready, but here are a few things I did that might have helped move everything along. If you think its a good idea try it yourself...if you don't then don't do it...simple huh.I'd been trying to keep the same night time routine since she was about 2 1/2 months old. I would give her a bath or just wipe her down with a warm wash cloth. Then change her diaper, lotion her up and put her pajamas on. Then I would feed her. She got used to the routine and started enjoying the whole night much more because she knew what was coming at the end. By the time her feeding was over she'd be drifting off so I'd just lay her down in her bassinet and she'd be off to slumber land.
But she'd still wake up 1-2 times every night to eat some more....I didn't know what I was doing wrong.
But Greg did.
One night Greg said to me, "Why don't you just let her cry a minute and see if she'll go back to sleep. You jump the second she makes a peep...you might be waking her up when she's just making a little noise."
He's a smart man.
So that night instead of jumping up and feeding her I just stuck her pacifier in her mouth and waited. She quieted down in a matter of minutes and was back to sleeping soundly. SCORE! This little routine lasted about 3 days and then she was sleeping through the night regularly.
Some other things that might have contributed to the sleeping are mostly environmental.
1. I let her sleep with her favorite blanket. As you can see from the picture she LOVES it around her face and pulls it up there everynight and then rubs it against her cheeks. So cute.
2. We turn the fan on so that there is constant white noise.
3. I didn't turn on a light when I would feed her and would only use a little plug in nightlight to check on her or feed her if necessary. She got used to sleeping during what we call "the dark time." :)
Anyway now every morning she wakes up like this...oh and please ignore the singing...but thats how I wake her up. Greg sings the same song to her as well so she hears it every morning from one of us.
