The Joy and Pain of Sleep Training

I don’t  know what to call the sleep training method my husband and I have been using since the beginning of the year. The cry-it-out method??!! I am not sure. This is because we don’t leave the little one in the room to cry till he falls asleep. His father is always with him. I am the only who leave the bedroom.

It hurts to hear him cry for his momma to come breastfeed him and put him to sleep. The first day was tough. He cried for almost 45 mins before falling asleep on his father’s chest. I was in the bathroom crying internally and questioning if it was worth it.

These days he cries for less than 10 mins before falling asleep on his father’s chest.  Few days ago, he didnt bother crying, he fussed for few seconds and slept.

The beginning of the sleep training process was painful but it is paying off. It is still a work in progress. 

Some of the benefits of sleep training the little one so far includes:

☆ Better and longer sleep time: The little one doesn’t wake up several times to feed at night. That’s more rest for him.

☆ The ability to spend quality time with my husband: With a baby, quality time with my spouse is almost becoming non-existent. We are making conscious effort to keep working on our marriage and focus on each other.

☆ More personal time to do whatever comes to mind.

Looking back at how we started from 45 mins cry time to less than 10 mins reminds me of the importance of perseverance and consistency. If we had given up on day 1 of sleeping training, we would have missed out on the benefits we now enjoy as a family.

There were few days we couldn’t bear hearing the little one cry and ended up giving in by just breastfeeding him in the side-lying position. Those days were very few. I am glad we kept and still keep pushing through as first time momma and poppa.

Sleep training reminds me of Hebrews 12:2-4 and 2 Corinthians 4:17 because both scriptures encourages us to focus on what we want to achieve, not our temporary troubles.

Hebrews 12:2-4 (NKJV)

Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

2 Corinthians 4:17 (NIV)

For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.

These scriptures point to the importance of patience, endurance, discipline, not giving in to instant gratification, being goal-oriented, not quiting, and seeing the bigger picture.

Yes, we have not achieved our goal of getting the little one to sleep through the night. However, we have made a lot of progress and we are already reaping the benefits of sleep training. This is worth celebrating and it’s a joyful thing.