Fast forward 7.5 months of me getting no more than 3 hours of sleep at a time and I finally broke. Dane was 6 months adjusted. I remember it vividly. I looked at Lee and said “that’s it, I’m sleep training starting NOW, I can’t take this”. It was midnight and I had been in and out of Dane’s room easily 12 times already.  He was only calm when he was at breast. He was suckling as that was it. Not getting milk, just needing my boob to fall asleep and the second I would put him down he would wake. If I was lucky, and I snuck out without him waking, the second he woke up and I wasn’t there, he cried out for me because my boob was what he needed to soothe himself back to sleep.

I clearly let it get too far. I don’t recommend starting sleep training on a whim in the middle of the night… but hey, we made it through and Dane is a pretty good sleeper now. I say on a whim but really I had been reading, asking questions, and contemplating it for about a good month. Although it was started unconventionally it the middle of the night, I did feel like I had a good handle on what I wanted to do.

Okay, let’s get to the nitty gritty, I know you want to know what program I followed and all the exact details.  I will share BUT remember that you know your baby best and I don’t believe there is one program that fits all. So make sure you do the reading, ask your friends who have done it, and most importantly listen to your mama heart.

Lee and I didn’t purchase any program, we just got advice from a good friend who has sleep trained 2 of her kids. We have similar personalities and parenting styles so I knew it was a good fit. Of course, we modified it to our liking.

The first thing we did was start with bedtime sleep. This meant setting a bedtime routine:

OUR SLEEEP TRAINING BEDTIME ROUTINE (aprox. 1/2 hour)

-feed
-bath
– lotion + get dressed + in sleep sack
– story, songs, and a little cuddle
– lamp off, sound machine on
– put him in his crib with his soother

*as SOON as I noticed him showing any signs of dozing off I put him to bed awake. I think this is the most important thing in the beginning. I did this consistently for about 2 months. Now that that it’s been a few months, there are nights I’m enjoying the cuddles… hell I NEED the cuddles after a hard day, and he falls asleep in my arms.  It doesn’t ruin all you did. Trust me. It fills my soul and his… heck rules are meant to be broken aren’t they?!**

**Some sleep training programs won’t allow soothers, lovies, or for you to pick them up and feed them in the night. I wasn’t about that. Dane goes to bed with a soother and still wakes up once or twice a night to feed and I am okay with this.  My goal in sleep training was for him to learn how to put himself to sleep. So, I do go to him in the night and feed him (depending on how many times he wakes) but I ALWAYS put him down awake.**

Obviously, as soon as I put him down he would start to cry.  Not because he was hungry or in danger… because he thought he needed me to go to sleep. The second he started to cry, I would start my stopwatch.  Here is where things differ a lot for people. If  you are going to let them cry, which is the method we choose, you need to decide on a length of time YOU are comfortable with before you go in. We decided on 10 minutes. Trust me, it felt like an ETERNITY but I do believe it worked quicker (basically 1 night) because we went with a longer cry time.  In my research, I learned that their crying pattern will be similar to a rollercoaster. It will be quiet, then become more intense, and will slowly go down with little peaks on the way down.  On the way “down”, when you hear them almost hum to themselves, but it’s still a cry… that is them teaching themselves to self sooth.  The method we followed suggested that every time he was quiet for 1 minute or longer, you restart the 10 minutes.  I’m not going to lie, the first night was extremely hard and very emotional. He cried on and off again for about 45 minutes. I caved after that, went in and fed him because I figured he worked up an appetite and I had been crying the whole time so we both just needed a cuddle. He fed, I put him down awake, he cried for maybe 30 seconds  and slept until 5 am. I went in again after letting  him cry for 10 minutes at 5 am. I fed him put him down awake (he didn’t cry this time) and he slept until 8am. Is this what the program told me to do? No.But it worked for us.  The next night he cried for 7 minutes and was out. He woke up at 5 am for a feed and was down until 7! And that has been our pattern basically ever since!

