Sleeping through the night at 12 weeks

My hubby and I had decided that during half term we would try putting Olivia in her own room for the first time.  Olivia's 12 weeks today and it is recommended that babies should remain in the parents room until they are 6 months old.  We knew that this wouldn't be possible as her cot wouldn't fit in our room and she is quickly outgrowing her current bed.  We thought that trying her in her own room during half term would be the best idea as both of us would be home and we could tag team during the night if we needed to.  On Saturday and Sunday we cleared her room making sure that everything was put away (it had been a little of a dumping ground up until now).

On listening to other peoples advice, lots had said to place her moses basket in the cot to start with until she gets used to being in the room and then put her in her bed to sleep.  This is what we intended to do.

Last night came around and at first Phil was a little apprehensive about her going into her own room and even said "how about one more night in our room".  I didn't mind what we did, just as long as she went in there soon, as it won't be long before she is too big for her moses basket.  By the time I had got washed and ready for bed, Phil had changed his mind and said "let's just do it, we have to at some point".

After falling asleep on her bottle (I know she shouldn't but she wouldn't wake up no matter how hard I tried) and leaving 2oz which is very unusual for her, I was feeling rather nervous, thinking that she would probably wake up at around 3am.  We carried her into her room and wrapped her up all snug as per usual.  She looked so tiny in comparison to the large cot, and I couldn't help thinking whether or not it was too soon for her to be on her own.  But deep down I knew that it was the right decision no matter how nervous I felt.  Luckily my sister had given us a video monitor which we had set up so we could watch her from our room.  For us this was great, as it gave us peace of mind as we could see that she was ok.

Phil and I got ourselves into bed and turned off the lights.  At first, all I wanted to do was to reach over and touch her.  For 12 weeks, she had been asleep right next to my side of the bed and was within easy reach so I couldn't settle her with ease.  Now she was next door and all I could do was lay there, staring at the monitor as though Olivia would suddenly start screaming.  But she didn't and I soon drifted off to sleep. 

I woke up at around 2am, looked at the monitor and again noticed she was asleep.  The same thing happened every hour until it reached around 6am.  Usually at this time, Olivia starts moving and getting a little grumpy.  Well, she was certainly moving, but she was still asleep and soon was able to settle herself.

At 7am we had to wake her as usual for her morning feed.  Phil and I went in together, both excited to see our baby girl.  She looked so peaceful and couldn't stop yawning.  Then once we had fed her, we put her down as per usual (but in her room instead of ours) and once again she slept peacefully until we woke her at 9am to get her dressed.

To say both Phil and I were shocked would be an understatement.  I never in my wildest dreams thought that she would sleep until 7am and especially not the first night we put her in her own room.  Perhaps as it was so quiet in there she was not disturbed, so she didn't wake up.  What was even more satisfying was that she didn't have her dummy for the whole night either, and there was me thinking that I would keep having to get out of bed to put it back in her mouth.

Who knows what lays in store for us tonight, but now she has done it once, I don't feel so guilty about putting her in her own room again.  I'm sure that we will have some difficult nights ahead of us but for now I'm more that happy about how things are progressing.

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