In this video I’m literally in the thick of it—monitor in hand—showing you in real time what my “gentle-ish” sleep training has looked like with Harper (almost 9 months old). She has basically not slept through the night her entire life, and I hit my breaking point. With my older kids I did a much more hardcore method (and yes, it worked), but this time I just couldn’t handle leaving her to cry the same way. So I’m doing a modified pick-up/put-down style: I put her in the crib awake (a little drowsy), leave the room, and only go in when the crying is really ramping up—because sometimes going in too early actually makes her more mad. I walk you through nights one through three, what progress looked like (less standing, more settling, more quiet moments), and how I gave myself a one-hour “cap” before I’d assist her to sleep by rocking (not nursing). The little wins were huge: staying in her crib after a 3 a.m. nursing session, putting herself back to sleep after a short cry, and then—finally—sleeping a long stretch until 5:30 a.m. for the first time ever. If you’re on the baby sleep struggle bus, I just want you to know you’re not alone, and there really can be light at the end of the tunnel.