Is your baby a perfect sleeper?

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I am a bit of a perfectionist.

It's one of those things that, as Monk would say, is a blessing and a curse. I am dependable, organized, and don't just do an ok job, I do my best job. I like that I can be counted on with whatever needs to be done, whether it's in my own life, my family's life or for someone else.

But then there's the 'curse' part of this scenario. That happens when I move from doing my best job to a perfect job. That turns whatever I do into a never ending project--because it will never be perfect--or into a constant disappointment--because I just can't do perfect.

3-6 Month Sleep Guide

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By this time, you are probably starting to get pretty worn out if your baby is sleeping crummy. Holding you baby for naps all day, going through a 1 hour ritual just to get your baby to sleep for 15 minutes and waking up 10 million times at night to your baby's calls can get old, really old. 

It's not that you don't love your baby as much as ever, you simply want, no, need some sleep! Wanting your baby to sleep better so you can get a break and sleep yourself isn't a bad thing.  Sleep is a biological need for you and your baby, and getting a little break here and there is good for everyone. 

If you're baby isn't sleeping totally awesome at this point, you are not alone! Many babies are still trying to figure this sleep thing out. And as you probably noticed, good sleep often isn't as easy as it sounds! "Put your baby to sleep drowsy but still awake" HA!! There are also quite a few babies at this stage who were sleeping really well but have recently started having a hard time going to sleep or staying asleep. And you thought you had this sleep thing down!

Is Cry It Out Cruel?

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The other day I had a mom ask me, after attempting Cry it out (CIO) herself, if I thought CIO was cruel. If you've ever attempted CIO (or read about it or heard other mom's talk about it), you're likely to have this same question at one point or another.

No one likes to hear their child cry (unless maybe said child just randomly whacked their brother and got a return whack back) and no one enjoys ignoring their child while they are screaming. There's something about a baby's cry when they are out of your presence--the impact is ten fold. Even when my husband has the baby in the other room and she starts crying I immediately think--what have you done to her, you fool! Stop her suffering!! My emotions can get a little out of hand when crying and a child are involved, especially if I can't see the child.

Is there such thing as a magic sleep fix?

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A lot of the time when people ask me for sleep help, they are hoping for some sort of magical sleep fix.

What do I mean by magic? You know, something that doesn't require much time, effort, consistency or tears. Sounds dreamy, right?  Especially if you haven't slept long enough in the last few months to even get to the dream state.

Perfect timing means no crying...or does it?

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If you've spent a good enough time dallying in the 'how the heck do I get my kid to sleep' circles, you've probably heard something along the lines of perfect timing equals no crying. It's one of those stand out ideas from a very popular baby sleep book that stands out because, well, it's repeated multiple times, and also because it's pretty significant. I mean, if you put your child to bed at just the right time they won't cry. Who in their right mind wouldn't want that?!

The thing is, this phrase is kind of like one of those emails or phone calls you get promising you all kinds of amazing things (like a free trip to tahiti WITH free babysitting) for filling out a 2 minute survey--it sounds a little too

P.U./P.D.

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What is PU/PD?
P.U./P.D. (pick up/put down) is a strategy used by The Baby Whisperer that she states is the "cornerstone of her middle-of-the-road philosophy" because "your child is neither dependent on you or some kind of prop for going to sleep, nor is he abandoned." This strategy is used after implementing a good routine, "Four S" ritual, shush-pat and possibly wake to sleep. It is only to be used in children 3-4 months or

The Key To Sleep Training Success - Consistency

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The worst thing a parent wants to hear when they're deathly sleep deprived, especially when they  have been putting every last bit of energy into teaching their child to sleep, is that they are making things worse, not better.

But it happens. And it happens surprisingly often.

You don't want to be this person, and I don't want you to be this person. So let's talk about one of the main ways to avoid

The Disappearing Chair - Sleep Training Method

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No, this post isn't about magic, although you may consider it magic if your child sleeps for more than 1-2 hours straight at night! If that's the case, then I suppose this post IS about magic.

