First off, I am NOT a baby sleep trainer professional. This is strictly based on a whole bunch of research I personally did as I was preparing to become a stay at home mom after the birth of our son two and a half years ago.
I was so so excited, but also a little nervous about becoming a stay at home Mom. For me, it was a huge transition leaving my marketing career. I truly loved the vibe of working downtown. While I valued my career, I always knew I wanted to be a stay at home Mom. I always wanted to be around/play with our kids, manage a household and have our own set routine.
Routine…that was one common theme I read about via Pinterest searching other SAHM routines. In the months prior to my last day of work – I Googled, researched and pinned all sorts of things that would assist me with my new “career”.
One thing I found was the 90 minute rule. There is a book out there ( I have not read it, but judging by the amount of pins I saw referring this method, I assume they read it or got spark notes for it!) Basically it is following baby’s natural sleep cycle. Baby sleeps for 90 minutes and once baby is awake, you start the clock up again for 90 minutes. During that 90 minutes of awake time, baby will play, breastfeed/bottle feed, eat, any combination of things during that time and then it is time to start the cycle over again!
This worked very well for my second son. I was able to read his sleep cues and rarely confused them with hunger cues (sometimes the fussiness leaves you having absolutely no clue what they want!)
Fast forward…
In the first week of January, while my husband was still off from work, I decided to try and get baby T on a sleep schedule. He was such a great sleeper from birth-3 months, then we started paying for our lack of routine during the months following. He hadn’t slept in his crib, we rarely rocked him to sleep and he was co-sleeping at night (and still is).
We utilized Alexa and started setting timers every time we put T down for a nap and then set another 90 minute timer when he was awake! The crazy thing, his sleep times were consistent EVERY.SINGLE.DAY (especially during the “catnap” stage) which I talk about below…
NOTE: our son has stretches where he stays up longer than 90 minutes. You will see that in the PDF schedule below. You will figure out the sleep/awake times that work best for your baby with time!
A couple things to note when trying to get your infant to follow a routine:
Sickness/teething can be a major sleep interruption
Our son got diagnosed with RSV/Bronchiolitis right after I started doing this. He was very uncomfortable and naps in his crib were not happening.
Follow the same schedule everyday – REGARDLESS
As I mentioned above – we would set a 90 minute timer on Alexa. We found that at the 30 minute mark EVERY DAY he would wake. I looked online to see what the catnaps were all about, and one major factor that can lead to catnapping is sickness. I gave him a hall pass for this week of torture, but eventually once he started feeling better we were getting hour-90 minute naps. Just because he took 30 minute naps, didn’t necessarily mean this wasn’t working. I would just try again later in the day and keep my daily routine consistent – it paid off when he started feeling better!
Try to make the “perfect” sleep environment
In order to make sure this would work – I would make sure his diaper was changed, he had ate/drank, room darkening shades drawn, lullabies/sound machine on and had everything he needed if he was sick (Tylenol/meds in (if needed), humidifier running, bed propped).
Be Persistent
The phrase “Mommy knows best” that’s what I remind myself every time he fusses or fights it. Pick baby up, rock him again, burp him, give a bottle, diaper change – do anything to soothe baby. If that doesn’t work, I let him cry (it makes him tired) – go back and try soothing again. Don’t give up just yet!
Something that works for me – my son would startle right as I laid him down in the crib – I used my Mom’s technique of leaving my hands pressed slightly on his body so he could still “feel” I was there. 9/10 times he will be asleep in seconds. I also make sure his arms and hands are flat on the crib. I literally will take them and press them into the mattress, this way he won’t startle himself when they fall to the crib!
Download a free baby sleep schedule printable below:
Do not give up if the routine is not working for you after a week. It will take some time and you also need to consider other outside factors that could be affecting his/her sleep. Be patient, be consistent and try again in a couple hours/the next day following the schedule that works for you! You will learn what your baby needs and truly be able to respond to the proper need as most of the time the “symptoms” of sleep, hunger, dirty diapers can all be the same!
Wishing you luck, babies are TOUGH, but once a solid routine is set, it is amazing what it will do for you and your baby when you know what to expect every day!
Follow me on Instagram @lisastwocents
Pinterest https://www.pinterest.com/mytwocentsblog/
Follow my blog with Bloglovin
