Brittany’s Sleep Journey

A few months ago, I was absolutely at my wits end with my 4.5 month old, Emmett. He was getting up every few hours in the night (3-5x every single night) to eat. During the day, I was having to rock him to sleep, then try to make the transition to the crib where ultimately he would wake up, so I’d have to rock him back to sleep and hold him so he could get a decent nap in. In total, I was rocking him for 5-7 hours a day. When he did go to sleep, it was for maybe 30- 45mins at a time... I would just get doing something else and he would be up again. There was no break for me around the clock, and I had a toddler at home who was not getting the attention she deserved, to top it all off. It was a nightmare. I finally caved and messaged Hannah the week my husband was away for work. I was all by myself, running on fumes and was absolutely desperate for a change. 

Hannah and I had started connecting on Instagram right before Emmett was born, and she was someone who I felt comfortable with asking for help. I loved her Instagram profile, she always shared valuable tips about sleep not only for my infant but for my toddler too, and she seemed very personable. I was always hesitant about sleep training because I refused to let my babies cry it out. I was lucky with my first and she slept through the night early on so I didn’t have to think about it with her. However by the time I messaged Hannah, I was open to hearing some options. 

Hannah had had a deal on her packages for Black Friday and I took full advantage! Although after talking to Hannah, I knew I would have taken the leap regardless of the cost! 

Hannah met with me via FaceTime to discuss the sleep issues we were having and assured me that we could fix them. She truly cared about my worries and my preferences when it came to sleep training and when I expressed how much I didn’t want to let him cry it out,  she came up with two different, gentle, methods to attempt. Neither being a full cry it out method. She taught me to be more aware of the cry Emmett was making and I learned to notice when he was just mad vs when he was upset. With the method that I chose, the longest Emmett would really cry throughout this process was 3 mins. I knew that if he started, all I had to do was wait those few mins and I could go in to reassure him. This truly addressed my major hesitations and it made a world of a difference because it allowed us both to learn the skills we needed to learn to make sleep training a success. 

Hannah was there for me every step of the way, kind and encouraging and quick to provide workarounds or schedule changes when needed. She answered all of my questions with confidence and kindness. I felt comfortable reaching out to her (often multiple times a day!) and she made me feel very at ease throughout the whole process.

Emmett did so well with her proposed method- he was putting himself to sleep - by himself! In his crib! - on the first day and he had weaned his feeds on his own down to one by the 4th night!

At the end of the two weeks with Hannah, we had a much more predictable schedule, his wake windows were bang on, we all were getting a whole lot more sleep and I felt like a completely different person! A few weeks later, Emmett actually weaned his final night feed, on his own, so I actually have my entire night back!

I am personally huge on routine, and my first babe was too. It’s such a blessing to have consistent nap times to count on each day, for both me and the kids. Now I am much better able to plan outings, I can have 1:1 time with my toddler and also be able to have some downtime myself. Not to mention, the routine bedtime every night so my husband and my evenings are no longer spent taking turns trying to get Emmett back to sleep.

Even now, a few months post sleep training, Hannah is still available to help me troubleshoot or tweak his wake windows. I highly recommend choosing the package with the extra calls in it to use in the year following those initial 2 weeks. Her knowledge is extremely valuable and helps make the transition much easier. It takes the guesswork out of things and makes you feel so normal and confident with making each adjustment as the babes get older.

I am beyond grateful for Hannah’s knowledge and gentle approach to sleep training, and for all of the time I have back during my days! I am so appreciative of the routine she has helped us create, it truly does make a significant difference.

My only regret is not messaging her sooner!

-Brittany Kelly