Cassie’s Sleep Journey
SLEEP! One of the most sacred things for parents. Something that a lot of parents struggle with and lack for a variety of reasons. You'd think after having 3 kiddos that I would have a whole sleep routine and schedule down pat, but that is not the way it was working in the Camara Household! To be honest, all 3 of our kids are very different when it comes to sleep and they've changed a lot over the years as well. So we've kind of just taken their lead and rolled with the punches.
But this mama was starting to feel;
burnt out
exhausted
stressed & unable to function
And that's when I sought out the help from Sleep Serenity. My return to work was quickly approaching (about 1 month away from when we started working with Hannah) and I knew that to make this transition easy on all of us we needed to get Violet into a better sleep schedule and routine. One, so that I could get some sleep throughout the night finally and two, so she would nap properly for daddy while I was at work and he could get some work done during the day too.
I will be honest, I never thought I would use a sleep consultant. I was fearful of the expectations, being told about what to do with my child (because come on I am the expert when it comes to my kids) and investing in something that just wouldn't work for our family.
But boy was I WRONG! Yes, I was wrong and I don't say that often lol
Hannah debunked all those assumptions I had right off of the bat!
She started off by giving us a great outline of what her program looked like and how we would be apart of her team in making this a great experience for all of us. And in the end, Hannah only wants what's best for the families that she works with.
Here is a little bit about how our journey went;
1. We started off by tracking Violet's sleep for a week. When she woke up, napped, ate her meals, and any mood changes throughout the day. Then submitted that to Hannah and she came up with a few different options for what a sleep plan could look like for us. She worked with me to create something that met all of my goals for Violet and her sleep so that we could make a schedule that works best for us.
2. Then we had a zoom call where we went over everything and made any necessary changes to the schedule prior to introducing Violet to it.
3. Then we started sleep training Violet at bedtime for the first time. We did this for 2 weeks where we had Hannah's support. Within 2 days Violet wasn't waking up in the middle of the night, no longer required bottle feeds during the night and was falling asleep on her own at nap and bedtime! I was shocked. I couldn't believe how flawless it went for us. We had a few hiccups along the way but with Hannah's guidance we were able to easily address them and well before the end of the 2 weeks were in a great routine with Violet. We were also able to cut out her bottles completely and transition her to a sippy cup which was huge because I was getting up during the night multiple times to feed and console her.
I will say sleep training is a commitment. You and your partner must commit to staying home as much as possible and sticking to the plan/routine. Why? because it will benefit you in the end. It takes time for kids to adapt to new routines and schedules and if we don't commit we cannot expect them to. Now, that doesn't mean that if you fall out of schedule sometime that you'll get a slap on the wrist or anything - because parenting is not perfectly scheduled and that happens all the time. But, by committing to the initial phase it will make it so much easier for you in the end. And with Covid, this is the best time to try something like this - we are all home anyways!
I am so glad that we started this journey with Hannah. She's not only helped Violet but she's helped my husband and I to. I am able to get better sleep throughout the night, which in turn puts me in a better mood, I have less stress and am able to focus more on my daily tasks and enjoying my time with my family. And going back to work, I know that Violet I s in a good routine which makes things easier on my husband and puts me at ease while I am out of the house.
Follow Cassie https://camaracassie.wixsite.com/camaracrew or on instagram @camera.cew