Sleep training

So new year, new sleep regime.  Or that was the plan.

3 days in and we're making progress.  We have a routine (stolen from a book): bath, fresh pyjamas, final feed, cuddle and in the cot with his lights and music machine. 

There are a few glitches.  The first is that this doesn't take into account what to do if the baby conks out at 8.30 in his Daddy's arms. Do we wake him to go through the whole process?  Or do we sneak him into his cot with no routine and pray that bedtime has arrived all on its own?  It also doesn't take into account that the vigorous crying that goes with being left in his cot is normally accompanied by a pretty vigorous movement elsewhere...

Never mind.  Last night the little man went down in his cot and 40 minutes later was fast asleep.  Daddy checked on him every 5 minutes to let him know that we hadn't deserted him, and I was banished to the lounge so that the smell of food wouldn't ruin the whole process.  We then had 4 uninterrupted hours of peace and the entire night spent in his cot.  A big thank you to my Mum for suggesting that we raise the mattress - so simple but it also seems to have made a difference.

"They" say it takes three to four nights of crying for the baby to realise that the feeds and cuddles for the day are over and for sleep to come quickly.  Let's hope "they" are right.  It's going to be a long week.