LO goes to sleep awake but drowsy nearly every night. He falls asleep in his own bed. We don't have a great night time routine because we just try to get him straight into his bed when he starts to yawn/gets a blank stare. Sometimes he gets his last bottle while he's in his bed.
We also almost never take him out of his bed when he wakes in the MOTN. He used to go back to sleep no problem on his own or with us just giving his pacifier back.
But for the last month or so it is not working... he goes to bed fine, but the middle of the night wakings are really becoming a problem.
Do we let him cry it out when he wakes up? He has never had to cry himself to sleep, so I'm not sure it makes sense.
He rarely cries at all unless he's hungry, but we hate giving him a bottle during the night. I know we're creating a terrible habit of feeding him back to sleep. But what else do we do?
We always wait a minute or two before going in (sometimes take a bathroom break first) and lately it's turned into hysterical screaming by the time we get in there.
Can we do CIO in the MOTN even if we don't need it at bedtime??
Re: Ferber Solution to MOTN wakings???
It isn't that unusual for a 10 month old to still want to eat at night. If you are taking about a baby who goes to sleep at 7, wakes at 4 to eat and then easily goes back to sleep until morning I wouldn't worry about sleep training. Weaning would probably be a less stressful option for all of you and would accomplish the same goals.
If you are talking about a baby that needs to eat to go back to sleep several times a night then Ferber or gentle sleep training at bedtime should fix the problem.
The first link is about weaning, the second is about breaking the feed to sleep association and why it can be necessary. It should also help you determine which option is better suited to your situation.
https://www.preciouslittlesleep.com/what-you-need-to-know-about-sleeping-through-the-night-part-3/
https://https//www.preciouslittlesleep.com/what-you-need-to-know-about-sleeping-through-the-night-part-i/
After you have that in place, if it's still an issue, you can consider other options. For us, our LO was still waking a couple times and it was worsening. Her ped suggested that it may be due to her learning object permanence and therefore getting separation anxiety. She just wanted to see us! So rather than extinction we would go in and soothe her for 1 minute and then leave. She cried more for 2 nights and then stopped waking in the middle of the night. Now she sleeps 10 hours straight and is good to go.
DD #1: 8.16.2015
#2 EDD: 1.13.2019
We have started a modified CIO where we stay in arms length of LO as he is in the crib comforting/singing/shushing until he falls asleep on his own but we do not pick him up. As the days progress the idea is we will spend less time in the room and LO should fall asleep on his own in less time. Last night we started bedtime routine by 5:30 (we usually start by 6 but modified a bit as we knew we were starting sleep training and bed time could take longer). LO had a bath, we sang songs, put him into his pyjamas and then started a feed. He got drowsy on the boob and we moved him to his crib awake by 6:15. We stuck to the plan and comforted LO as he fussed and cried for about an hour until he was settled enough to be shushed to sleep. He slept straight through until 4am (a large victory in our books!!) where he awoke for his regular feeding. I fed him for about 15 minutes and he was still awake when I put him back in his crib and began to do our modified CIO method again. But that's where it took a turn for the worse. LO never fell back asleep. There was a good half hour where LO laid down and was quiet as I sang, shushed and rubbed his back but he never actually closed his eyes. As his regular awake time approached the crying intensified and it took much longer for him to be comforted. At 6 am I turned on all the lights and said good morning as if he had been sleeping the whole time.
This is where I need some advice. I realize this is more than a one night solution and we are up for a big challenge as LO has been accustomed to rocking. But where do we go from here? What do you do if baby cannot be settled back to sleep after the 4 am feed? I realize that our children thrive off routine and consistency but how do I maintain our day and the same bedtime with a baby that has been up since 4 am?
I relaize this this is a long post but any advice or "what I would do's" would really help at this point! Thanks!!
Good luck!
My other thought would be to look at the total Amount of sleep LO is getting every day and try to be between or near to 12-14 hours. Depending on nap lengths you may just be expect too much. A 10 hour night isn't unusual and is standard for a lot of babies. Another option would be to modify baby's schedule to allow for a later bedtime.
The he fussing and crying is tough. There were times that I sat in her rocking chair shushing her with my fingers in my ears, but it seemed like she needed to fuss or cry a little to get nervous energy out before falling asleep. I always intervened though if she started to escalate, but I think I'm lucky in the sense that 99% of the time I can soothe her without picking her up.
I really like the sleep lady shuffle for a very gentle CIO.