The Hoovers: Sleeping through the Night

Sleeping though the night has not been easy for Elli.

Elli sleeping (9 months)

Before this last week Elli has slept 8 hours two nights in the last 9 months... once around 2 months and once at 7 months.
She seemed to always wake up because she wanted to nurse but it didn't seem to bad because as soon as she was done she was ready for bed again.
This last month or two has been really hard as Elli has been waking up 5-8 times a night. Sometimes that meant every hour I was getting up and nursing Elli. It also meant that Elli, Blake and I were not getting much sleep.

After a while we decided we needed to do something to help Elli but we didn't know exactly what that was. I or Blake would still get up every time she would call but not always feed her, but instead rock her to sleep as we realized she didn't need to eat though the night anymore. We would also try letting her cry but that didn't last long as its so Hard to hear her cry.

We finally made a concrete plan to try and help Elli sleep as this was just too much. Our plan was to let Elli cry it out and learn to put her self back to sleep. I had never felt right about letting her cry until now. The Lord answered our prayers and let us know that this was going to be ok with the reassurance of a good feeling.

The night of action came and Blake gave Elli a beautiful fathers blessing to help her sleep and know that we love her. We decided to sleep in the living room as our bedroom is extremely close to where Elli sleeps and its hard to hear her cry. That night Elli NEVER woke up... she slept for 11 hours! The next 2 nights or so Elli did wake a little and cry but we got through it. Now for the last week or so Elli has been sleeping through the night every night. It really seems to have sticked. It is so nice and definitely helps Blake and I be better parents with more sleep.

We are so proud of Elli! and know that the Lord has blessed Elli to help her sleep through the night

Here are some fun sleeping pictures of Elli.....