This book may just be the bible on sleeping.

Sleep begets sleep. That's what Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child says. I have to say, I was skeptical of "sleep training" and all these methods out there. From the time Cam was a month old, we set up a routine on our own, putting him down by about 7 or 7:30pm and having him nap twice a day -- once a couple hours after waking (cause that's what everyone seems to agree on) and then once in the afternoon when I noticed him getting tired. That seemed to work well until Cam decided rolling over in the middle of the night was fun and we had to unswaddle him. Since the unswaddling, he's been getting up much more frequently during the night, making me doubt what we've been doing (patting him to sleep, giving him a pacifier if he wakes up and needs it, feeding him twice a night around midnight and then at 5am).

So, I caved and bought this book. After reading it, I honestly thought that there wasn't much in it to help me. Cam's pretty much on the same schedule the book recommends and a lot of the strategies seem to be for babies who are put to bed really late and/or don't nap at all. However, there are two things that the book recommends that we don't do:

1) We don't have Cam take an early afternoon nap. Usually it's late afternoon -- between 3-5pm. The book recommends a mid-morning (which we do), early afternoon (between 12pm and 2pm) and then the late nap is variable.

2) The book encourages "cry it out" methods. It says it doesn't, but really it does. We've been trying to figure out when to go to Cam when he cries and when to let him figure it out on his own. Everyone, even Dr. Brazelton, says not to rush in at the first sound. But the problem with the vagueness of this statement is: How are you suppose to know what's a sound of, "I'm cranky but can learn to soothe myself back to sleep" and what's a sound of "I need help, respond to my need?" Honestly, the only way to figure this out is to let your child "cry it out" for a bit. Only then can you see if he's able to soothe himself or if he really needs your help. Up until now, we've been going in pretty quickly to pat him back to sleep or give him a pacifier. I thought that if I just didn't take him out of his crib, that he'd eventually figure out how to soothe himself. Clearly, that hasn't been the case.

So, today I decided to apply the above two strategies and see what happens. Cam got up around 8am this morning. At 9:45am, I held him, sang him a lullaby and then put him down awake as I always do in his crib. But then instead of staying with him, patting him to sleep, I left the room and closed the door behind me. He talked a bit, then started fussing and once in awhile would "cry," but it wasn't a piercing cry like he really needed me. I stood outside his door and listened to see if this was going to escalate or subside. Miraculously, after 5 minutes Camden was quiet and asleep!! He slept for 2 1/2 hours! Wow.

He got up at about 12:30pm. We played, he ate, I changed his diaper -- all the same as other days. He was happy and smiley. Seemingly my normal little boy. At about 2:00pm I started to notice him complain a little. Hmm....I wonder if he's getting tired already? I let him go until 2:15 and decided to try and put him down for a nap. Same drill, lullaby then down awake in his crib shutting the door behind me. He fussed for 5 minutes and again, fell asleep on his own!

I am becoming a believer!! The book says that when babies have a consistent schedule and take good naps, that they sleep better at night -- sleep begets sleep. The true test will be tonight. Will Cam sleep better because he isn't overtired? (And I honestly don't think he's even THAT overtired to begin with) Is this Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child guy truly a genius? We'll see tonight! If it works, I will forever praise this book and recommend it to every mother I meet!

Stay tuned...

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