Sleep training, once again...

It is official, Alaina is not a newborn any more.. she has grown into size 3 month clothes and doesn't
sleep all day, anywhere, any longer.  She has put herself on a 3 nap/day schedule and naturally wants to go to sleep around 6-6:30pm for the night.. up twice during the night to nurse and then waking between 8-9am.  It is a great schedule...  and most would say, "why are you complaining about that??"  Well.. I'm not.  

But she is pretty attached... so she requires ME to go to sleep, and to stay asleep. That isn't all bad.  I love the snuggles, the bond... except, we both don't rest well when we are together.. she wakes me up, I wake her up...  AND I honestly don't think I have been without this child for any extended amount of time since she was born.  I need some time alone.  I will be a better mother when I get some time alone. 

It is time.  Tonight, she is learning to sooth herself to sleep.  And I am blogging about it to keep myself distracted and out of her room.  I have been dreading the sleep training, but I love the results... with Marc, we waited until he was 6 months old... and had a terrible time getting him to sleep every night until we finally bit the bullet and trained him to soothe himself. He became a different baby (not overtired and crying so much) and it really helped all of us.  With Emmalyn, we trained her at 3.5 months, and she took to it much easier.. and it really changed my life: going from struggling to keep her asleep vs stimulate her when she wakes every evening until 11 or 12 at night to her going to sleep well at 6:30 and sleeping soundly for the night.  They both came through it all right, and I was a changed Mommy having the evening to myself once again.  

So here we are again, praying for our girl as she takes some of her first "steps" toward independence.  Alaina actually tricked me tonight... I did the nighttime routine (nurse, pray, rock, sing)... and put her in her bed.. and she went right to sleep for 30 minutes before realizing she was in her bed without her Momma by her side.  But then she woke up, and instead of rushing in for another session of soothing, I am waiting through this intermittent crying for her to learn how to sooth herself and go back to sleep.  

It is not easier this third time, but when is letting go ever easy? I know that it is worth it... and it only gets better from here.