Our trip to Taiwan seems to have been the Kryptonite to Chloe's superhuman sleep schedule. Starting at around 2-3 months of age, we were able to put Chloe down at 7:30pm and she would stay asleep until 7:30am. It was the greatest schedule for tired parents.

But an international flight over the Pacific, jet lag, and two weeks in a foreign place seems to have messed that all up. Ever since coming home to Austin, Chloe's sleep schedule has been inconsistent, and she wakes up a few times each night, much to the frustration of her parents. At first we thought it was only because of jet lag, but we've talked to some of our friends who are also currently parents' of infants and toddlers who have encouraged us in this time. We've learned that usually infants at this time start having separation anxiety or attachment issues. These issues come out in the middle of the night when baby wakes up and finds herself all alone. Chloe's crying in the middle of the night didn't indicate that anything was wrong, because once mom or dad got up and went into her room, she would stop crying and even start laughing. On top of that, only Carolyn and I have been able to soothe her, as she's pretty much forgotten how to suck her thumb and soothe herself.

It almost feels like starting back at square one, but we've resorted to sleep training now. Sad that what originally came naturally for Chloe has to be retaught and relearned. Some of the other mom's at church suggested that if Chloe wakes up in the middle of the night and starts crying, we let her cry for about 5-10 minutes, then we go into her room and soothe her. We let her know that we're there and make sure that she's okay. After a few minutes, we put her back down, leave the room, and that's it for the night.

One mom said that the first time she tried it on her son, her son cried for 2 hours straight. Last night was our first time to try it and fortunately that was not like that for us. In fact, after Carolyn went into Chloe's room, Chloe cried for another 10-15 minutes and then slept through the rest of the night. Praise God for that!

Regardless of whether or not she does better or worse in the coming nights, we're learning to pray more rather than worry during these times of childraising. It's also good to know that we're not the only ones who struggle through these times. We are so thankful for the community around us that supports us ever so much.