Mike and I rented a summer house this August and although we have been traveling back and forth into the city for work and just using the house on the weekends, the plan was always to take off and spend the entire last week of August at the house.
Originally, we planned to leave Friday night and come back Sunday the 1st of September. The reason I chose to sleep train this week was because we had an entire week at home before going away.
By the time we get back, Mazzy will be too close to starting her new preschool and I wanted the worst of it to be over.
Earlier this week, Mike decided he wanted to start our vacation on Thursday instead. Initially, I said that I would see if I could get off work too, but then when Harlow had a rocky third night of sleep training, I decided to stay home to give Harlow one last night to work it out.
We decided that Mike would take Mazzy to the summer house on Thursday and I would bring Harlow to the house on Friday.
It’s a good thing I did that because tonight Harlow finally went to sleep with minimal stress.
I got home from work at 5:30pm and saw that Harlow was exhausted. Erin said to put her in bed at 6pm but Mike and Mazzy were still packing up to leave and causing a commotion in her room. I finally got them out of there at precisely 6:31pm and put Harlow down. She cried for maybe half a minute and then went quiet.
Success????
Not so fast.
Mazzy, the little sneak, ran in when I wasn’t looking and started dancing in front of Harlow’s crib singing a song. SERIOUSLY????? Just when you think your three-year-old is maturing, she does a jig for a sleeping baby, possibly ruining three days of your hard work.
Harlow woke up and started crying, I gave Mazzy what I think is my meanest glare (although I’m sure she finds it HILARIOUS) and then shooed her out of the room. I would have constructed a brick wall and locked the door with a deadbolt if I could.
Harlow immediately stopped crying again.
I waited.
Nothing.
I waited some more.
Nothing.
Harlow was asleep!
The time? 6:37pm. That means Harlow went down in all of six minutes!!! And it would have been less than one minute if it wasn’t for her meddling little sister!
Excuse me for a moment while I sing a little song….
Wow. Never thought I would be voluntarily singing or posting that song but sadly enough, it was what actually went through my head as soon as Harlow fell sleep.
Only now, I have to take Harlow on the train to Long Island by myself, take a cab to my mom’s, get her car (she’s away on vacation) and drive alone with the baby for two hours on the Long Island Expressway.
I sincerely hope tomorrow’s escapades and the new location don’t wreck the whole damn thing. What are the chances Harlow goes down just as easily in the Pack and Play?
FYI- Erin, my sleep consultant from Pickles & Ice Cream, is giving a $15 discount to all Mommy Shorts readers. All you have to do is like her facebook page and tell her I sent you. A sleep consult (which includes a customized plan and daily communication) costs $150.
What else happened these past couple weeks besides the crazy sleep training controversy on my facebook page?
• Nobody got the ice cream they wanted
• Mazzy got crabs in the hot tub
• We bashed the day we gave birth to our children
• Working moms took their kids to the doctor AGAIN
• Harlow got her picture taken
• I gave you the option to start Mommy Shorts from the beginning
And finally, I celebrated my third blogiversary!
Did I celebrate with booze and a lapdance? Did I buy myself something fancy? Did I eat my weight in chocolate? Nope. I nixed all of the above and chose to celebrate with Chobani Greek Yogurt.
Why, you ask?
Because I came home from work, my doorman handed me a huge box of unknown origin, I opened it up and found about twenty cartons of yogurt packed in ice with a note that read, “Happy Three Year Blogiversary, Love Chobani”.
So basically, I have no choice but to celebrate every waking moment with yogurt, from now until October 12th when they all expire.
Okay, in all seriousness, Chobani Greek Yogurt has been following my blog for about a year now. They retweet my posts on twitter, they comment on my instagram photos, they send me invites to their shop in SOHO. You know that guy who was always super nice to you in high school and you couldn’t figure out if he was really cool because he TOTALLY GOT YOU or if maybe you should contact the police because he was some kind of stalker?
That’s who Chobani Greek Yogurt is to me.
