Talk to me about the No Cry Sleep Solution

oh-zysbaby

He forgot how to sleep. He now cries every time he wakes up. Last night I brought him to bed with me at 2 after her was up at 12, 1, and 1:30. 2 was the last straw.

I figure I'm not teaching him anything profound before leaving on Sat., when his schedule is going to get all screwy. When we get home, he is freaking learning to sleep again. 

 So, how do I do this without leaving a piece of my soul in there while he cries? I don't wanna do that.

danlexi04

I don't have an answer for you but I'm glad you asked this question because I'm in the same boat. But for the most part they're up on and off until around 1am.

:::stalks post:::

Manalyzer

The No Cry Sleep solution is all about doing logs and keeping track of schedules and what not. Basically, you write down when naps are, what your activity before bed was, how you put them to sleep, when the night wakings are, and so on. Then, you start tailoring a sleep program that fits your schedule. It's a long period, much longer that CIO takes, I hear, but well worth it if you are anti CIO, which we are as well.

Check out Elizabeth Pantley's site. In particular, this page may help answer some questions.

armandos_girl

We love NCSS.  It's been a lifesaver for us, but it is not a quick-fix solution.  Basically, it is baby steps.  You decide which tips you want to use from the book, establish a routine and stick with it and log their sleep for 10 days.  After you finish a 10 day routine, you tweak it a bit more and do another set of 10 days.

We started out rocking him to sleep every night, then patting him to sleep, and now we're working on teaching him to put himself to sleep.

I've been meaning to write a blog post about it but I haven't gotten around to it yet. I will try to get to it this week.

lo45fd98wq32

How long does he nap during the day? Is he getting old enough to lose a nap yet? (I have no idea about these things, but I thought it could be related).

aerotigergirl

Manalyzer--I don't know anything about the No Cry Sleep Solution, but I just wanted to compliment your beautiful daughter's eyes! What a cutie pie!

oh-zysbaby

Thanks, Mana.

I got an email today from BabyCenter about how at 6 months, baby is all kinds of in love with mom and how they are starting to figure out we are a separate person, which may make them cry when we are not around. This is what's been happening. 

I had attributed it to him being sick, but maybe it's developmental? All I know is the he's all of a sudden much higher maintenance. He doesn't want to sit and play, and the stranger anxiety is coming quickly, plus this waking up all the time.

DesignsOnYou

NCSS was a good starting place for us even though it didn't totally solve the problem.

We used her suggestions and that improved things a bit, but ultimately we just recently started doing a very light version of Ferber which has been helping considerably.

I think it depends a lot on the tempermant of your child. I would try the NCSS first then see how it goes.

This is coming from a mom who hasn't slept in about 10 months so I feel your pain ;-)

armandos_girl

We had the same thing happen at 6 months and his napping went to crap.  Luckily, right around 7 months he settled into 2 good naps a day, which in turn helped his night time sleeping.  Sadly, the clinginess has not gotten better with the napping.  If I am within sight, he wants to be able to crawl all over me, and he gets upset if either one of us leaves the room without him.

KKM

I read NCSS and tried to make that work for our family...it didnt.  B was still waking 5-10 times a night for his nuk, and naps were getting worse and worse.  I ended up doing Sleep Easy Solution and had a great experince with it.  It is CIO, so I am not sure how you feel about that.  I was glad I read NCSS though, and we still use some of the techniques now!

Manalyzer

aerotigergirl:

Manalyzer--I don't know anything about the No Cry Sleep Solution, but I just wanted to compliment your beautiful daughter's eyes! What a cutie pie!

Thanks! I'm kind of partial to her myself

 oh-zys, I will say this. Right about 6 1/2 months is when it started getting rough for us. I chalked it up to teething and muddled through it. Then around 7 months it got really bad. I was Zombie Mommy for a few weeks. She didn't sleep. EVER. It was terrible.

The last week or so has been better. She's been staying up later than she used to, but she's been going down and staying down, with only maybe 1 night waking, sometimes none.

I hope it gets better for you as well.

oh-zysbaby

Armondos, it's not the GOING to sleep that is a problem. My kid is a CHAMP at that. I lay him down, give him his binkie and monkey, and he turns his head and goes to sleep. No crying.

It's the STAYING asleep. He wakes up at the slightest thing, and cries. He sticks his monkey's tail in his mouth cause he can't get the binkie in there and then like growls at it. 

Theoretically, if he can put himself to sleep at the beginning of the night, he can in the middle - but he's not.

armandos_girl

NCSS will have ideas for you for that too.  Our issue has always been going to sleep, (although it's helped some on getting him back to sleep too).

Do you have a baby crack machine?  We leave the white noise on all night, and have (unsuccessfully so far) tried the projection to get him to settle down on his own.

DesignsOnYou

oh-zysbaby:

Armondos, it's not the GOING to sleep that is a problem. My kid is a CHAMP at that. I lay him down, give him his binkie and monkey, and he turns his head and goes to sleep. No crying.

It's the STAYING asleep. He wakes up at the slightest thing, and cries. He sticks his monkey's tail in his mouth cause he can't get the binkie in there and then like growls at it. 

Theoretically, if he can put himself to sleep at the beginning of the night, he can in the middle - but he's not.

This is my little girl exactly. She would go to sleep with absolutely no problem. Just lay her down, give her the blankie and she's out. It was the CONSTANT night waking / nursing that was driving us insane.

Is he eating or wanting to when he wakes? Honestly, even if you don't use Ferber's methods, I would suggest reading the book since it really explains sleep associations and why babies stay awake once they wake after only a few hours and how to stop that.

oh-zysbaby

armandos_girl:

NCSS will have ideas for you for that too.  Our issue has always been going to sleep, (although it's helped some on getting him back to sleep too).

Do you have a baby crack machine?  We leave the white noise on all night, and have (unsuccessfully so far) tried the projection to get him to settle down on his own.

Our cheap ass cool mist humidifier works as white noise, basically it's a fan. I turn it on every night and every nap.