Does he sleep through the night? No. Could he if I was a little more strict with the sleep training? Probably. But I am okay with it. Right now he generally goes down around 6:30 or 7pm. Wakes around 11 and I feed him (this is not every night, just on occasion) Then goes down again until 4 or 5 am. I feed him and then he is down until 7 or 7:30. I am not a big schedule girl. If he sleeps until 8 I don’t wake him. But I always put him back down if he is awake before 6 am. This is just me.  A lot of people, especially when they go back to work, are on a schedule and I know this works for people. We will likely get there, but for now we aren’t. Now, of course there are mornings he is up earlier and nights he wakes more or less.  Sleep is not linear that is for sure. There are ups and downs and JUST when you think you have it figured out, they go through a sleep regression or a leap or teething lol there is always something- but hey, that’s parenthood I suppose!

OUR CURRENT BEDTIME ROUTINE

• dinner
• bathtime
• lotion + get dressed + in sleep sack
•  story, songs, and a little cuddle and I breastfeed …  sometimes we snuggle until he falls asleep but not too often.
• lamp off, sound machine on
• put him in his crib with his soother.

*I have become a little more relaxed. He RARELY ever cries when we put him down. So, if he cries when I put him down we will sometimes go in and give him his soother if he looses it or rub his back.

Okay… I know what you’re waiting for, NAPS!  What about the naps?!   This is a whole beast of it’s own. We definitely struggled a lot longer with these but for the most part we are on track now!!  I will post a whole separate post about this… I am already starting to write it so don’t worry it won’t be long. But, if you are just starting sleep training, I would suggest just starting with bedtime sleep.  Get that sorted then move to naps after. In the meantime, you can start with creating nap habits, like putting them down awake, etc but honestly I would suggest just working on night sleep first!

Now, if you take one thing away from reading this, let it be this: don’t let it get as far as I did. If you don’t want to sleep train, that is 100% you choice and is the best choice for your family. But, if you are not getting sleep and it is effecting your mental health, relationships, and overall health like it was mine ask fo help in whatever form you need it. Maybe that means asking someone you trust to come over so you can go for a walk or go to Winners, or maybe it means sleep training.

Okay, that was super long but I hope you found it helpful! Again, this isn’t a program, there are lots out there to try.  This is just MY experience and advice.  Dane is not a perfect sleeper, but who is!? He still wakes once or twice in the night, but does go right back to sleep.  If I was just a little more strict, I know he would stop… but truthfully I enjoy the night feeding not that I can put him down right after without tears. It is so peaceful and quick.  We have had to do a little refresher and when we were in Arizona for a month we basically just free willy nillied it… because life happens!

So, you may be wondering, am I happy we sleep trained? 100%. Not sleeping took a toll on my mental and physical health (you get sick so much easier when you’re sleep deprived), mine and Lee’s relationship, and my work. It truly was taking a toll on us all.

Okay… speaking of, Dane is just waking from his 2 hour nap… yahoooo! Gotta run!!

If I didn’t answer your question or you need clarification don’t hesitate  to drop me a comment in the comment section below!

The post Our Experience With Sleep Training appeared first on Teach Me Style - A style, beauty and life blog..

Here are my top tips for travelling with a  baby 4 months and under:

1.)  If you don’t already, order a stroller/ carseat cover. We borrowed a stroller cover from a friend but didn’t for our carseat and the airline ripped ours… soo annoying. They are expensive but I wish we would have just got one to protect our seat! We took the basinnette part of the stroller (doubles as a bed for travel) and the carseat which also goes on top of the stroller.  We used both and I’m happy we took both. The basinnette was not only good for him to sleep in, it was also good on longer adventure days. I don’t like having Dane in the carseat for too long. Having the basinnette allowed him to stretch out and even have some naps while we were out and about adventuring!

