Let's Talk Sleep

Let’s Talk Sleep.

In the past 8 months I have learned more about sleep (sleep patterns, sleep cycles, sleep regressions) than I could have imagined.

When a baby enters your family sleep honestly becomes one of the biggest points of conversation because it can make or break your day (and night!).

As I’ve mentioned before, Ford was a pretty good night sleeper from 1-3 months but then he hit the 4m regression and we spiraled until we went through a great sleep training process at 5m. Beyond the nights, his day time naps were a mess until about 6m when he naturally started taking naps lasting longer than 30 minutes and finally in his crib (previously I gave him 5 naps a day in his stroller, yes I walked him 5 times a day in the winter… what we do for sleep is CRAY).

On top of the craziness of baby sleep, mom’s (and sometimes dad’s) sleep turns crappy too. For me the postpartum anxiety I experienced made the nights tough even when Ford was in a good phase sleeping well. Luckily in time the hormones normalized a bit and I got back to a more healthy sleeping routine but it was tough for a while.

We did however find a few really helpful tools (besides the sleep training for Ford which I would highly recommend!) and they all came from Marpac!

1) The Marpac Rohm sound machine. We actually started with the Dohm which is also great but then we got a Rohm for his naps on the go (since all of his naps were on the go) and we quickly fell in love with that particular model and ended up buying a few of them. We NEVER leave the house if we are going somewhere during a nap or he is spending the night elsewhere without one because it is the NUMBER ONE thing he associates with sleep IMO. I honestly think if I put him in a crib without his sleep sack or his blankie but he still had the Rohm he would be fine (actually if I need him to wake up because he has way overslept the way I do it is turning the sound machine off, and instantly he wakes). Also, now I even sleep with one by my side of the bed!

2) The YogaBed. This mattress is heaven. I love the fact that we can easily unzip the cover and toss it in the wash and it’s just SO dang comfy. I only wish I had had it during pregnancy when I also had crappy nights of sleep for lack of getting comfortable.

3) The Marpac Yogasleep Weighted Blanket. My husband bought these when I was in the depths of my anxiety and although I can’t say it cured my anxiety it definitely has a calming effect. I mean you put this thing over you on the couch and you should just accept that you aren’t going to be getting up anytime soon.

Anyways I wanted to share these things with you because they made a difference for us and any little bit helps!

PS in case you’re wondering: Ford hit the 4m sleep regression hard after being a pretty good sleeper. So at 5m we started sleep training with a great coach and in about a week he was down to just one dream feed, putting himself to sleep. After 6 weeks we dropped the dream feed & he started going the whole night all on his own. Around 5.5m we started nap training and it took a couple weeks but he finally consolidated his sleep cycles to sleep for longer than 30 minutes (and in the crib!!). At 7m we dropped the 3rd catnap and got on the 9am & 2pm nap schedule. He has done so well with this which is AMAZING because for the first 5 months of his life he only took 30 minute naps and only in the stroller! If you are struggling DM me and I can share our sleep coach’s info!