Getting Tucker to sleep by himself.

We recently had the chance to catch-up with Jessi, our Purchasing and Inventory Specialist to see how being a new mother is going.  Jessi had Tucker about 4 months ago and she loves being a new mother.  Check out Jessi’s story about the challenges and blessing of being a mom.

What has been your greatest challenge as a new mother?

Right now we are trying to get him to sleep on his own. Pretty much from day one, we rocked him to sleep. Now he doesn’t like to sleep without being rocked. When we first tried this, he would start to fall asleep in our arms and we would lay him down in the crib. Well, he would wake up and cry and cry. We would go into his room and reassure him that we were still there and he was alright. I think the first day we tried this, he cried half of the day. It sure seemed like a lot more. 

Every one that I talk to about this says that doing this is one of the hardest things about being a parent. They also say the only way to avoid this is to put the baby in the crib from day one and not let them fall asleep in your arms. My take on it: I wouldn’t trade the time I had just holding him for the world! It is definitely difficult to get Tucker to sleep on his own, but it is getting better.

If you could give a new mom a tip what would it be?

After you have a baby you are so tired and you want the baby to sleep so you get some sleep. I say, rock the baby to sleep if that is what it takes. You can teach them to sleep on their own when you are more rested and have more of a routine that you and the baby recognize.

How much sleep do you get each night?

5-6 hours most nights. If I am lucky I get 7 hours. Of course they are not continuous hours. Tucker still wakes up at least once during the night.

Getting Tucker to sleep on his own is one of the major milestones(at least in my eyes). It is something that every baby needs to learn. If they don’t learn it, they will depend on someone else to help them get to sleep when they get older.

Posted by Jessi, Dotter of Dots – Purchasing and Inventory Specialist