Having the carseat was necessary because we rented a car. It was also nice that it clipped into our stroller so when he fell asleep on the drive we could just transfer the carseat onto the stroller and not have to wake him.

Basinnette- great for naps on the go!!

2.) Gate check your stroller and be sure they ACTUALLY do it! We did this on the way there and home. On the way down it was perfect. They give you a tag to put on the outside of your stroller bag. You take your stroller through security (you have to completely empty it) use it all you want, drive it right down to where you get on the plane and then once you’re about to board the plane, fold it up and put it in the bag and hand it to the baggage people. They put it right under the plane and have it waiting and ready for you when you get off the plane. It is SO slick. On the way home however, something happened and we gate checked it but instead of having it ready for us they sent it through to our final destination.. that was a bummer.  My advice, triple check they know you are GATE CHECKING IT, if you have a layover say you want it at the layover, NOT the final destination.

3.) Wear your baby carrying wrap. As per usual, I wore leggings, a tee and a sweater for travel but this time I wore my Beluga Baby wrap under my sweater. This way I didn’t have to worry about putting it on when I needed to put him in it.  I would highly suggest this. This wrap was hands down the most used item we took on our trip. He stayed in it basically the entire flight. I took him out during take off and landing to breast feed (I got mixed messages on this- some people said you were allowed, some said you weren’t. We flew AC the entire trip and they encouraged me to BF on take off and landing)  and then he went right back into the wrap the entire flight. He LOVES it. Didn’t make a peep! Definitely pack your wrap carrier!

As you can see, Dane was in the wrap the majority of the time. The basinnette was still great for holding stuff!

4.) Take your own baby first aid kit and keep it in your carry on. We were fortunate and didn’t have to use it (besides the Gripe Water and Oval) but it is good to bring just in case. (Thermometer, Tylenol, Coryzalia, etc.)

5.) Don’t overpack… I know it sounds cliche but it is so true. You really don’t need that much stuff. I will share our packing list for you to reference to, but trust me when I say even I think it is too long!

Baby Packing List  (4 months and under for one week)

• 2 sleep sacks
• 5 pairs of pajamas
• 10 outfits (try your best to pack items that you can mix and match- that way if they don’t get puked or poo’d on they can be reworn)
• 5 pairs of socks
• 7 bibs- we ended up having to wash Dane drools SO much!
• 7 burp cloths – we also had to wash these… Dane is a big puker too!
• 2 beanies (black and white)
• 1 pair of shoes
• 2 swaddles
• 1 heavier blanket (fleece)
• soap + lotion
• sound machine
• lovey (stuffed animal)
• owelet sock + charger
• 1 package of diapers -you can always buy more when you’re there!
• 1 package of wipes
• bum cream
• stroller with basinnette attachment
• rain cover for stroller
• carseat (with cover)
• Fabric wrap of your choice – I have the Baby Beluga and I love it!
• breast pump + pumping bra
• 1 bottle
• Tylenol
• Gripe Water
• Oval
• Thermometer
• Vitamin D
• Iron
• soothers
• Haaka
• Patience- travelling with a child is different. It’s hard, it’s exhausting, but it is SO FUN!

Obviously this would be different for each baby but it is gives you a place to start!

I will leave you with some other great tips I got from ya’ll when I asked on IG:

-“check out the app Mamava – some airports have free pods for breastfeeding/ pumping.” (We did this- Vancouver had one, it was awesome!)
-“pack Dane’s stuff in Ikea organizers- they’re a game changer” – we also did this, worked great!
-“depending on the length of the trip, buy diapers when you get there”
-“TSA will allow liquids and gels for baby”
-“bring change of clothes for YOU and baby on the plane, nothing worse than travelling covered in baby puke”
-“book an aisle and window seat in hopes that no one ill book the middle… the extra space for all the baby stuff is wonderful!”

Check out the rest of the advice and tips in the comment section on this photo!

Safe travels!

