Sleep Training Toddler

So this post is going to be solely about Sleep Training Brooke. I'm surprised by the lack of confidence I have received from people about sleep training her. They act like I must be stupid for not knowing how to figure this out. but whatever, that's not the point of this post. 

Anyway, I finally hit the point where I just don't know what the hell I am doing or how I am going to get out of this mess. Brooke has become very clingy lately and I think it must have to do with my regression on her sleep habits. I have become so tired of her sleep routine, which consists of me laying with her up to an hour until she falls asleep, stealthily sneak from her bed only to have her wake up screaming 2 hours later after which I give up and pull her into our bed for the rest of the night. So the last couple weeks I just go to bed at 9 with her in our bed. Neither of us sleep well like this, but its just easier. Our current daily routine looks like this:

630 am - I sneak out of my own bed into the shower
7 ish am - Brooke comes to find me, crying, sometimes accompanied by Zoe
830 ish am - Drop Brooke off to Nana
1030 am - Nap time, in Nana's bed
1130 am - awake but sometimes she sleeps longer
2 pm - there used to be a nap in the afternoon but Brooke was fighting this, so it left
6pm - Brooke and Josh are home
730pm - Bed time routine of..... um not much really, just change into jammies and play in her bedroom for a little
8 pm - Laying in bed with Brooke
845-9pm - Brooke finally falls asleep, although if I am being 100% honest, sometimes we don't even get into bed until 9pm.

Even though she is usually a very happy baby, she is always very fussy between 6 and 8, but there is so much that I have to do in these hours, that I just allow it. I am very well aware that her sleep problems are my fault. So finally, at the end of my rope I turned to google for any answers it could give me. What I found was that there is such a thing as a pediatric sleep consultant. It took me all of 15 minutes to decide this was my answer. I just had my consultation via phone call with this place here. She set up a whole plan, completely changing Brooke's schedule. I think this is where most of the push back from other people comes from.... "you can't just change the baby's schedule like that, its too hard for everyone." Well what we have is too hard for everyone already, so I'm all in. 

We plan to start the sleep training on Friday Sept 12, as this will work best for everyone AND its Zoe's weekend to be with her father, even better. I have high hopes for this, and I know it will work. We spent time discussing Brooke's tendency to throw up when she has crying fits, and that is my biggest concern and the reason I never did CIO. We have an alternate plan for this situation. I think just the fact that I have a plan, and a back up plan, I will go into this more confident than I've felt in the past. The plan also moves her bedtime up to 7pm and sets time limits on things like bath time. I am really nervous but excited about it too. There are a couple things I need to change in her sleeping environment too, that I think will also help. 

I'm just so excited about the possibility of sleep, of Brooke falling asleep like a person, of Brooke sleeping through the night. :D I know this will work, because I have the support of Josh, my mom and our sleep consultant to make it happen! I guess I didn't even realize until I typed that last sentence that my 19 month old is still not technically sleeping through the night. 19 months of my life and I didn't even know it. Which, truthfully, means the last night where I had solid sleep was in May of 2012 before I even got pregnant. Unless you count that one night, after my trip to labor and delivery that resulted in no baby but an amazing dose of Ambien. The flowers were so pretty... 

I should have thought of a title before I clicked the button

So TS update. We skipped August as it just didn't feel right to J and I guess he was right since I didn't ovulate until cd 38, pretty much a whole 10 days late. So it seems that it has been confirmed that taking a week off work and my normal schedule during the follicular phase of my cycle will delay things 10 days or more. Noted. 

No new updates there, they got me the CBE monitor and my cycles really are too long to use it I think. But I'm trying to make it work. 

I can't believe its September, where did this year go? Brooke is 18 months and the absolute love of my life currently. Zoe has also entered this really awesome phase where, if she is not sass mouthing me, she is a really fun and interesting person. Full of thoughts and ideas and experiments. Developing a serious fashion sense and finally the desire to look appealing to those that have to look at her. Friends are still a weird thing for her, and I think I get that, as I always felt like a loner no matter how many people were around. I never thought Zoe got my introvert gene, but perhaps she did afterall. Now if I can only find a way to make her ok with that. 

I'm not sure that I have any other pertinent topics to discuss. Work is busy. And they certainly don't pay me to blog...

My own health is kind of becoming a concern....which is a topic for another post. I really wish I had cute pictures of the girls to share.... Just one recent one of Brooke