SLEEP! The magical word among moms and dads alike. When ‘they’ tell you sleep is nonexistent with a newborn, you can’t really imagine it until you are a new parent. But, what ‘they’ don’t tell you is that you will NEVER sleep! Between teething, cuddles, and whatever other things are keeping your baby awake, sleep is now a pure luxury. You get to the point where you just literally POP out of bed at the first cry and walk into the nursery with one eye glued shut. And just when you think you will get some sleep, your sleep schedule is so off that even 8 hours is still screaming, COFFEE and more COFFEE!!Around 4-5 months I began researching sleep training and different methods. Before I tell you about the method we chose, this isn’t for everyone. Some parents don’t feel comfortable doing any sort of cry it out (CIO) method. I am just sharing what worked for our family. In no way do I think the CIO method was harmful or neglectful to my baby or we wouldn’t have used it. Moral of the story- do what works for your family! Savannah knows we love and care for her and not for a minute do I think she doubts that. We made sure she was comfortable, fed, had a clean diaper, and safe in her crib.

We chose to use the Ferber Method, or progressive sleep method. You put your baby down to sleep while still awake (but sleepy) and check on him/her in increasing intervals of time. After 2 nights, Savannah was sleeping all by herself! When you go into the room to check on baby, you don’t pick baby up, but just give baby pacifier or put your hand on them to soothe. This way they learn to soothe themselves and fall asleep. I read somewhere in the Ferber method research that the reasoning behind this is because babies don’t like falling asleep in one place and waking in another. For example, if you were to hold baby to fall asleep and then put them in crib, when they wake up they are in a totally different spot! I would advise reading the Ferber method book to dive deeper into the subject, and I didn’t necessarily do that but wish I had.

The first thing I would advise is to evaluate your baby’s current bedtime. We put her down to bed around 9 or 10pm when she was younger (newborn-4 months). Once we realized her bedtime should be around 7pm, she slept so much better! It sounds counterproductive, but it really does make for better sleep and gives me and my husband alone time at night to unwind.For the sleep training, we used the chart provided on this website. It lists the waiting times in between checking on your baby. The best advice I have when you are pulling your hair out listening to your baby cry is STAY BUSY! The first night I did yoga (bad choice since there is no relaxing involved). The second night I did a high intensity workout to blow off the steam and stress of listening to her cry! The first night took 45 minutes for her to go to sleep on her own and the second night was around 15-20 minutes. That’s it!! And now she goes to bed like clockwork every night at 7pm! We lay her down in her crib and she may let out a whimper or two, but she goes right to sleep. We pray this carries into her toddlerhood! The hardest part of the sleep training for us was listening to her cry.

We also did this method at the same time for naps. She is currently in the process of switching from two naps to one longer morning nap, around 2 hours. Same methods used, laying her down awake to fall asleep on her own. As a mother, you get used to knowing their sleep patterns and when they are ready to take a nap. Here’s some other helpful tools to have while sleep training:
Merlin sleepsuit
sound machine
sleep sacks
Fish tank for crib
Wubbanub Pacifier

By no means am I a sleep expert. In fact, last night she was up several times wanting to breastfeed for comfort as a new tooth came through. If you stay consistent and keep a bedtime routine, that has seemed to work the best for us. Also, I am still breastfeeding at 14 months, so it seems babies wake more throughout the night when breastfed. But her waking on average only once per night I will take! She typically sleeps from 7pm to 7:30 or 8 am with one or two wakings in between. I wasn’t consistent with the middle of the night wakings, being so tired. I could just give her the pacifier and she may learn to soothe herself back to sleep but I breastfeed. I guess its the easy way out! So this is just what has worked for us. But I would highly recommend it for others struggling with the bedtime routine!

Please post any questions you have in the comments. We are on this journey together!

Thanks for reading!
Kim

It wouldn’t be right to be blogging about motherhood without sharing about my journey with Fit4Mom here in Lexington, Ky! Before having Savannah, my life consisted of working out and eating healthy. (Well, until pregnancy!) Once I gave birth, something happened. Between hormones, no sleep, and pain, you are not the same person you once were. I suffered with a mild form of depression, or baby blues. I remember crying for no reason and put me and Savannah together, and my poor husband! Although he did so great with us! Focusing on your marriage is another subject for further discussion.

