sleep "training" a 5 month old

i will start by saying up until a few weeks ago, i had a really great sleeper. we started using the woombie at 8 weeks and within the first 3 days of using it, finley was sleeping from 9:45 pm until 6:45 am.he did not require night feedings and would go back to sleep after the morning feeding for another hour or so. i knew it was too good to be true ;)

during our trip to mn, all of finn's fabulous sleep habits went down the drain. he napped poorly due to noisy surroundings and his bedtime routine had changed quite a bit. he had grown out of the woombie and seemed desperate to have use of him arms when he stirred at night. so he started to wake up. at 1 am. at 4 am. at 5, 6, 7am. i would bring him to bed with me, desperate for sleep and with no real place to nurse in the designated nursery. 2 weeks of this and he had created new habits that i wasn't about to stick with when we returned home.

so off i went to the library in search of sleep solutions. i came home with 5 books (but didn't get my hands on the no cry sleep solution) and have already read 2 of them. i was ready to start immediately with an adaptable plan and didn't feel comfortable letting one book, person, or stance solve finn's sleep "problems". i also wasn't interested in direct cry it out methods. so i gathered what i had learned and we began "training" 3 nights ago. here's an outline:

• change bedtime routine from 9 pm to 8 pm (i think he became overtired by 9 pm)
• bedtime routine: bath, lotion massage, diaper, sleep sack (no more swaddle), nurse in rocker, story time ending with the same book each night, into bed drowsy but awake, pacifier, seahorse music, shushing, white noise, and (hopefully) asleep
• quick feed between 1 am and 3 am if awoken, no feed in the morning until 7 or 8 am, replace pacifier only and shush at any other waking times
• feed 4-5 times per day between 3 and 4 hours apart, directly upon waking
  
• nap 2 times per day, one between 10:30 and 11 am and one between 2:45 and 3 pm, with first being at least an hour and the second being closer to two hours
• avoid naps between 6 pm and 8 pm

these probably seem obvious, but prior to this schedule i was feeding on demand, finn was napping for 15 minutes here and there, he was swaddled and sometimes put in the crib completely alseep...we were following no plan. key points to these changes include no longer bringing him to bed with me to do an early morning feeding everyday. once he's "trained", i won't mind doing it occasionally and it won't mess him up if he needs it. pulling back the night routine will help curb evening napping and will hopefully result in longer, most restful sleep at night.

night 1: he had trouble going down but fell asleep despite the lack of swaddle. not knowing whether to feed late at night, i stayed with him when he woke at 1:30 am, shushing, patting, rocking, while he cried. i decided then to slowly wean him off the feed and as soon as he ate he went right to sleep in the crib. he woke up at 6 am, i placed the pacifier and we both went back to bed. up at 8 am!

night 2: fell asleep within 5 minutes (no crying). woke at 3:45 am and i offered a short feeding. he went back to bed drowsy and i went back to bed not hearing a peep. woke up at 7:50 am and cooed/grumbled for 15 minutes before we retrieved him.

night 3: would not eat, cried until pacifier and book. took 10 minutes to fall asleep with shushing and patting near crib (no crying). woke at 5 am and i nursed because it had been so long since he had eaten. went back to sleep until 8:10 am.

so far, so good :) i'll keep you posted!