A small victory!

Geeps2

Well as some of you know from my prior posts, my 7 month old is maybe hands down one of the crappiest sleepers EVER.  Last Friday was the straw that broke the camels back.  I spent 3, yes 3 hours trying to get him to sleep in his crib.  He woke up somewhere after 10pm so I fed him and he was pretty much out like a light.  That is until I had the audacity to try and put him back in his crib.  Each and every time I went to lay him down in his crib he would wake up and scream bloody murder. I even tried having him lay next to me in my bed and that just woke him right up and he started crawling all over the bed.  I HAD HAD IT!!!!  So I did my research and did a hybrid "sleep training" starting Saturday with naps.  Well there was some balking in the beginning but tonight I gave him a bath, fed him and put him in his crib and he cried for a brief moment when I left, found some stuff to play with in his crib and was occupied.  He eventually fell asleep on his own without me having to do a thing.  It was DELIGHTFUL!!!!!!  I will take this small victory.  Fingers crossed it continues

Hope everyone is enjoying their summer thus far.

shelley1002

That's awesome!  Yay for a sleep victory!

I am going to sleep train DS2 (he'll be 9 months next week) first week of August when DH is away for work.  Its easier when he is not around.  Just need to figure out which method.  I don't think the CIO/Ferber is going to work with this one the way it did with DS1.  We are having a similar issue.  He will fall asleep on me after his bedtime bottle then wakes if he is not in a deep enough sleep when I put him in his crib.

Guennie

I feel so lucky that I have a good sleeper. We've had a great routine from the start and minus the occasional off day, she really sticks to it. I hope this trend will continue for you!

Geeps2

Guennie- you are lucky  My 2 year old was/is a great sleeper.  We do the exact same things with him that we did with her.  It's just temperament I guess.  We are super strict about our bedtime routine.  It is on rare occasion that we stray from it.  I will purposefully not go somewhere or wait until everyone is down to make sure everyone is asleep or on their way to it.  He always woke up a lot to eat but as he has gotten older it's the getting back to sleep once he is awake that is the killer.  He LOVES his mama.  I'm just glad he is starting to get the whole self soothing thing. Our biggest problem is that he hates the pacifier and that is what my daughter used to go to sleep and a hippo that she still sleeps with.  He has no attachment to a "lovey" so we are screwed there.  

Gotta say his self soothing technique is to stroke his own hair.  It is ADORABLE.  

Things are lookin up!!!!

Geeps2

Shelly- If you are interested I used Dr. Karps suggestions in his sleep book.  I did however let him cry a little bit.  If he seemed like he wasn't settling down I would go in and pick him up.  I found Dr. Karps suggestions weren't crazy and at least for us they did work.  It was rough going at first, but that is with any sleep training.

Good Luck!  I feel your pain.  

shelley1002

Geeps2 said:

Shelly- If you are interested I used Dr. Karps suggestions in his sleep book.  I did however let him cry a little bit.  If he seemed like he wasn't settling down I would go in and pick him up.  I found Dr. Karps suggestions weren't crazy and at least for us they did work.  It was rough going at first, but that is with any sleep training.

Good Luck!  I feel your pain.  

Thanks for the suggestion.  I'll look into it.  I don't mind some CIO since that's the only thing that worked with DS1.  DS1 was not a good sleeper.  He just started STTN a couple months ago.  He'll be 3 in 7 weeks so I feel you on the bad sleeper.  DS2 is a good sleeper overall just need to get him to go to sleep without being rocked or held... and to get him to not want to start the day between 5 and 5:30 every day.

springbeduk2

@Geeps2‌ - Hooray! Has he kept it up? Fx for you that he has/does!

Geeps2

Pretty much yeah!!!!  Unless he is really over tired then it is a bit tough getting him to sleep for the evening initially, but my middle of the nights have even improved.  He is staying asleep longer and I can plop him back in the crib and he gets himself back to sleep.  AHHHHMEN!!!!

Guennie

Yay! Glad to hear it's going well!!

MommyAtty

It's amazing how different 2 kids can be. DD started sleeping thru the night at 6 weeks and has had a night waking maybe 5 times in the past 2 years. DS I was generally waking up once a night. We were pushing it later and later. But he's inconsistent. Sometimes he needs his pacifier a couple of times in the night (pretty rare) and sometimes he acts like the pacifier is the dumbest thing ever. BUT, he needs completely different things than DD. We used Baby Whisperer for her (minus the dream feed). And we quit swaddling her after the first couple of weeks. He absolutely must be swaddled, even at 12 weeks, and if his arms escape, he's awake immediately. And he needs a white noise machine. So we are more "Happiest Baby on the Block" than Baby Whisperer. So weird.

Geeps2

Mommyatty...I hear ya!  With DD I could lay her down in her in her crib after reading books and feeding her and she would play and fall asleep.  It would be hysterical because you would see her on the monitor ..1 min she was playing and the next she was flat out asleep sometimes at very odd angles because she passed out mid play.  She also took a binki and has a stuffed hippo that she still sleeps with to this day.  DS....not so much.  He HATES the pacifier, has no love for any particular blanket or stuffed animal and will play for a bit when sleepy but then freaks out and can't seem to find a way to settle himself down when he need to go to sleep.  There are nights I want to punt him into the mattress (like tonight).  It has gotten way better.  He is sleeping for longer periods at night and for the most part is getting better with going to sleep, but there are some times (even nap time) that he could try the patience of a saint.