I never wanted to sleep train Aimery. I was determined that I would practice attachment parenting and never allow him to cry it out. But after 11 months of not sleeping for more then 3 hours at a time, I was exhausted. Not only was I physically exhausted, but it emotionally draining me as well. I literally can not function when I don't sleep eight hours every night, and it not only hurts my physical health, but it also negatively affects my relationships as well. After eleven months, I realized one night that I couldn't do it anymore and I had to sleep train him. 

Sleep training is hard work. Finding the best way to sleep train that fits your lifestyle is even harder. And unfortunately, just because you sleep train once doesn't mean that you won't have to do it again. In the last three months, we have had to sleep train Aimery twice. Vacations, moving, and sleep regressions can cause sleep training to stop for a week or so causing you and your child to have to go through it all over again. But thankfully, if you find a good way to sleep train your little one, it get easier every time! There are also awesome products available that help with transitioning your child to a better sleep routine. We started using Hatch Baby Rest while sleep training Aimery, and it has really made my life so much easier. Here is what our journey has looked like:

Eleven months old

The first time sleep training Aimery was definitely the hardest. For the first night, I decided that we would try the Ferber Method, which means I allowed Aimery to cry for a certain amount of time before going into his room and checking on him. I went through his normal bedtime routine (bath, book, bottle) and gave him a kiss goodnight. I also decided to turn on his Hatch Baby Rest for the first time before putting him in his crib. Rest allows you to choose different lights and sounds settings so your baby knows when it's time for bedtime. You can even control it from your phone and create your own bedtime routine! I decided to wait until the first night of sleep training to start using Rest, so it would help Aimery understand that it was time for bedtime. I started with the white noise with warm lighting when I put Aimery down, so that he would know that it was time for sleep. After turning on Rest, I put Aimery down and he started crying as soon as I walked out of the room. I listened to him cry for five minutes (which felt like eternity) and then went into his room again to pat his back for 2-3 minutes before leaving again. He cried the entire time I was in his room. I then left for 10 minutes and did the same thing. Then 15 minutes. I continued to check on him every 15 minutes until it was 4:30 in the morning and I gave up. I picked up him up and he was asleep within 5 minutes. Yes, I finally gave in. 

The second night, I turned Rest on again with the same settings and put him in this crib. He cried for five minutes, I again went in to pat his back, and when I left the second time he finally fell asleep. I was so exhausted that I forgot to turn the sleep monitor on when I went to sleep so we accidentally tried the cry it out (CIO) method. I woke up in the morning and thought that Aimery was going to be so upset and hate me. But that isn't what happened at all! Not only was Aimery his normal-happy-self, but he wasn't grumpy at all during the day. The next night, he cried for 2 minutes and slept through the night. From then on, Aimery slept through the night. I definitely believe that Rest helped us with the transition. From then on, when the white noise comes on the device, Aimery knows it is bedtime. 

13 months old

Four weeks after we sleep trained Aimery, we moved back to the US. With all of the transition, we did not keep up with sleep training and fell back into our old routine of rocking him to sleep and getting up with him in the middle of the night. Once we were settled, I decided it was time to sleep train him again. This time, I did my own version of sleep training. We again did our normal bedtime routine and turned on Rest before putting him in his crib awake. I allowed him to cry for 5-10 minutes before going back into his room. I then took him out of his crib, checked his diaper, and held him while giving him another bottle. Once I knew that he had everything that he needed, I put him back in his crib. Now, he will normally just cry for a few minutes or not at all before going to sleep. 

More About Hatch Baby Rest

The Hatch Baby Rest is a sound machine, night light, and OK-to-wake device that has really helped us while sleep training Aimery. I turn the device on as we get ready for bedtime and the combination of warm lights and soft music really makes his nursery more peaceful . I love using the Hatch Baby Rest because I can control it right from my phone and change the settings as I need to. I wish I had this device while breastfeeding Aimery as a newborn, because changing the brightness and sound directly from my phone definitely would have made nighttime feedings easier!

One of my favorite things about this product is that you can also create light and sound themes, or choose a preset on the app! This makes bedtime routines so much easier with different lights and sounds. I like to have a different sound for bath time, bed time, and now that Aimery is older we could even start setting one for an OK-to-wake so he knows when we will come and get him. This is great for us since we are going to be putting him in a toddler bed in a few months. He will be able to start understand that playtime in the morning begins when a certain noise/light comes on the machine. You can also select a set of fun coverlets to match your nursery/toddler room! 

The Hatch Baby Rest has been great during our journey of sleep training. I would definitely recommend this product to any mother looking for all-in-one product with a nightlight, sound machine, and OK-to-wake machine!

This post is sponsored by Hatch Baby! Thanks for supporting the brands who support this blog! All opinions are my own.