I’ve been looking forward to this day for months and months now. The day when I could share with you that my baby is soundly sleeping through the night. I assumed that she would do it pretty much on her own, just as her sister did around 6 weeks of age.
Long story short, I couldn’t have been more wrong, and as Layah got older, she seemed to get worse and worse at putting herself to sleep and at staying asleep. She had absolutely no clue how to do either and Tim and I were at a loss for how to teach her.
One of the many reasons I am so thankful for the Stuff Parents Need community is that I not only get to be a resource for all of you, but all of you pay it back by becoming a resource for me when I need it. I reached out on Facebook asking for tips and suggestions for getting a little one to sleep through the night. On both my Stuff Parents Need Facebook account and my personal account, the Sleepeasy Solution was mentioned and lauded, so I decided to check it out.
I had a great email conversation with one of the founders, and I could immediately tell that she felt a true calling to helping parents through the sleep troubles that plague so many infants and toddlers. I decided that I wanted to try out the system, and was sent a book and DVD.
Now, to be honest with you, I wondered if it was redundant to have the DVD and the book. I remember thinking, “just one or the other should be fine!” And you definitely can get a complete understanding of the system by just having one or the other, but I’m SOOOO glad I had both, and I’ll tell you why.
The book is great for some of the nitty gritty questions you may have. I definitely referenced it a few times as we ran into specific problems when trying to implement the system. On night two of our training, we had some major fails, and it was only after going back through the book and re-reading some sections that we realized a critical error we were making (we tried to wean Layah off night feedings too quickly).
And the DVD is something I would recommend SO strongly, as I can’t even begin to explain how helpful it was to watch parents implementing the system, and to see coaching taking place during those difficult moments. You guys, I cried and cried watching that DVD because I empathized with the struggles of the parents, and because I felt a glimmer of hope as I watched those babies get the hang of it and put themselves to sleep. I wanted that so badly for my little girl, and by watching the process, I was better able to accept what we needed to do.
So what is the process? The Sleepeasy Solution emphasizes a very predictable bedtime routine for your little one (something we thoughts we were doing but after watching the DVD, realized we totally WEREN’T doing!). It also emphasizes removing sleep crutches (no falling asleep on the breast, no falling asleep with a pacifier, no falling asleep on mommy or daddy). Tim had been walking the top floor of our house for months with Layah at night time, swooshing and bouncing her to get her to fall asleep. He’d have to do it 2-4 times a night. And she always had a pacifier at sleep time.
The removal of the pacifier scared me more than anything else. But it also excited me more than anything else, because we didn’t do the hard work with Darah when we should have, and as a result, she gave up her binky on her third birthday, and it was an ORDEAL. Could we really break the pacifier habit AND get Layah sleeping through the night all at once?!?!
The final component of the Sleepeasy Solution is to put your baby in the crib awake so that she falls asleep on her own. At first, of course your baby will cry. You are set up to go in after 5 minutes, again after 10 minutes, and then again every 15 minutes until the baby falls asleep. This is the hardest part because when you go in, you are not to touch your child. You are to have a soft, calm and very positive voice and simply let the baby know you are there, they are safe, and that they can do it.
I think one of the most difficult things for a parent to do is to watch their child struggle. Every bone in your body aches to fix it for your kid. But for us, 7 months of “fixing” her struggle at night time resulted in such sleep-deprivation for me and for Tim that we genuinely felt uncomfortable driving our cars. Our reflexes were impaired. And to say we were grumpy with each other would be a very kind way to put it. Without a very basic need like sleep being met, it is hard to give time or energy to higher order pursuits. In short, we were miserable and our baby was, too.
It took us 4 days for Layah to really get the hang of putting herself to sleep, but she’s got it, now. We don’t nurse or bottle feed after bed time anymore (another thing we were doing at all hours of the night previously). She doesn’t use a pacifier to sleep, and she sleeps from about 6:30 -5:30 every day now. She seems so much more rested and alert during the day and I can tell you that Tim and I are finally coming out of that fog of sleep-deprivation.
It is nothing short of glorious. I am so thankful to my readers for recommending this program and I am so glad that Tim and I put in the hard work for a few days so that we could totally turn around all the bad sleep habits we had unwittingly introduced our daughter to over time. We are all happier and healthier.
