Bought the "Worst parent in the world book" today

EveryNameIWantIsTaken

That is right.  I bought a Ferber book.  The pedi recommended it upon assuring me it isn't all CIO.  I'll try to read it with an open mind because we need help and we need it now.  DS was up 4 times last night.  He won't go back to sleep without being fed.  We need help.  Maybe something will be useful if we don't follow the entire plan.

webMistress0609

Let us know! I've heard there's good info on naps in his book & sleep in general. I just haven't picked it up yet.

FYI, reflux babies often don't drop night feeds for awhile. I feel your pain though, believe me. Four times gets old fast. 

LoveEeyore

Yeah, there is some helpful info.  I actually started using some of his stuff tonight b/c my twins were each up in 45 minute cycles- and not even synched and I was nursing around the clock at night, sleeping 3-4 hours tops, all broken up.  The miracle is my angels are both in their cribs, night one, first time EVER (I cosleep) and have been for 3.5 hours, one feed.  There was some initial crying, but I just can't meet the needs of three kids during the day anymore, the way my nights were going.  I never did any of it with my toddler, and my heart aches for every minute of tears, but leaps with joy that maybe we'll all be happier when everyone sleeps a little more!

ETA: Good luck!

livalil319

if you are ready to do it, it will work.  you can modify, sure, but honestly, it's quicker and less traumatic if you just bite the bullet and go whole hog.  They aren't getting any mixed messages that way. Some people I know started out with only letting the lo cry at the initial putdown so they learn to go to sleep on their own, but then go to them at wakings and see how it improves from there. Or you can try just delaying them at each "feeding" using the recommendations in the chapter on night feedings.  I was in the same boat as you, and just went for it.  2 nights, and he went 12 hours. No lie.  This from the kid who was a 2-3 hour cycle TOPS.  That gave me so much confidence that we did naps too, and miracle of miracles, he started sleeping longer then too. Everyone = happy. 

desmerelda317

I am a big fan of the Ferber book.  Everybody thinks it is all about CIO and that is the only thing it is about and they totally villify it before they even read it.  They are wrong.  And as a small aside, so many folks on the other boards talk about doing "Ferber" when they aren't doing Ferber at all.  It drives me insane how they call every sleep-training method the Ferber method.  But that's a completely different thing altogether.

The CIO part is literally 2 pages.  2 pages out of 300-something.  The rest is about the science of sleep.  I learned all sorts of things about circadian rhythms and hormones and "forbidden zones" (which it ends up I was trying to put DS to bed during one of his forbidden zones and just switching to a later bedtime outside that zone changed our lives).  You learn how to tweak schedules a little at a time.  Tons of good info and it isn't all anti-AP and pro-CIO.  If you have an open mind, you'll learn a ton.