We have to train him?!?!

Why did no one tell me that you have to actually train your child how to sleep?  Here I was thinking that babies just knew how to sleep.  I mean, why else would people use the phrase "sleeping like a baby*"??

I naively thought that as babies got older, they would start sleeping more on their own.  I'm sure some babies do, but from what I've been reading, most babies have to learn to sleep.  How does one learn to sleep? Enter the phrase that has been uttered daily in our house for the last week:  Sleep Training.  Fortunately, there are tons of books written by sleep experts on this subject.  Unfortunately, there are tons of books written by sleep experts on this subject.  Why didn't my kid come with a personalized manual?  Sleep training does not have to be "put your kid in their crib and leave them crying until they fall asleep!"  If you take the time (not that I have much free time!), you can find a method that you are comfortable with and adapt it to what's right for your child and your family.  

As you can see, I've been doing some reading...and making multiple trips to the library!

The main issue for us...the dang pacifier!  

He falls asleep almost instantly when you give it to him, but guess what happens when it falls out??  Once or twice a night wouldn't be so bad, but as my inlaws can attest from their recent trip to visit, its become more like 6-8 times per night!  One night he woke up crying for the paci 3 times in an hour and 15 minutes...that's not healthy for him OR for us!!  So we are starting to train him not to need the paci to fall asleep and to self soothe (another phrase uttered daily in our house) so he can fall asleep and stay asleep by himself.  

Its been a week of sleep training and things are getting better but I'm not ready to say we have the paci problem solved yet.  I'll be sure to give a full update on what we are doings, how its working, and how things are going soon!

*Whoever coined this phrase obviously never had kids!  I might just punch the next person that says this to me when they see him sleeping peacefully.  Do they not know how much effort it sometimes takes just to get him to fall asleep....let alone stay asleep???