The No-cry Sleep Solution (57 page)

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sleep five or more hours straight, you likely will see that span increasing little by little, night by night. You can help this along by continuing to follow your plan.

It’s important to stick with your plan because your baby’s sleep pattern is newly changed. If you revert back to your old ways, it’s likely that your baby will, too; after all the work you’ve done, that would be very frustrating. Stay with your plan for a while (at least a few weeks) to make sure that the changes “stick.”

Remember that babies’ sleep patterns fluctuate. Don’t be discouraged by an occasional night, or even a week, of sleep disruptions. All kinds of things can affect your baby’s sleep: teething, sickness, vacations, visitors, vaccinations, or simply disruptions to your daily routine. Consistently stick to your plan, and over the next few months you will see your baby’s sleep stabilize into a very comfortable pattern that is less and less affected by daily disruptions.

You may find that, now that your baby is sleeping longer spans, you are continuing to wake up in between these times. This can be the icing on the cake of frustration! If this is the case for you, you will find lots of ideas in Chapter 11.

If you are a breastfeeding mother, this sudden decrease in your baby’s night wakings may cause you some discomfort because of engorgement. You can find solutions on pages 236–238.

Give yourself a pat on the back and give your baby a big hug.

You did it!

If You Have Seen
Some
Success

Congratulations! Even if your baby isn’t sleeping
all
night, I’m sure you’re feeling much better about your baby’s sleep—and yours!

Take some time to think about what has happened since you’ve

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started using your sleep plan. Determine which ideas seem to be working best, and continue with those. Decide if any of the ideas aren’t helping, and modify them or stop using them altogether.

Once you have done this, proceed with your revised plan for ten more days; then, do another log and analysis.

Read though the next section to determine if there are any hidden issues standing in the way of more rapid sleep success.

If You Haven’t Seen Any Positive Changes

I wish I could give you a hug. I know you are feeling very frustrated right now. But take heart. A number of my test mommies didn’t see any changes at first, but once they evaluated what had occurred, reviewed the ideas, and modified their actions they began to see significant improvements. I’ll try to help you figure out why the plan isn’t working for you just yet.

Let’s start by having you consider the possible issues that can block your success.

Have You Followed the Steps?

This book is set up very simply and lays out the approach step by step, in a specific and well-defined order. Is it possible that, in your desperation for sleep, you skipped important information? As an example, Chapter 2 explains how your baby sleeps; without benefit of this information, you won’t understand the logic behind each idea. You may have made customized changes and unknowingly defeated the purpose of the suggestion. I suggest that you read over the first few sections of this book and begin anew. Don’t get discouraged. Many parents have had to restart the plan, and they have gone on to fabulous sleep success, as you will, too.

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If you realize that you’ve been skipping steps, go back to the beginning and fill in your gaps. Refine your plan, and let’s get your baby sleeping!

Have You Chosen the Right Plan?

It is possible that you chose the wrong steps in your plan. Reread Chapter 2, and evaluate whether you’ve selected the most appropriate ideas for you and your baby. Once you’ve figured out which plan you should be following, renew your commitment.

Before now, you were living with your sleep disruptions without understanding them. Now that you’ve been thinking differently about your baby’s sleep, you should be able to look clearly at what’s preventing him from sleeping. Once you identify those issues, you can move forward with a successful sleep plan.

Are You Being Patient?

I know. You’re tired. You want to sleep. Tonight.

Take a deep breath. You can do this. It won’t take forever. If you focus on what’s going wrong instead of what’s going right, you’ll just make yourself miserable, like this anxious test mommy did:

Mother-Speak

“It’s amazing (and depressing) how consistent her waking-up pattern is—she’s up every 1.75 hours. I find the sleeping process to be a lot more frustrating for me now that I am actually trying to fix it. It was easier on me mentally when I had just given up and accepted her constant night wakings.”

Kelly, mother of eighteen-month-old Savannah