Today I formally start the ‘No cry sleep solution Method’ and I am trying to follow it as much as possible to what the author has mentioned in her book.

Before I can jump to my sleep logs and the interesting tidbits in between, I need to share some basic information about my toddler, her schedule and her mom and her dad. All of this plays a very important role in deciding how ready you are to jump into implementing the NCSS method right away. We have a routine, but its pretty flexible. Its not written on stone. We try to stick to it as much as possible but if we need to we alter it. A lot of my schedule and lifestyle will remain as is and some will change and change for the better. My daughter’s schedule is as follows:

7-7.30am : wake up
08.00 am : heavy breakfast (cereal milk with fruits)
11.30 am : lunch + milk/string cheese
11.45 am : wash hands, change diaper (play sleep music in background)
12.00 pm : lie on her toddler bed and read a book or 2 depending on how sleepy she is.
12.10 pm : sing lullaby;s , pat rub back
12.15-12.20 pm: Asleep.
(This is pretty much by the clock, the same almost everyday)
Her naps range from 1.5 to 2 hours. The past week when she wasn’t well she used to wake up in 20 mins and I used to wait close by so that I could just go in and pat her back to sleep and it worked wonderfully, She napped longer and woke up more refreshed!

02.00pm : Awake
0200-0210pm : cuddle time (very important to us)
02.15pm : Mid afternoon snacks
3 pm : Out to library or park or some kind of toddler work out
5pm : back home : prepare for dinner
6.15pm : dinner
6.30pm : bath (Play sleep music in the background)
After bath I give her a 5-7 min detailed massage.
7pm : read books, have milk
7.20 pm : brush teeth
7.25pm : say good night to Daddy and everyone at home also including, Puppy and Elmo!!
7.30pm in her bed/or the guest bed reading books together 2-4 books. 07.45: Settle her in her toddler bed, lights off! Lullaby playing in the background and back rub while I am seated on the floor by her bed. Its GREAT bonding time and I LOVE IT. Lucky me! I try to get the most of this moment since both of us are sacrificing a whole night of cuddle for something thats well worth it!!
8pm : starts feeling sleepy
8.15: Fast asleep!

A little earlier she used to have dinner at 7pm and one more evening snack, Cutting back the evening snack makes her more hungry faster and that way advanced her dinner time to 6.15 sometimes it’s 6pm, depending on how much of a toddler work out she had that evening.

This schedule of course hasn’t happened overnight. I have had to work on it pretty hard. While I am a stay at home mom, I send her to day care 3 days a week(MWF) 8.30-12.30pm and the morning schedules are pretty much the same. That has certainly helped streamline her routine. You just have to stick to it. Trust me I have tried various time slots and this is the BEST schedule. The time is perfect and 2-6 is ample time to get tired and get ready to end the day!

Fluctuating Schedules
I couldn’t help but include a paragraph on this topic. I have been a mom who has let her toddler live it the way she likes it. Sleeps when she is sleepy, plays when she wants to play, basically let her control my life. I always thought (emotionally), these days of her life, let her live the way she wants, later on its going to be different anyways. But now, I am happy to admit that I stand corrected. Toddlers need the intervention. They strive on discipline and routine. On the brighter side its never too late! Once their biological clocks are tuned, they will remind you what needs to be done. You technically don’t need a clock in the house!! I am serious!

Let me state this with an example. My daughter is a very active toddler. She never gets tired. Given a chance she can play without wanting to sleep. There have been days she has skipped her nap, only to go to bed early and have a restless night sleep. That just does not work!! Now things are different and here’s how it happened. When my daughter started day care, she used to get so exhausted by 1230 that by the time we drove home she used to be fast asleep (Its only a 10 minute drive). But that soon changed. After 2 months or so she used to be wide awake and sleep at 2-2.30 and wake up by 5pm and hence impossible to target a bedtime of 830 pm since she is WIDE AWAKE!! Elizabeth Pantley very rightly points out that the nap window is very small and you have put her to sleep in that window. I addressed this crucial issue by asking her day care to have her lie down along with her classmates at 12pm. Now when I go to pick her up at 12.30 (no earlier than that) she is fast asleep. Her window I have noticed is 12.10-12.20!! The other days when she is at home I stick to it as a rule!! I plan all play dates around it!! and ensure she is in her bed or in her car seat if I am outside so she can fall asleep.

I really hope this helps you give a more detailed idea on the approach.

Change will come, one step at a time, a moment at a time, one day at a time and one week at a time!! But change will happen. Its the Obama time Only if he had reforms for baby sleep too!!

Next article: Sleep logs Day 1

My sleep deprivation started only when I moved my co-sleeping toddler to a crib. My toddler slept very well when she co-slept and we thoroughly enjoyed it. Why did we stop it, if we enjoyed co-sleeping? I hated it trust me! My husband still wants to co-sleep with my daughter for all the cozy cuddly moments. Lets face it nothing like cuddling a baby or a toddler.  Parents practicing ‘Attachment Parenting’ know what I am talking about.  Okay so the true reason is space! We all need our space, the space to sleep! That was true for my hubby, my daughter and myself.  We have a standard queen sized bed and a growing, very active toddler who loved swimming through the bed over our butts and landing her cute but full diaper bottom on our faces and being fast asleep. Sounds cute but either my hubby or me were on the edge of the bed and on couple of occasions it was my daughter who unknowingly fell off the bed on some pillows on the floor which I had kept as a precaution. I guess you see there were pretty obvious reasons why we decided to move out of co-sleeping, but that was the most practical thing to do to help the three of us sleep better.  But this is where attached parents true sleep problems begin!

I am a first time parent and this is my first ever blogging initiative, which I am finally  getting started with after many years of procrastination .  I intend to touch upon many topics slowly and eventually as I face it as a parent.  I am hoping that my parent experiences will help you just as other parents blogs and videos have helped me understand that I am not the only one facing the problem!

I am starting this series with SLEEP, because that’s my challenge at the moment!  I am impressed and kind of obssessed now with Elizabeth Pantley’s book : The No-cry sleep solution: Gentle ways to soothe your baby.  First of all I can’t believe I didn’t find this book earlier.  Now that I have.  I intend to share my experiences and sleep logs with you so you know how it worked for me and that will be the best practical review for this book!!

If you are a parent who has already practiced this and would like to share your experiences please feel free to leave in a comment.

I’ll see you soon!