Sleep Training

tclayton53

I apologize if this already has been asked or brought up in another discussion.

Our pediatrician mentioned that we should be teaching LO to fall asleep on her own (not using any sleep crutches such as nursing, pacifiers, swings, rocking, etc.). LO is 9 weeks and waking up at night and needs to be nursed to fall asleep (she'll eat for 2-3 minutes and pass out). During the day, she is either in her swing with a pacifier for naps or sleeps in my arms. We really want to teach her how to be a good sleeper on her own - I think she'll be much happier and we'll all get some more sleep at night.

We've tried the pick up, put down method and she just seems to get more and more agitated as we go and instantly cries the second she feels like she's going to be put down. We were also told by our pediatrician that we would need to wait until she is at least 3 months to let her cry.

Any suggestions for what to do in the meantime? 

nunzchucks

The SleepEasy Solution worked for us, but you can't start it till 4 mo AND 14 lbs.

rainbowdashh

I think your baby is too young. No self soothing happens at 9 weeks old.

ElTrain5

I agree with PPs. For what it's worth my pedi said the same thing yours did and I think it's crap.

flerlgirl

DD nurses to sleep and then needs a paci to stay that way most nights. She is almost 11 weeks. I'm on Team You Can't Spoil A Baby This Young and say do whatever it takes to help her get to sleep. IMO it's not worth the fight when she will likely grow out of it when she's ready and not a minute sooner.

jenlynne0624

I just tried putting H down in his crib for a nap while he was still mostly awake. It lasted maybe 20-25 minutes, which is longer than the last time I tried doing it. I may keep trying to get him to sleep in crib for one nap. He's 7 weeks today, but after reading this I am pretty sure I am going to say eff sleep training for another month or so and suck up as many baby snuggles as I can. He's sleeping in his bouncer again. 

elsa1688

I would get a new pediatrician.

MollySm

We don't do official sleep training untik our kids are older(closer to 6 month). But we are definitely working on not having her dependent on feeding or being held to sleep. At night I do her last feed, play with her a little, then put her down swaddled and drowsy but awake. During the day she still naps on me sometimes, but I try to put her down in her crib for at least one nap. We try eat, play sleep during the day, again to try and not get her used to falling asleep while eating. We're not too strict with any of it, but I find that it's much easier for my babies not to have to make such a big transition later on. We try and get them into the sleep routine we will use from early on.

liberty95

snuff9861 said:

DS has decided that he no longer WANTS to bed fed or rocked to sleep. He tells me when he's had enough of cuddles and then I put him down and he goes to sleep on his own. Your baby will let you know when they're ready.

My son did exactly this at 13 weeks. DD is 11 weeks and still in need of rocking to fall asleep.

irenewslee

We are just trying different things to help her sleep. She changes from week to week so one week she loves the paci and the next week she only wants to sleep in our arms. This week is "bounce with me til I get sleepy then please put me down and give me a paci even if i dont want it". My pedi always encourages us to cuddle with her to make her feel secured. He has 8 kids so I will listen to what he says.

tclayton53

I love cuddling her - I just wanted to make sure I wasn't setting her up to have trouble sleeping on her own. Looks like we'll revisit the subject in a couple months!

MrsBHM

So Corbin is 10 weeks and for the last 2 weeks when I notice he's tired I swaddle, turn on white noise, pop a paci in his mouth and put him in his crib. He usually falls asleep on his own. Should I be cuddling/rocking him more or just be happy he goes to sleep on his own? When we started putting him in his crib and letting him fall asleep on his own it was kind of like a "let's just see what happens" kind of thing. Prior to that he was being rocked to sleep for every nap, kicking and fighting sleep so hard.

flerlgirl

MrsBHM said:

So Corbin is 10 weeks and for the last 2 weeks when I notice he's tired I swaddle, turn on white noise, pop a paci in his mouth and put him in his crib. He usually falls asleep on his own. Should I be cuddling/rocking him more or just be happy he goes to sleep on his own? When we started putting him in his crib and letting him fall asleep on his own it was kind of like a "let's just see what happens" kind of thing. Prior to that he was being rocked to sleep for every nap, kicking and fighting sleep so hard.

If that works for him, great! DS never really liked to be cuddled or rocked, either, and he is a great sleeper and as far as I can tell not emotionally scarred for life. If he's happy, keep on keeping on.

nunzchucks

MrsBHM said:

So Corbin is 10 weeks and for the last 2 weeks when I notice he's tired I swaddle, turn on white noise, pop a paci in his mouth and put him in his crib. He usually falls asleep on his own. Should I be cuddling/rocking him more or just be happy he goes to sleep on his own? When we started putting him in his crib and letting him fall asleep on his own it was kind of like a "let's just see what happens" kind of thing. Prior to that he was being rocked to sleep for every nap, kicking and fighting sleep so hard.

Don't mess with a good thing! Self soothing and going to sleep alone is GREAT!

becomingmommyagain

We're not sleep training, but we are setting up our routine. We have been consistent since 3 weeks with bath time and bedtime feeding, always trying to get him in bed at 10pm. So far, this works well for us. Some night he sleeps 6-8 hours, others only 4. But we always put him down at 10pm. If he cries I will pick him up and soothe him, never let him cry for longer then it takes to get to him. Most nights he goes straight to sleep. We do have a mobile, but I don't use it in the evening.

