11 hours and 20 minutes of heaven

Just one month ago, I was a miserable momma of a miserable baby who was over tired, completely reliant on me, and frustrated at every nap and ALL.THROUGH.THE.NIGHT. My young, sweet boy made it a full year without ever getting more than 3-5 hours of sleep. Granted, for months and months and months, he was a happy, snuggly sleeper who I enjoyed sharing my bed with. He slept pretty steadily minus nursing breaks, and I did too. We got so good at it that we could both sleep. Then, he turned a year and was eating more and more and he didn't need as much milk. But he still woke up. He wasn't thirsty or hungry, but since he was up, he figured we should play.

On April 29th, I made the following post (plea?) on the Baby Whisperer Forums. NW= NIght Waking, EW = Early Waking, BT = Bedtime, A time = Activity Time,

31  SLEEP / Sleeping For Toddlers / 13mo never STTN on: April 29, 2012, 03:22:08 AM BACKGROUND: I successfully BW him to a good EASY around 7 months and stopped nursing to sleep but still had to stand over his crib for him to fall asleep. With teething and weaning, things are just out of hand. On a good day (very rare lately), here is how our schedule goes: 6:30: Wake. Nurse in my bed. We usually play in my bed till seven. 7:30: Breakfast 10: Nap 1.25-1.5 hours (He usually seems very tired by 9 but that seems really early. A time = 3.5hr) 12: Lunch 3:30: Nap (maybe catnap) 45 min - 1 hour. (A time = 4hr) 7:00: Dinner followed by bath which he screams through. 7:30: Start winding down. We say good night to things 8: Bedtime 1am: NW I try to nurse him but the ... (20 min to get him down) 3am: NW (10 minutes to put him down) 5am:NW Attempt nursing (20 min to get him down) OK, but today (and many days lately) went like this: 6am: Up 10: Nap (45 minutes - my husband tried to resettle him but no luck. I think I could have. A time:4hr) 2:45: Nap. He fell asleep in the car and I moved him into bed. 1 hr total. A time:4hr 7:30 started wind down. 8: Tried to put him down, couldn't. My husband took over and let him play for 20 minutes on the floor. He tried PD for about 10 minutes but LO kept looking over his shoulder to make sure DH was in the room.) 8:45 I went back in and it took about 15 minutes of PD for him to fall asleep. I shushed him over his crib for about 6 minutes and he is asleep now. I am anticipating NW of every 1-2 hours after the BT we had. I just don't know where to start. I am not sure which problem to tackle - resettling, EW, NW, weaning issues, SA. Help!

That was less than a month ago. Here is what I posted today.

1  SLEEP / Sleeping For Toddlers / Re: 13mo sttn at Gma, not at home. help! on: Today at 12:40:42 AM Alrighty ladies, I think this baby is officially sleep trained. I CAN NOT TELL YOU HOW HAPPY I AM. His last four sleeptimes (BT today, 2 naps today, BT last night) I AND the nanny were able to do our routine and walk out. We have never had to go back. It is just beyond my comprehension, to be honest. Tonight I thought it wasn't going to work. He was pretty uninterested in nursing. He drank half a bottle but never closed his eyes. He was crying when I put him in bed. I laid him down an extra time because he jumped up as soon as I put him down. THen, I just walked out. I paused in the door but just kept going. And, you know what, he was silent the minute I left. I actually think this baby is so confident and comfortable putting himself to sleep that he actually just wants me to leave. Now, I have the next 11 hours and 20 minutes to myself. This is such an amazing feeling. I can't thank you enough Sammysmammy! I have tried to do this for almost seven months and I have never gone the full distance and I think your support made all of the difference. Thank you thank you thank you.

These posts are from the Baby Whisperer Forum and I cannot express to you what a wonderful wonderful resource these boards and particularly one experienced Aussie momma "Sammysmammy" have been for us. (Granted, the four nights Zayd spent with Nani are what made all of the training possible.) I have been posting after every nap and BT and even after nightwakings all month and getting support and ideas from the momma's on the board. And look at us now! We are getting sleep, we know so much about sleep (did you know that a 13mo should get 2 - 2.5 hours of day sleep and 11-12 hours of night sleep?), and we are happy!

Now I am going to go enjoy my time off.

In case you are wondering here is what our schedule looks like nowadays:
5:30:  Wake up
7:00:  Breakfast
9 or 9:30:  Naptime - usually 45 minutes
12:00: Lunch
1:45 or 2:15: Naptime - 45 minutes to 1.5 hours. (usually 1 hour or more)
5:00 or 5:30: dinner
6:00: Start the BT routine
6:30: Bed! He sleeps for 11 hours and 20 minutes without needing momma for ANYTHING!