Sleep training has been the hardest thing ever! When Ryder was 4 months I had him on a perfect sleep schedule. Then at 6 months he started getting bag gas that woke him up every hour at night throwing off his sleep schedule so his naps were all off during the day. At 9 months we finally saw a reduction in the night gas and he started sleeping better. He was back to his daily scheduled naps.

Now at 10 months I am training him to learn to nap in his crib. He will still sleep in his bed in our room till he’s 1 year old. It was recommended by our doctor to reduce the risk of SIDS. But naps will be in the crib since they’re short. Yesterday was day 1 of crib nap attempt. It was brutal! He fought it for an hour. Our dog Sadie was in his room the entire time. She would stick her nose trough the crib rails and whimper at him. I let him cry and would check on him every 5-10 minutes. Near the end of the hour I could see he was really starting to fade. He would doze off, then remember he was supposed to be mad and start crying again. Finally he fell asleep and he slept hard! He was snoring so loud even the dog would look up at his crib on occasion!

I feel like I achieved something by getting him to nap in his crib but I also feel like the worst mom in the world for making him cry. I keep telling myself this is a learning process for he and I, and that it’ll get better (and easier) eventually. But it’s still so heartbreaking listening to your child cry. Good luck to all you moms out there attempting sleep training! It’s not easy but you and your little one can do it!