How to Train Your Baby to Sleep
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Good baby sleep is a game changer. Let me say it again. Good baby sleep is a GAME CHANGER!!!! When babies are born there is NO control. NONE! They eat, sleep, pee, poop, cry, rinse, repeat as they wish. It’s a lot of sleep - but it’s a never ending carousel that’s completely exhausting. However, once they’re around 4-5 months old, it all changes with a little thing called - sleep training! And I give all my thanks to Taking Cara Babies for leading me into the beautiful world of the “good sleeper” and regaining some of myself in the process.
I had heard about sleep training from many friends and family and as awful as the reference “sleep training” sounded, I was up for it. Our attempts to get Mila to sleep were painful and exhausting. After Mila was born, I had several people reach out to me about a program called Taking Cara Babies. I had also been seeing posts on social media from friends thanking and praising Cara Dumaplin (the CEO & Founder) for giving them a good sleeper. Cara is a “neonatal nurse, mom of four, and wife of a pediatrician. She has created classes and resources to help babies and parents sleep, allowing them to reclaim the joy of parenthood.”
It was certainly sounding appealing. I initially signed up for the newborn sleep program - First 5 Months. It was so informative! I learned so much about newborn sleep and she provided the guidelines around how to get your 1-5 month old to sleep. At the time, I didn’t have the confidence to follow it to a T (but we did a lot of it) and looking back, I wish I had been more committed. Because when we DID decide to do proper sleep training at 5 months, we followed the program, followed it and committed to it and it worked like a charm! I cannot speak more praise on the 5-24 month sleep training program - ABC’s of Sleep.
The First 5 Months Bundle Includes 2 great programs
Click here to read about the First 5 Months
Creating a Solid Sleep Foundation for Your Newborn
Read our full article specifically written about the First 5 Months Bundle and why it was so effective in setting up a solid sleep foundation.
To take a step back - leading up to our sleep training journey, I was very nervous. I had a few friends from my Mommy & Me group that had already done the sleep training and had great success. I knew it was time but I had hesitations. I figured it was going to be emotionally draining. I did my due diligence, learning about various forms of sleep training to see what felt like the right style for us. There’s lots of sleep training methods out there - just give it a quick Google. I wanted to do it quickly rather than some slow, gradual (and what seemed to me - more painful) process. I had always heard the term “cry it out” and I thought that sounded awful but there had to be something to it.
We decided to purchase the 5-24 Month Collection with Taking Cara Babies. It included both the ABC’s of Sleep (the actual sleep training) as well as Conquering Naps and Bumps Along the Way. The great thing is, once you purchase the program, you have access to view the content for 19 months. I have jumped back in several times for reminders, when we’ve run into issues like:
Vacation travel throwing off the sleep schedule
Sleep regressions
Early morning wakings
For me, one of the biggest benefits of the ABC’s of Sleep program was that it walked me through the experience of sleep training and touched on all the feelings that I might have and how to handle it or what to remember when those feelings arose in the sleep training process. My husband and I watched the ABC’s of Sleep together and we witnessed first hand all the things Cara had prepped us for! It was incredible. As they happened, we’d look at each other and we were on the same page about the plan and how to handle it because we had listened to what Cara had told us! And it worked, everytime.
The first night we sleep trained, I was SO nervous. But it turned out to be far easier than I ever anticipated. We were making many changes all at once:
Mila was moved out of her SNOO (where she had been for 5 months)
Into a new sleep sack
Into a big new crib
Left to fall asleep independently.
And she did it! In under 45 minutes, Mila fell asleep and it only got easier from there.
The 5-24 Month Collection includes 3 very comprehensive programs
If you are ready to get your life back and get away from spending hours rocking, singing, or feeding your baby to sleep. Getting away from bringing your baby into your own bed, where you’d love to just have your own space and freedom. Or even get away from laying with them in the nursery at their crib (or in it) or sitting with them in your arms in a rocking chair. This is the move. You won’t regret it.