Operation; No More Boob to Bed (day1)

If you read my last post, than you might have, sorta, kinda gotten the impression that I am a wee bit tired. Thirteen months of sleepless nights, with minimal help from anyone else, is more than enough for any one woman to bear. So I reached out. A big thank you, Thank You, THANK YOU, to all the kind words here on my blog, and on facebook, both on my personal and the JiggleyMommy pages. On top of all the suggestions, encouragement, and commiserating, writing that post opened my eyes. It really is time for change. JiggleyBaby is just as tired as I am, and I can't imagine how uncomfortable that would be for someone who just isn't capable of understanding why sleep is so important or how our bodies react when we don't get enough. So here goes nothing... we're starting Operation; No More Boob to Bed. Sleep training.
I've realized that I've created some bad habits we've gotten into some habits that are no longer working for us. We have a fairly consistent nighttime routine, but I always nurse to sleep. I was afraid of the crying. I wasn't, I'm not, a fan of crying it out. So for every nap, and every night, I'd strap JiggleyBaby into his sleep sack, say 'na-night' to his toys and his light, then settle into the glider to rock and nurse. Nursing your baby to sleep, is... well it's sweet. For me, it was one of the only times in my busy day that I could sit quietly and just 'be' with my baby. But now I know, that although it was nice, it has also now created the need for him to nurse to fall asleep... and as a result, he needs to nurse anytime he wakes during the night in order to get back to sleep. And on a restless night... that means I'm in his room, rocking and nursing him, upwards of 8 times.
So it's time for him to learn that he can still have num-nums (boobie milk), but he doesn't need it to sleep. This is my sleep training action plan.
Step 1: Make a contract with yourself (and/or your partner) to stay strong. Put in writing how long you'll let your baby cry and how you'll deal with it. Will you stay in the room until your baby falls asleep or will you leave and check in every so often? Decide you plan of attack!
Step 2: Put it in action. Know that it will likely be hard, know that there is a chance you might want to give up, know that it will get better. Everything I've read says that sleep training typically takes anywhere from 3 days to a few weeks, depending on your baby. So make sure you decide how long you are going to try for - don't give up if the first night is PAINFUL, or if after the first few days it's not improving.
Step 3: sleep.

Here are my results from day 1:
Morning Nap @9:30am - put in sleep sack, nursed for 10 minutes (with the light on), said "na-night" to toys and turned off the light, laid him down with his blankie and said "na-night". When he realized I was putting him to bed he sat up and cried. I laid him back down, said "it's na-night time, I love you", then left the room. He cried (more of a sleepy, 'hey this is new!' sort of cry) for SIX minutes before falling asleep. He cried out for less than 30 seconds after he was asleep for an hour, but fell back asleep on his own. I had to wake up at 11am to go pick up JiggleyBoy from school... so an hour and a half nap - I'd call that SUCCESS!
Afternoon Nap @2:30pm - a bit later than I should have let him go, but we had a lunch date and everyone was having too much fun to call it quits earlier. Put him in sleep sack, nursed for 10 minutes, said "na-night", lights off and into bed. He sat up and cried, but I reassured him that I love him and it was "na-night time". I blew him a kiss and left the room. He stopped crying after THREE minutes, whined as he was getting himself comfortable for another minute or two, and passed out. He woke up on his own, happily talking to his stuffed elephant, at 4:10pm - so another hour and a half! Yay!!
Bedtime Routine starts @ 6:15pm - bath, lotion, jammies, JiggleyBoy reads us a story, sleep sack, nurse (lights on, with blankie), "na-night" to brother and toys and light, kisses and walk out (by 7pm). He cried sitting up, fairly hard, for about 7 minutes, then laid down and cried/complained loudly for another 5. He got quiet for a minute and I thought he might be asleep... then the phone rang (and my phone rarely rings!), which started a fresh round of hard crying. After 10 minutes I went back in, laid him back down, said "I love you, it's na-night time" and left again. He cried for another 12 minutes, most of which was pissed off "I know you're out there, where's my boobies?!?!" sort of cry, before he fell asleep. So it was a little more painful tonight, than naptime, but he fell asleep on his own. Now the test will be how we fare overnight.
Stay tuned for day 2 of Operation; No More Boob to Bed.

**Update: Last night went well. He woke up at 3:30am, I let him cry/fuss for about 15 minutes before I went in. I think if I had just let him go, he might have petered out on his own, since he was laying down and 'complaining' more than real crying. I reassured him, gave him a kiss, laid him back down, said "na-night" and left the room again. He cried/fussed for another 20 minutes. I went in, picked him up, took him to the glider, let him nurse for 2 minutes, then resettled him in bed. He cried for 1 minute and went back to sleep. He slept through until 6:30am this morning! It was a good start!

Here's links to the rest of our sleep training journey incase you missed it:
What started it all --> The No-Sleep, Sleep Study by JiggleyBaby
Our Method --> Our Sleep Training Method
Day 1 --> Operation; No More Boob to Bed (day1)
Day 2 --> Operation; No More Boob to Bed (day2)
Day 3 +4 --> Operation; No More Boob to Bed (day3+4)
Day 5, 6 + 7 --> coming soon
Sleep Training Update -- coming soon