The post Travel Tips: Baby Edition appeared first on Teach Me Style - A style, beauty and life blog..

Lee and I didn’t find out the sex of our baby (would highly suggest this btw) so the nursery had to be gender neutral which was honestly so fun! I am loving all things boho and the orange, peach, cream colour palette that I love was very fitting.   I wanted his room to be warm and cozy but not too baby-ish.  This is not our forever home, eventually it will turn into a rental so this bedroom will likely not be a nursery forever.  I wanted whoever rents this place to be able to use the nursery as a bedroom or office so teddy bears on the wall weren’t going to cut it. I will admit, when I was pregnant, I was obsessed with making  sure the nursery  was perfect!! I know this is totally not important in the grand scheme of things. Dane really doesn’t know any different, I get that. But for me, with all that was going on with his diagnosis it felt like the nursery was something in my pregnancy that I actually could control.

Just like with the rest of the house, I had a lot of help from local business. The closet was done by none other than Diana from Stor-X.  The room in general is very small and so is the closet which means organization is key! Diana did a fantastic job of maximizing the space in his closet, making it look beautiful, but also making sure it is super functional- the built in laundry hamper… total game changer. Stor X has done all of our closets in this house and I could not recommend them anymore! You can check out a full blog post about Stor X here.

If you look close you will notice there is some absolutely stunning wallpaper behind the closet- this is courtesy of Juliesa at The Design Collective who also did the wallpaper in my own closet.  Again, I wanted this room to have a cozy feel but not too baby-ish. This paper accomplished the look perfectly.  It completes the closet – I never would have thought to wallpaper behind a closet insert but it truly makes such a big difference!

The rocking chair in any nursery is a staple item. I looked and looked and looked some more but I couldn’t justify spending thousands of dollars on one especially since this room is so small.  Eventually if we have another baby, we will most likely be in a bigger home by then and I will likely get a glider but for this room it just wouldn’t fit. I ended up finding this one on Facebook marketplace for under $200 and Juliesa from The Design Collective reupholstered it for me. I am sooo happy I had her do this.  She covered it in indoor/outdoor fabric (her recommendation) and it was so smart! It’s only been 1.5 months and the chair has been puked on more times than I can count.  It wipes off perfectly! If you have anything in your home that you would like refinished I would definitely recommend The Design Collective!

The beautiful farm animal prints were painted by local artist and friend Alora Biram.  I knew I wanted to have some sort of art in the nursery I didn’t want random prints off the internet. These farm animals are perfect- thank you so much Alora for painting these and letting me have the originals! Dane is one lucky little dude! If you’re wanting custom prints or you want to take a look at her current inventory of art check out her IG page here!

Last, but definitely not least the area rug! This custom rug is made from wool which Shannon from Floor Coverings International suggested as it is super durable.  While she was making sure the rug was functional for Dane’s room I was focussed on making sure it was cute and the vibe I wanted.  Because this rug was custom made, we were able to add some tassels which I think make the rug! ALL the rugs in our home are from Shannon at Floor Coverings International and let me tell you, I have some nice rugs- nearly anytime I have someone over I get a compliment on at least one of them! If you wish to see a few of the others that we have you can check out this blog post!

Now, I know what you’re thinking… “girl, you need blinds” and well, you’re not wrong. Erica Honoway has suited us up with some insanely beautiful blinds to finish the space off but unfortunately Covid has been causing some issues and they are on back order! Once they are in I will be sure to share- make sure you’re following me on IG so you don’t miss them!

Dresser Dresser handles Book Ends  Crib Book Shelves  Change Pad

Special thank you to Stor X, Floor Coverings International, The Design Collective,  and Alora Biram Art, for helping me create this beautiful space for our sweet baby boy and to Caitlin Swyryda Photography for capturing it!

The post Dane’s Nursery Reveal! appeared first on Teach Me Style - A style, beauty and life blog..