Did anyone else do attended sleep training?

For us CIO was too hard emotionally, and we also didn't want to have to rock babe to sleep, and be trapped for hours. I understood the idea that if baby falls asleep with you, while feeding, that it was their "crutch", and that they'd wake up in their bed without the tools to put them back to sleep.

So, we started a routine. Bath, baby massage, diaper change, jammies, bottle, book. It was 30 minutes each night, or 15 minutes at nap. We then swaddled baby, and put her in her crib/co-sleeper. We'd sush her, pat her back, soothe by being close, but we didn't pick her up (unless I felt like she was really losing it).

The first night was 3 hours of falling asleep and waking back up. Brutal. By week 2, it took about 5 minutes of her staring at me before finally drifting off to sleep. Eventually, we were able to lay her down, give her a paci, and walk out.

During that time though, I'd lay in my bed next to her & just read. She wasn't hysterical, so I could enjoy my book. I was just thinking today that I kind of miss sleep training, because it gave me time to read!! I haven't had time to read a book since then. It was hard work (all of those nights wondering when it would "work").

I think if you do a quick search on parenting, or read a particular book, it makes it seem like it's very black and white. You either do A or you do B. I liked this option for sleep (for our family), because it was a mixture. It taught me how to listen for certain kinds of cries, and it help harden us up a little. I also felt like she knew I was there, so she had that comfort. Most of all, it allowed us to have our evenings back, which was really nice.

I just thought I'd share a middle of the road experience. It helped us, and I hope it can give a little help to someone else!