MrsKipper

Any kind of intentional sleep training really shouldn't be attempted until 6 months, IMO (and based on my own research). They're just too young right now and need us to respond to them. I'm also with the "can't spoil a young infant" crowd!

Jazznit1984

We established our feeding schedule. Eat,play,sleep when LO was 6 weeks. She gets a little rocking and bum pat until she's drowsy. She always wakes up when I put her in the crib anyway. She will fuss for a few minutes, we will give her a paci and a little tummy rub until she chills out. Then we leave the room. At first she would cry, we'd go in and give her tummy a rub or give her the soother. She's slowly starting to sooth herself to sleep at 9 weeks. At bedtime she always gets a double feed. 7pm wake, feed, bath, feed, bed. This has helped us get a good stretch! We read a few books, took the parts that seemed to work for her. A lot of people hear sleep training and think it's just CIO. I've had to explain a few times that it doesn't have to be. All of our friends started sleep training later for their first babe then implemented it at birth for their second. I can see why. Kids like the predictability

brooklyngirl46

We are trying, for the most part, to reinforce the same sleep habits at night. During the day, I talk and sing while she takes a bottle. At night, we are mostly quiet when we do feedings and changes. Hopefully at some point, she will realize the distinction. I am also going to try keeping activities after 9pm to her room. I assume a lot of it is natural. She so far combined her 5 am feeding with her 2 am, for a 3:30 fuss/4am wakeup and feed me situation. This was on her own. The best thing i can do for her right now is follow her cues, which may minimize frustration and being overtired.

colllydon

We are not sleep training but we found if we give her a bath then bottle with the blinds closed and the lights out she tends to fall asleep much faster. We are just working on establishing it as a routine.

jenlynne0624

My dr today said to put him in his crib now and get him out of our room. We are to put him down drowsy and to wean out swaddling. He's 7 weeks. Apparently babies 10-12lbs should sleep 8 hours straight. I inwardly chuckled. We're at 5 hours avg then up for a feeding and down another 2-3. We should start weaning the motn feeding, and when he starts waking up for it have DH soothe him since I'll remind him of food. Not sure how much of this I agree with but I'll try some.

IlliniQT

Meow84 said:

Also. . .cherish the rocking and holding to sleep before one day you realize that you had your last nap snuggle without even realizing it

That was beautifully said -- I can't remember the last time I rocked my 3 year old to sleep.  It's hard to even get him to sit down for 5 minutes.  I think sometimes we all need a reminder of how fast the time goes.  And how quickly this sweet snuggly stage goes when you look back on it.

Taymiller

Our sleep training includes feeding him a lot and night and crossing our fingers that he sleeps all night. So far it has worked for the last 22 days but who's counting really (<------ME I am counting and knocking on wood as I type this!)

irenewslee

jennyd321 said:

My dr today said to put him in his crib now and get him out of our room. We are to put him down drowsy and to wean out swaddling. He's 7 weeks. Apparently babies 10-12lbs should sleep 8 hours straight. I inwardly chuckled. We're at 5 hours avg then up for a feeding and down another 2-3. We should start weaning the motn feeding, and when he starts waking up for it have DH soothe him since I'll remind him of food. Not sure how much of this I agree with but I'll try some.

I wish this happens to us but LO is 10 weeks and still wakes up every 3-5 hours for milk. My pedi actually said that babies need to be closer to 15lbs to sleep for more than 5 hours... Thats when their stomach is big enough to hold a bit more milk. Of course they are all different so some babies start to do that at a much earlier stage.

How do you wean off the motn feeding? My LO seems very stubborn. If she wants it, she will cry til she gets it and my nips seem to be the best soother for her anyway.

curlylocks3

@irenewslee: over time my babies started eating less and less during their MOTN feed and they were deeper asleep when I woke them for it. Right before our pedi cleare us to stop waking them at night I think they took 0.5-1oz during it- easily made up at other points. I think dropping the MOTN feed depends on the baby usually and they decide when they are ready.

jenlynne0624

irenewslee said:

jennyd321 said:

My dr today said to put him in his crib now and get him out of our room. We are to put him down drowsy and to wean out swaddling. He's 7 weeks. Apparently babies 10-12lbs should sleep 8 hours straight. I inwardly chuckled. We're at 5 hours avg then up for a feeding and down another 2-3. We should start weaning the motn feeding, and when he starts waking up for it have DH soothe him since I'll remind him of food. Not sure how much of this I agree with but I'll try some.

I wish this happens to us but LO is 10 weeks and still wakes up every 3-5 hours for milk. My pedi actually said that babies need to be closer to 15lbs to sleep for more than 5 hours... Thats when their stomach is big enough to hold a bit more milk. Of course they are all different so some babies start to do that at a much earlier stage.

How do you wean off the motn feeding? My LO seems very stubborn. If she wants it, she will cry til she gets it and my nips seem to be the best soother for her anyway.

The dr said to make the feeding shorter gradually until he doesn't need it anymore. Then when he would get up at that time, send dh in to soothe him since me going in would remind him of food and he'd wake up.