Win it!: One lucky Stuff Parents Need reader will win a Sleepeasy Solution book and DVD!
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Be sure to enter my other great giveaways, found on the sidebar of my page.
I received complimentary products for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions expressed here are strictly my own.
This would be for my wife, she always has a hard time sleeping.
This would be for a close friend who is expecting
i would love to give this to my sister!
For our family
mightynaynay(at)cs.com
For my sister in law, she has a 3 yrd old and one due in 3 wks!
For my husband and I. We have an almost 9 month old son that keeps us up at all hours.
I’d like to try.
Definitely for my husband and me as we begin this journey!
For me… my daughter will be 1 year old later this month and its definitely time to figure something out to get her to sleep well at night!
Definitely for me! My son is 21 mo. & still wakes 2-4 times a night!
Oops! Didn’t fill out my contact info and name in the previous comment. See! I’m sleep deprived!
“I would use the book for myself! My son is 8 months old and wakes up 3-4 times every night. I would love to sleep more than 3 hours at a time for once!”
I would use the book for myself! My son is 8 months old and wakes up 3-4 times every night. I would love to sleep more than 3 hours at a time for once!
My husband and I would use this!
It would be for us.
Id use it for my friend
This would be for my Grandson….and my daughter
pattifritz2000 at yahoo dot com
thank you
Would be for my grandkids.
I would keep and read this. I have a 2 year old that wakes frequently and an 11 month old that is up all through the night as well.
I would keep this to help with 2 of are little people-lol
We need this for our daughter
About to have baby #4, the first 3 never slept 🙁 So it would be for us.
I have a one year old that still won’t put her self to sleep–I know, major mommy fail, but I hope this can help!
This would be for my family
This would be for me and my husband and our 9 month old son. My first was awful with sleeping (we did not sleep train at all so I totally blame it on us) and he was about 3 when he finally started sleeping through the night. I thought we were on the right track with this little guy because at 2 months he was sleeping through the night. Then he kept getting sick and now it’s every 2-4 hours that he is waking up! Definitely need something because I am very sleep deprived!
I totally understand where you are…it’s where we were just a few weeks ago! If you don’t win this giveaway, I really can’t say enough positive things about this program and want to encourage you to check it out. I feel as though I have a new lease on life now! Good luck!
A friend that is expecting twins.
this would be for me. My first was easy to bed, but I fear my second wont and I know I’ll need help.
This would be for me!!
I would use it for my daughter
This would be for my sister in law who has a 1 yr old daughter and a newborn son
My friend who is having twins!
This book would be for my friend Alic who’s daughter just passed away. Alice is raising her daughters three little girls.
I would use it for my daughter
for my infant and for us (parents!)
I’m 6 days away from my due date an this looks like something we need for sure i hope we get it because the things in life like this just make it easier.
I would choose this for me and my 8 month old twins! : )
She sleeps from 630pm to 530am????? That’s amazing! This would be for me to break my little bird from the paci at sleeptime!
ME! I’ve got a 2.5 year old little dude who does NOT sleep!
This would be for me and my husband. We were SO lucky to have my daughter sleeping through the night at a few weeks old. Our son is now 5 months old… and we’re being woken several times a night! 🙁 This would be so helpful!
This would be for me! …and Quinn. It took forever to get him to give up nighttime nursing…by ten months he was mostly done with that and slept pretty well until the past couple weeks. Now it is a fight to get him to sleep every night…he wants to be held and never put down. Most of the time he sleeps through the night after the hour it takes to get him to sleep but sometimes he decides to get up at 1 or 3 am and party for a few hours…so exhausting!
This would be for my Daughter and her 1 year old. MAN oh MAN do they need this!! Thank you for the chance!
This would def be for me and then i would let a friend use it. This is well needed around here
This would be for a friend of mine expecting her first.
Me. Our baby is due any day & I know we could use this!
Congratulations and best of luck!
This would be for my cousin and her daughter!
I’d use this for myself. Helloooo 4-month sleep regression.
I would love this for my new baby in February.
This would be for my daughter!
This would go to my co-worker. She is so tired everyday and needs her baby to sleep.
This would be for my daughter.
This would be for my little grandson.
I would probably want it for me and/or my sisters.
my 9 month old son (and us parents)…