But I’m gonna go with “really cool yogurt who totally gets me” and give Chobani a huge thank you. They were the only person/brand/animal/milk product to give me a blogiversary gift.
And for what it’s worth— the new flip cup flavors are FANTASTIC. Like I look forward to eating them after dinner instead of my regular cup of ice cream FANTASTIC. I could EASILY eat thirty “Key Lime Crumbles with Graham Cracker and White Chocolate” flip cups before October 12th.
But if thirty Key Lime Crumbles show up at my doorstep tomorrow, I am calling the police.
Have a good weekend!
— Mommy Shorts
PS: I wrote this post last night. Here’s an update— Harlow slept until 7:15 this morning! With no wake-ups watsoever! That’s almost 13 hours of solid sleep. Cue Dora…
My son has been great at sleeping on his own and he sort of self train himself. We are current on our second week of a three weeks vacation in Greece. We are visiting my in-laws. The first day was horrible, my son was so cranky and I wasn’t sure he would sleep in his pea-pod sleeping bed that I had bought at babies-r-us. He slept well and was a happy baby again on day 2. In regards to interrupting your sleep training, it may be tough the first day since Harlow may not get her nap properly because of travelling, but she’ll adjust if you tough it out with the crying. Perhaps, you should send Mike on some errands when the time comes. Good luck and enjoy the last week of summer vacation. I am not looking forward to the return trip back to Canada.
I am sure your week away will be fine, because I think the biggest take aways were (1) kids need sleep (2) do not confuse signs of being over tired i.e irritability and hyperness as signs of a kid with energy to spare – it is kidsdesperate for sleep but forcing with energy spurt to stay awake (3) routine and consistency are key and (4) expect time to adjust to change but stick to the routine.
It wasgreat to stay home one night, I think brilliant planning despite the now suckiness of. solo trip there, as means are starting the vacation on the right foot!
When we went places with our baby/toddler/preschooler the only adjustments made were trying to create a quiet environment conducive to sleep ( my FIL can be loud enough to interrupt anyone’s sleep, so would kick him out until she actually fell asleep, lol!) – FYI, a white noise machine can work wonders!!! Anyway, otherwise we did the exact same routine and she either adjusted right away or within a day. Make sure youstay calm and confident – the babes pick up on your mojo!
Um, I meant we kicked my FIL out of the house, not the bedroom. That ended up worded a bit creepily, lol! 😉
There are definitely worse ways to celebrate than with delicious yogurt. I’m currently packing about four Chobani coupons for grocery shopping later today.
I am curious about Harlow’s nap situation. We sleep trained our 10 month old couple of months ago. He sleeps through the night, 6.30/7pm -6.00 am. However there is usually insane amount of rocking to be done. Same with naps, usually 90 min long but always has to be rocked and transferred to his crib very very gently. He is getting heavier and has started fighting the rocking too, and have to sing old mc Donald had a farm for hours every day between 3 naps and bed time. Thinking of another sleep training run ( feel bad since he does sleep 11 hours a night and obviously knows how to soothe himself back to sleep). My question is how is this new method working with nap times. Is she napping without the rocking? I am so happy that she did so well last night 🙂
Good luck this week! I am sure she will do fine – might be a little rocky the first night.
I am so happy you like Chobani! I am from the area where Chobani is located. We are quite proud of them.
My son was a horrible sleeper when he was younger. I repeat, HORRIBLE. And now that he’s sleeping through the night I have yet to switch him to the toddler bed and it’s approaching so quickly. Wahhh I don’t want to lose my sleep I worked so hard to get.
You know what else sucks? When you think they are asleep after being in their room for seventybajillion hours and you start to back out of the room and step on a creek. The only effing creek in the entire 160 year old house that is louder than a sonic bomb. THAT is awesome. Because then you will end up just moving into your kid’s room at that point… because what’s the freakin point. OMG.
Am I missing something or is the expiration date on that last pic of yogurt in October?