Around the 5 month mark in October, my husband stumbled upon Stroller Strides online (one of Fit4Moms exercise programs). The class met at Veterans Park which is super close to our house, and you bring your babies to work out! I had seen a group of moms pushing strollers so many times when driving by, but didn’t know what this group was! I signed up and went to my first class on a Saturday and Tina was teaching. And to this day, she is one of my friends. These moms are not just instructors. They have many similar stories to mine. They are here for you! No more guilt over not having time to workout in the day. No more guilt about putting her in the crib to nap (or cry) while I try to get a workout and shower in! Each workout is different and fun! We sing to the babies, do squats, jumping jacks, run, and much more. After class all the kids get out of the strollers to run around and play. Not only is mama making friends, but so are the kiddos!

But the part where I gained the most was this community. A group of mamas who tell me I’m doing a good job, tell me it’s ok she fell into the dresser this morning since I’m still upset about it, and a group that motivates me on days when I barely made it and have slept a total of 4 hours. Some of the mamas are pregnant, others have two kids, and some are just getting by with their one (ME!) But the one thing we all have in common is we love our kids and we are trying to be the best version of ourselves. I never expected to gain so much; friendships that will last a lifetime. Going to class has also been great for Savannah’s schedule. We wake up, eat breakfast, go to class, then come home and have nap time/shower for mama! And somewhere we fit in lots of COFFEE!Classes are offered 6 days a week (mornings and evenings) and we do fun mom’s night outs, have playdates for the kids, and family days. I really can’t say enough about how this group has changed my life. I guess my husband can get brownie points here! Not sure where this lonely stay at home mom would be without my village. So I tell every mom I know! Ha, hope you come join us!! Visit their website to see if there is one in your area! COFFEE, STROLLER STRIDES, REPEAT!(photo courtesy of Fit4Mom)

Being a stay at home has its challenges. One of them is finding new, creative ways to save money. So when I started shopping Aldi, it was a game changer! I can honestly say we have cut our grocery bill by 30-40%. Of course, there are still several name brand items we continue to buy at Kroger, but I wanted to share with you the magic of Aldi! I wish I would have learned about it sooner!

Growing up, I remember my grandpa coming over with cases of pop from Aldi and some cereal. Haha, what a smart man he was! Carrying on the tradition for you Grandpa Nickley!

Sorry Girl Scouts, but they have knock off cookies for $1.39! Thin mints are my favorite! And these taste just as good and you get more in the box.
Fresh produce oh my! You can find the same produce and just as fresh. Avocados for $.69! Unheard of people! One of our go to dinners is crispy chicken salad. Aldi has a wide selection for you to customize your ingredients.
Most of the Aldi stores around us (Lexington, KY) have been remodeled and have a fresher guarantee and quality.
Cereal is less than $2!! Whhhaaaatttt!! Stock up on those generic Cheerios for the baby and those Fruity O’s for the hubby!

They also have a row of random, non-food items. I found this pizza cooking tray the other day, but had to pass since we just bought one. Otherwise, it would have come home with me!

And where are my coffee lovers? A box of K-cups for less than $5. Sign me up! The quality is really good, trust me. I am one coffee connoisseur.
One of the meals I made recently from Aldi ingredients was this bacon-wrapped, jalapeno stuffed chicken breast. I bought a pack of jalapeños in the produce section for .$89. Here is the link to the recipe.

I would recommend just a few changes to the recipe depending on your oven and preferences on spiciness:

I halved the recipe since it was only the two of us eating. So I used half of one jalapeno (recipe called for 4) just for the flavor and to avoid the spiciness. I would recommend using a full one. And when cooking the chicken, I left it in for an additional 20 minutes. (But keep an eye depending on your oven) I also threw in some of Aldi’s mashed potatoes to go with the chicken. I prepped the chicken ahead of time during nap time and threw it in the oven just in time for hubby to get home and enjoy!

The other great thing about Aldi here in Lexington is that it’s never really crowded and its big enough, yet small enough that if you forget something, it’s pretty easy to go back and find it.

So next time you go shopping, give Aldi a try! Don’t forget your quarter for the cart return and bring your own bags!

Thanks for reading! Please share your favorite items at Aldi!