Mini Sleep Training Update and Progress

Shockingly enough, I feel like I am making a little progress with Lucas's sleep training. I'm not following any of the "systems" (Ferber, No-Cry, Babywise, etc.) and not being very strict or consistent, so it's probably going to take a while. But the combination of Lucas's stubborn personality and my overly-sensitive one is complicated, so I'm doing the best I can.

Sleep-training for naps is completely out for the moment. He fights naps so hard and sleeps so briefly during the day, all my feeble attempts did was turn a 30-minute nap into an hour of hysterics followed by nursing to sleep followed by a 30-minute nap. No, thank you! We have been working more on teaching him to fall asleep in the crib right at bedtime and during some night wake ups.

I guess I'm doing sort of a modified Ferber? I let him fuss in there for a few minutes at a time (no more than 7, so far) and then go back in and sing to him and rub his back until he calms down. Then eventually he falls asleep while I'm in there (never by himself, yet). I think I'm just replacing "rocking to sleep" with "rubbing back and singing to sleep" but I figure this can be a transitory step toward teaching him to fall asleep completely on his own. I think he sleeps a bit better when he falls asleep in the crib, because he doesn't wake up expecting to still be in my arms.

Plus, the past couple nights, he's been fussing in my arms while we rock, and when I put him in the crib, he immediately calms down and starts rolling around trying to get in a comfortable position. So it seems like he's ready to sleep train, which is probably why we've started making progress. It's cute to watch him flip around, rub his face, and try to get comfortable, and I love that he hasn't been screaming himself to sleep in the crib, which is what happened when we tried it before. Instead, he's just shifting around until he drifts off on his own. Progress!

My next task, if I choose to accept it, will be night-weaning, I think. I haven't decided for sure when to do this, but I may try it in the next few weeks.