How To Get Your Child To Sleep Through The Night

 

Isn’t this the very question that every parent wonders?

From the moment that baby comes into this world, you wonder what their sleeping patterns will be, and wonder when they will reach that “mark” of sleeping through the night.

Don’t worry, I was one of those parents too.

Before I had Mazy, I was reading some books on just how to raise a child (I was pretty clueless) and many of them talked about how to help a child sleep well (even from a very young age).

I was set on following the Baby Wise plan, or as much as I could. The concept made sense to me and I am a believer in helping a baby get into a routine. So I gave it a whirl.

Well, after a certain number of weeks, I was feeding Mazy at their suggested times, but she was not dropping feedings like the books said she should naturally do. In fact, quite the opposite. She was waking up more and more. To eat.

I was getting frustrated. I was trying to do what was best for my baby, which I thought was to get her into a routine. And in a way, I was. It was her own routine. But I felt like I was doing something wrong as a parent because she was not living life by the books.

And that is when I needed to accept this little fact: no “book” is raising MY child. And that very fact is one of the most beautiful things I have accepted since becoming a mom.

I have a unique child, created by God. Every child is. In fact, I am now thankful that my child did NOT sleep through the night by the books because the life-change it made in me, was well worth it.

So let me continue – HOW DO YOU GET YOUR CHILD TO SLEEP THROUGH THE NIGHT?

I am no expert, but the answer is: PATIENCE and PRAYER.

Maybe not the words you were hoping to hear. At all.

Why do you think there are so many books written on how to get your child to sleep through the night? Why do you think there are so many different methods? Do I think that these methods work? Oh yes, I really do! I’ve seen it done! But I will almost guarantee you that every parent who has every had to try and help a child sleep through the night, that it takes patience and some prayer.

So why are those words rarely talked about? Because they are probably the hardest answer, but the most valuable and realistic answer.

Mazy did not sleep through the night until she was 5 1/2 months old. Trust me, I tried what seemed like everything. I felt I was following the book’s suggestions, but like I said, she was just not dropping feedings. The thing is, Mazy was hungry, and I was not about to NOT feed my child, just so that she could live by the books. One day, after Mazy was eating every 1 1/2 hours at times, my husband told me to stop reading books. To stop trying and follow life by the books. Since when has our life been “by the books?” Uh, never?! From that moment on, I learned to embrace those extra moments I had with her – knowing that she was a very HEALTHY and GROWING child. What more could a mother ask for? Yes, of COURSE I looked forward to the day when she did not wake up – but I told myself that there will be one day when I wished I could hold her like a baby, in the middle of the night.

Mazy also had acid reflux. I also had breastfeeding issues. Two more reasons why living by the books was just not possible.

After a long trip to Michigan, where Mazy was waking up a LOT in the middle of night, we decided to once again, try the cry it out method. We’d try it, but to no avail. I would feed her and she would drink her full 5 oz. bottle. So we would try a week later. Still didn’t work. It took some patience, but at this point, I was used to getting up in the middle of the night, so it didn’t bother me, really. It’s amazing what you body can become accustomed to!

Then we decided that maybe we should pray about it. To some that may sound cheesy, but to us, we thought why not? God asks us to bring everything to Him in prayer. I was going to be going back to work in a few days, and the thought of getting a full night’s rest sounded appealing.

So we prayed.

Did it happen the next night? No. So we prayed again. Lo and behold, that night, she skipped her 3:00am feeding and just woke up at 6:00am. So we prayed again. The next night, she skipped her 6:00am feeding, but I think woke up at 4:30am. So we prayed again. The next night, she slept through the night.

I don’t think we knew what hit us! What an answer to prayer! We almost laugh about it now, but God was probably just waiting and waiting to give that gift to us, but we just weren’t asking!

That was not the end of it though. For the next 2-3 weeks, we did have to practice the crying out method, but we knew she could skip those feedings. So we let her cry it out and now she faithfully puts herself back to sleep!

So we can now safely say, she is sleeping through the night.

Does that mean she will always sleep like this? Granted I am a first-time parent, but I am going to say no. I know we will have moments where nights will just be tough. Like with sickness, teething, a dirty diaper, etc. But we will go back to our answers: patience and prayer.

The lessons I have learned about not trying to make my child fit the books, to allow her to be HER, are some lessons that I am thankful I have learned now, and not later. Trust me though, I am still learning these lessons. To be patient. To bring everything to God in prayer. Everything.

Even though you may not be trying to get a child to sleep through the night, what situation are you needing to be patient in and bring to God in prayer?