Sleeping through the night

My latest post for API Speaks

Back in November I had written about night-time parenting. I had asked how the situation is in other AP homes.
Well, things have changed quite a lot since and I thought it would be nice to give feedback.
Between October and December my daughter had a major sleep regression where she would wake up in the middle of the night and wanted to play for endless hours. Very tough days.. I tried giving up naps,moving her bed time, but nothing seemed to help.
In January we went to a short holiday and when we returned back,things began to change slowly. She was not fighting against sleep any more. When I told her, it was bed time, instead of running away from me, she began to choose the books she wanted me to read to her.
Gradually, she started sleeping for longer stretches,like 3-4 hours.
In the last 3-4 weeks, she has even technically slept through the night. (That is five or more hours without waking up for a feed) Once she slept from 9pm to 5am which was just unbelievable for me!
I have always nursed her to sleep,for many months in our Ergo,but one day she said she wanted to sleep on my lap.This shortened the time I had to spend every evening trying to put her to sleep.
Since a week or so, I nurse her until she gets very sleepy and then lie next to her,and say "close your eyes, it's sleepy time" and it works wonderfully. Last night she told me that she wanted to "look at me",so sweet! I gave her a big hug and she was happy to close her eyes.
I am so glad that our daughter came to this stage with no pushing from us. She does not sleep through every night yet, but I saw the light at the end of the tunnel.
If you are a sleep-deprived mama, just hang in there. It does get better.