My Journey
Every parent has an idea in their head about what their experience with their newborn baby will be. But what do you do when that dream is not the reality? Where do you turn when your child won’t sleep, you can’t soothe him and you feel like a 24/7 dairy cow?
A Baby Was Born and My Life Drastically Changed
My son was born right on time in the summer of 2015. After two years of trying to get pregnant, an easy pregnancy and an even easier delivery, I thought I was destined to have an “easy” baby. The reality is, there is no such thing as an “easy” baby. All babies experience periods of fussiness, crying and being, well… babies.
I remember thinking to myself when my mother-in-law and mom left my husband and I that first night with our son, “they are really going to leave us here with him?” Later that night at 3 am, my husband and I looked across the rock and play from each other and said, “what have we done to our life?”
My Baby Won’t Sleep
Over the next several months, my husband and I would spend hours trying to get our son to sleep. We tried every swaddle, swing and even car rides to get him to sleep. My husband would come home early from work to give me a break and would sometimes spend three plus hours trying to get our son to fall asleep. Once he did, he would lay him down and attempt to tip toe away.
Forty-five minutes later, he would wake up screaming and we would have to start all over again. We began to sleep in shifts. I would go to bed early and sleep until 2 or 3am, then relieve my husband so he could get some sleep. I felt as though I was on a merry-go-round with no idea how to get off.
I Bet The Internet Knows How To Get My Baby To Sleep
I would spend hours on the internet trying to find any nugget of information to help my son get the sleep I knew he needed. I would find bits and pieces of sample schedules, how long he needed to nap, sleep training methods, safe sleep practices and so on.
But, I was never able to find a clear path my sleep deprived mind could put into practice. And of course, I was at no loss for well-meaning family and friends offering all kinds of advice. At the end of it all, I was still left with a baby who wouldn’t sleep and me spiraling as my postpartum depression continued to worsen.
My Savior – A Pediatric Sleep Consultant
At the suggestion of my brother, I reached out to one of his friends with twins who had used a sleep consultant to help her boys get on a sleep schedule and learn to fall asleep independently. Talking to her gave me the ray of hope I needed to be convinced there were answers out there for mom’s like me who felt hopeless in their situation and lacking answers.
I contacted the sleep consultant when my son was almost 3 months old, and she agreed to work with me when my son was 16 weeks (the recommended age for sleep training). Knowing there was help on the horizon was the only thing that got me through the next several weeks.
We began baby sleep training on 11/5/15. That day will be stuck in my head for the rest of my life because that day was the day my life as a parent changed, and the day my relationship with my son changed. I felt where I had failed him, I was finally going to help him succeed. Where I had lost my confidence, I was now empowered. I had answers and I had knowledge. Within three nights of sleep training him, he was putting himself to sleep independently and only waking once a night. He was on an age appropriate schedule, and he was a different baby and I was a much better mother. By Thanksgiving of that year, he was sleeping through the night.
The sleep consultant we used changed my life and for that I will always be forever grateful. The change I saw in my family helped me with my decision to pay it forward. My passion for being a sleep consultant comes from my drive to improve families’ lives and give parents back the confidence that they are enough for their baby! My journey to Moore Sleep started in 2015 and I am hopeful for other families to join me on this journey.