YAY!!! Si se puede!!! 🙂
I came up with my own sleep training plan. I’ve commented before that my kids are in bed ready to sleep between 9 and 9:30. I’ve always thought this is is way too late but we could never get started earlier. We both work and get home around 6:30. So, I’ve decided to a strict schedule and a bedtime between 8 and 8:30. That means in tucked in, read to, sung to and kissed no later than 8:30. Last night we got them down at 8:22pm. I was shooting for 8:15, but that worked. OMG. What a difference. I’ve had terrible mornings with 7yo girl for the past year or so. Awful. Lots of yelling, crying and whining – from both of us. I’ve decided to get her to bed earlier to see if unhappiness levels decrease. Guess what – two mornings following earlier bedtimes have led to mornings with absolutely no drama. NONE. No crying, no fighting, no whining. None. Holy cow, why didn’t I do this earlier????
I am glad things are going so well. I am also glad I am not the only person who lives life to an inner Dora soundtrack.
Woot-woot! congrats!
PS – Boots is my spirit animal.
So Excited for you!! 🙂 Congrats. As for mine, she was asleep in less than 5 minutes, 2 wake ups at less than 2 minutes each which did not require my intervention and she woke up on her own to nurse and snuggle at 6! I was up before her, I think because I don’t know when the last time I got consecutive sleep! YAY!! Have a fabulous vacation!! 🙂
I love the Chocolate/coconut chobani… if you don’t, let me know and I’ll whip into the city to take it off your hands!! I think if you follow the basics of the sleep training and try not to sweat it too much, all will go well. That’s what the sleep training does, make it easier to sleep whenever and wherever! Have a great week – and happy Blogversay…!
As a nanny to a NYC family who do not believe that children- even babies- should nap during the day (apparently their pediatrician told them this? where’d he get his MD?), I can attest to the fact that an overtired child is a crazy/manic/devil-child, and especially for babies, sleep begets sleep. It’s simple. Our Grandmothers are probably laughing in their graves at all of these sleep experts and sleep trainers- but follow her advice! more sleep=happy baby/child. Sleep should be the agenda…you can all play and spend time together on the weekends. also, love your blog! very hilarious!
In my own limited experience, anything out of the norm during the transition process would throw everything off. Don’t kick yourself. Do the best you can and start over when you get back home.
Naps come together when night sleep comes together. When we have a solid week of good sleeps then we will see improvements with naps. I would suggest consulting me as 3 hours of singing old McDonald qualifies you for the 10 month old sleep rehab. In all seriousness, you will decide when it is the right time for you.
Great job! You didn’t know to do it earlier. Thank god for mommy shorts!
Chobani should give you a free lifetime supply of those amazing flip cups. I had never eaten greek yogurt in my life before I read this post. Now I’m sending the stockboy to the back for 3 cases of keylime every visit to the store.
I just forwarded Chobani this comment. The Key Limes really are amazing. I’d never had them before either!
I sent them an email through their comment page crediting you for the rise in their stock value. I eat one every night after the kids go to bed so Iddon’t have to share. 🙂
I assume you’ve seen all the crazy over the Chobani recall. I noticed your yogurts have the right lot number for it. I ate 2 full cases of it! Tasted great to me.
Yeah- someone told me about it today while (no joke) I was in the middle of eating one. Chobani sent me about twenty and I ate all but one of them. I didn’t get sick or think anything tasted funny so I’m not gonna worry about it.
What are the chances I would post a photo that actually reveals the lot number and mention the expiration date in my post?? Weird.
I’m glad you are ok!
I’ve been sleep training my 4 month old for nearly 3 weeks now and she still scream blue murder for over an hour at bedtime and naptimes. Is 4 months too young to sleep train?
okay so here is my situation and question to you… I live in a one room apartment my child’s bed is within touching distance of mine. she is 6 months old and I am now trying to sleep train, having been told from our doctor that earlier than 6 months was too young. I personally cannot stand to hear her cry it stresses me out and makes me cry, so the doctor suggested that I go get a hotel room or stay at my in laws for 3 to 4 days or should say night while my husband sleep train our child my question being is I am home with her during the day am I supposed to continue this sleep training during her nap time?