I never really thought I would need a sleep trainer for my daughter, because she had slept well since she was two months old. Ella would sleep in her crib with her pacifier, in her own room. Beyond rocking her a little before putting her down in her crib, I wasn’t much involved in the sleeping process. Everything was going pretty well until after 18 months – that’s when it went down hill! There are various growth spurts and accompanying sleep regressions that babies and toddlers go through, and the 18-month regression seemed to be pretty brutal. I kept hoping it was temporary and Ella’s sleep pattern would go back to normal but it kept getting worse. She would get up and stand up in her crib and wouldn’t put herself back to sleep – even with a pacifier. She would cry and wait for us to pick her up and of course we would cave in and take her to our bed, just so we would get some sleep. My husband and I were getting really exhausted from her constantly waking up and I felt bad because I could tell she was struggling too.
We finally decided to hire a sleep trainer to get her back on track and have our evenings return to normal. I hired Anet Danielyan from learn.eat.sleep, and she helped us throughout the sleep training process. In all honesty, I was having a very hard time with the process and I was extremely emotional about it all. Sleep training is a huge commitment and you need to be strong and keep pushing through every day. For us, it could absolutely not be about leaving Ella alone to cry for hours. Anet creates a plan tailored to your child’s needs. My husband was handling it a lot better than I was, and he was a huge part of why this worked. In the beginning, I honestly thought I couldn’t imagine her actually sleeping on her own but trust me, just be patient you and will be surprised. My stubborn toddler was going strong and really testing us lol. Basically, you are training them to sleep on their own without relying on you rocking them, patting them or even using a pacifier. The pacifier was huge for us because Ella has been using the pacifier and her lovey during naps and bedtime since she was little. When a child has a dependency on something – even a pacifier – she will more than likely wake up without it or find it hard to fall back asleep when that’s not there anymore. When I found out there would be no pacifier involved, I actually started removing it from our bedtime routine two nights before sleep training began, so at least I was still there to comfort her so she would somewhat be used to it when the training began, and it wouldn’t be as bad. I highly recommend even starting earlier so it’s easier for your baby. I was having more anxiety because I was kind of in a time crunch. I had to make sure Ella was ready to go before I left town for work within two weeks from starting the training.
I see a HUGE change in Ella’s sleeping now. She sleeps on her own in her room and in her crib without us involved. All she has is her Minnie lovey that’s been with her for a long time. Ella used to be a very light sleeper and she would wake up from the smallest sound. She’s a deep sleeper now and sleeps through until morning without waking up. I’m still working on her sleeping in a little longer so she has her 12 hours instead of 10 hours. So trust me mamas you will see the light at the end of the tunnel but you have to be VERY CONSISTENT and follow exact instructions and not let emotions control your actions. My husband and I sometimes stare at the monitor now and can’t believe that Ella’s not fighting and sleeping on her own. I learned a lot during this process about all the benefits she is having besides sleeping in her own room and in her crib. It’s very crutual for babies/toddlers to have the sleep they need to grow. I’ve also learned to separate my own emotions from her growing process. I highly recommend hiring a sleep trainer if you are struggling with your baby’s sleep and I had a great experience with Anet Danielyan. I hope this blog gave you some insight and support. You got this mamas ☺