Sleep help please!!

Arielle27

I don't think we realized how lucky we were with DS's independent sleeping habits from day one... Until we had DD!

She will only sleep in our bed or in her swing at night (the latter of which we've only let her do a few times when we have been up and watching her in it). she has never once slept more than a few hours at a time in her own crib - and seems to be getting worse!

 

We'd really like to train her to sleep in her own crib at night but fear that her crying will keep DS uo all night (in the next room). Anyone go theough this? What's the best way to handle it? We'd ideally like her in her own crib in her own bed as soon as humanly possible! Do we just have to accept the fact that DS will suffer a few bad nights (and us all of course!)?

freeatlast2014

How old is your LO?

Arielle27

Oops! Sorry... She is now 16 weeks old.

NavyPilotWife

Get sound machines, if you don't already.  My kids are crappy sleepers.  I moved them into the same room, when DD2 was 13 months old and they don't wake each other up.

I'm not sure if there are any sleep training books for really young babies.  I work on getting my kids to fall asleep on their own, but like to have them sleep in bed with me for the first 10-12 months.

MammaBear81

Arielle27:

Oops! Sorry... She is now 16 weeks old.

Are you expecting her to SSTN at 4 months old?  If I'm reading correctly your original post says she sleeps in her crib for a few hours at a time, which is what I'd expect at 4 months.  I agree with the PP on the sound machines, it helps a lot.  All my boys share a room and the two older ones don't even flinch if DS3 wakes up in the middle of the night.  Do you have any schedule or a nap time routine going yet?

Arielle27

Not looking for her to STTN. She only wakes up to eat 2-3 times a night, which is fine with me! I just want her to go back to sleep in her crib after she wakes up to eat, rather than cry for hours until I bring her into the bed with me.

 In any case, in a shocking turn of events, we let her cry in her crib for about an hour (taking her out at intervals to calm her down, and touching her the entire time she was in the crib! NOT CIO), and finally she fell asleep... and went immediately back to sleep after each night feed! It was her first night sleeping in her crib all night!

Tonight it only took about five minutes to get her to sleep in her crib and she's been asleep there now for a few hours already... so hopeful that it was just her 'time' to be on her own (i.e. that she has outgrown needing me next to her).

Fingers crossed!

MammaBear81

Arielle27:

Not looking for her to STTN. She only wakes up to eat 2-3 times a night, which is fine with me! I just want her to go back to sleep in her crib after she wakes up to eat, rather than cry for hours until I bring her into the bed with me.

 In any case, in a shocking turn of events, we let her cry in her crib for about an hour (taking her out at intervals to calm her down, and touching her the entire time she was in the crib! NOT CIO), and finally she fell asleep... and went immediately back to sleep after each night feed! It was her first night sleeping in her crib all night!

Tonight it only took about five minutes to get her to sleep in her crib and she's been asleep there now for a few hours already... so hopeful that it was just her 'time' to be on her own (i.e. that she has outgrown needing me next to her).

Fingers crossed!

That's great, just an FYI, what you did is a form of CIO.

Leaving your child alone in a crib to cry until they pass out is NOT actually the proper way to do CIO, that's just torture.

Arielle27

We didn't leave her side once, but kept ahold of her hands, shushed her and pat her back the whole time, as well as picking her up every now and then to really calm her down. I hadn't cnsidered that CIO because she was never without reassurance from us. if you call that CIO, fine.