From Co-Sleeping to Independent Sleep: My Toddler’s Gentle Sleep Training Success

As a sleep deprived mom of a 12-month old, I thought that the multiple nightly wakeups and squeezing the 3 of us in a full mattress was our new normal. I was sure she was too old to get back into the habit of sleeping alone in her crib. I was happily proven wrong after a few days of gentle sleep training. Now, my daughter typically sleeps through the night. 

I thought I just had a “bad sleeper”

I had always assumed my daughter would start sleeping better at least by a year. Boy, was I wrong! At 12 months, she was still waking up AT LEAST 2 times a night. Usually around 11 PM or midnight, then again around 3 or 4. 

I was barely surviving nights and I couldn’t take it anymore. She would start on her floor mattress and eventually get into bed with us. 

Now she sleeps through the night!

At 13 months old, my daughter now went from multiple nightly wakeups to sleeping through the night (most of the time). Check out how we did this through our nightly recaps below. 

Night 1: two wakeups & an early morning rise

Separate bedrooms is key

I started sleep training my 13-month-old using the Taking Cara Babies method. Since we live in a one-bedroom, we had to move our mattress to the living room and kept her crib in the other room. I made sure the room was as dark as possible- no night lights!

Strict timed check ins

Night one involved a structured bedtime at 7:00 PM with timed check-ins (5, 10, then every 15 minutes). She cried and cried and eventually fell asleep after about 45 minutes. I did stay a bit longer in between check ins than the method suggested. I would pat my daughter’s back or tummy and hum to her. 

Additionally, I gave her a 10 PM “dream feed” and nursed her while she slept. 

2 wakeups and an early rise

She ended waking up and crying multiple times between 11:30 PM and 1:15 AM. I did 3–4 checks, with the last one lasting until she fell back asleep. To say I was exhausted is an understatement! Finally, she woke up again at 5:45 AM, however I didn’t go in until 6 AM for her morning rise. 

Night 2: one wakeup at 10pm

Beginning cribside soothing and shorter check ins

On night 2, I decided to change things up a bit. My baby had an early bedtime due to an early morning wake-up, around 6 PM. I left her for 5 minutes after putting her down in the crib and she continued to cry. I went back in and opted for a crib-side soothing method. I stayed beside the crib, patting her tummy and softly humming until she fell asleep within 10 minutes.

This night I opted to stop the “dream feeds” and attempted to stop the night nursing cold turkey. 

First 8 hour stretch of no wakeups

There were a couple of brief wake-ups between 10–11 PM, with multiple check-ins and an attempt to comfort her inside the room. I left the room and she fell asleep on her own. but by 11 PM, she was back asleep—and slept straight through the night until 7 AM! For the first time in nearly a year, I got almost 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep. I was already feeling the benefits of sleep training and I decided there’s no going back now. 

Night 3: one wakeup at 2am

No more 10 PM check ins!

On Night 3 bedtime was pushed to 8:30 PM due to attending an evening mass. After a check-in and failed attempt to cribside soothe, I left the room and she fell asleep on her own within 7 minutes. I’m beginning to catch on to when it helps versus hurts to stay in the room with her. My baby woke again at 10 PM but got herself back to sleep after just 3 minutes! 

Unfortunately for me, at 2 AM, she struggled to go back to sleep. I alternated between leaving the room for 5-10 minutes and crib-side soothing. She finally fell back asleep around 3 AM and woke for the day at 6:20 AM. 

Night 4: one wakeup at 3am

I fully decided to switch to a gentler sleep training method on Night 4 after coming to the conclusion that the Taking Cara Babies method felt too harsh. I put my daughter down at 7 PM and used crib-side soothing—patting, humming, and shushing—which helped her fall asleep in about 20 minutes. If crib-side soothing didn’t work, I sometimes let her cry for small periods of time. 

She woke up at 8 PM and midnight, but got herself back to sleep on her own within minutes! However at 3 AM, I did have to assist with cribside soothing which took about 30 minutes. She woke up at 7 AM the next day. 

Night 5: one wakeup at 11pm

Night five was one of our best nights! After a slightly later bedtime of 7:40 PM, my baby cried briefly and I used my method of gentle tummy pats and humming. It worked, and sher was asleep by 8 PM.

At 11:15 PM, I checked on her and placed her blanket on her, causing her to wake up. Still, I was able to soothe her back to sleep in about 15–20 minutes. 

I also noticed that while nighttime nursing has stopped, my daughter has been much hungrier for breastmilk during the day. 

Night 6: Still one wakeup at 11pm

Night six was a little all over the place. My 12-month-old skipped her last nap, leading to an overtired bedtime that took a full hour to get her down to sleep. I stayed in the room to support her through falling asleep around 8 PM. 

While doing some late night cooking I set off the fire alarm(lol) at around 11 pm and was rightfully terrified that it was going to wake up my baby.  She didn’t immediately wake up, but she did stir about five minutes later. I went in and soothed her quickly, and she was back asleep in minutes.

At 5 AM, she woke up again crying, and I just decided to bring her into bed and nurse her, resulting in two more hours of sleep together. While it wasn’t a “perfect” night, it was still much better than even a week ago! Even with these small hiccups, we are nearing consistent full-night sleep.

Night 7: zero wakeups & sleeping through the night!!

A week of sleep training has come to an end, and with it, a major milestone! Our 12-month olf slept from 7:30 PM to 6:30 AM with zero wake-ups. 

The bedtime routine was smooth sailing: after a final nap ending at 3:30 PM, I put her down around 7:30 PM. She cried a little as I set her down and I left the room for five minutes. I went back in, did some soothing, and instead of ongoing crying per usual, she laid down quietly and fell asleep within 10 minutes. 

This seventh night marked the first completely uninterrupted sleep stretch of the entire training period! I couldn’t believe at how quickly progress came through a gentle, responsive method. 

If you have any questions at all, please don’t hesitate to ask. Just because your baby is older, or even a toddler, doesn’t mean you can’t teach them to independently sleep! God bless and good luck!