I'm going to get more into various sleep training methods so that those of you pulling your hair out wondering how to get your little one to sleep will have more methods to choose from--and more methods to make you feel indecisive. I will try to

Steps To Take Before You Start Sleep Training

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So you just came back from the grocery store---with your shirt on inside out, 3 day old mascara smeared across your face and bags under your eyes so big that it looks like you just had some sort of experimental injections--and you decided that maybe it's time to start some sleep training. You can only run on 4 hours of broken up nightly sleep for so long. Not to mention your arm is about to fall off from all that daily holding (although, on the plus side, your arms do look almost as buff as Jillian Michaels').

Before you get started, it's a good idea to make sure your child's is set up for the best sleep possible. There's a whole post on this that includes things such as

0-3 Month Newborn Sleep Guide

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*Baby older than 3 months? Check out the 3-6 month sleep guide.*

As much as the idea of snuggling up with a newborn all day long for days (err, months) on end sounds kind of nice at first, when you get in the thick of it (i.e. you haven't brushed your teeth since yesterday, your stomach has been making sounds that would scare a bear away and the last time you showered was, well, you can't even remember when) you start to think that while this was nice for a few days or even weeks, now it's lost a bit of it's charm. 

We all have things to do and we all have our own personal insanity beeper that starts to go off when we've done nothing outside of care for a newborn for so long. Add in an extreme lack of sleep to the picture and you've got

Newborn Survival Guide 0-3 months

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Joshua, 4 days old

A little overwhelmed by the list of sleep posts? I don't blame you. It can be a bit daunting, particularly if you have no idea where to begin.

That's where this post and the 0-3 Month Newborn Sleep Guide come in.

Here you'll find a summary of the most asked about topics from baby's screaming introduction to this new world to around

Your Guide to The Baby Sleep Solution

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I know some of you have been wondering how exactly do you get a baby to sleep 12 hours by 12 weeks of age? I know I was curious when I heard about The Baby Sleep Solution (then called 12 hours by 12 weeks) several years ago. And being the kind of person I am, I was also curious if I'd like the method behind the sleep madness.

Sleep Books by Sleep Training Method

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So you're dirt tired, you can hardly see straight and you haven't had time to brush your teeth for...who knows how long. You're afraid if the neighbor sees you she's going to think zombies have invaded your house, BUT you decide to go ahead and read that huge sleep book sitting on your shelf because you CANNOT go on living like this. But guess what. That book you just spent every last free second reading turns out to be exactly what you

Sleep Training - A Baby's Point of View

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I've tried to find the original source of this but to no avail.  If anyone knows who wrote this please let me know. I turned it into an image in case you fancy a pin (and future laughs!)

How to Set the Stage for Good Sleep {tear free!}

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Wouldn't it be awesome if you could get your baby sleeping well without any drama, tears or methods that run you even more ragged than you already are? And this is for real, not just from one of your dreams you snuck in between those hourly, all night long wakings.

Um. Sign me up!

So how do you get to this this dreamy, near-imaginary state? You set the stage for

Sleep Training Index

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Make sure to look over the Book Reviews. They give you an idea of the methods the author prefers and contain a list of links to posts about

The Limited Crying Solution (The Baby Sleep Solution)

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I'm really excited to talk about this method. I really like it as far as Cry It Out (CIO) methods go, especially for young babies. Well, The Baby Sleep Solution doesn't really call it a CIO method but

It's time to take the guilt out of sleep training

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Sleep training gets a bad rap. You don't have to talk to too many moms or look on the internet for too long to get this message. If you want your child to sleep well (especially for reasons that don't purely involve your child's welfare), people start to point fingers and

Sleep Training Defined (by Me!)

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When a lot of people hear the word sleep training they think crying. And if they aren't fond of ever leaving your child to cry they may think of a child lying there by themselves for hours, days on end, crying. And to add to it, they might even visualize the child in

Should I sleep train for NAPS or at NIGHT first?

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Joshua, a few weeks old

The all too familiar question. Maybe you have been wondering this exact thing. It's about time I addressed it in a post instead of in multiple comments where you have to wait days to find out my answer. Not very fun when you are trying t