Patience is a virtue

celiabwatson

I was blessed with a wonderful son who is a terrible sleeper. Getting him to sleep, keeping him asleep, setting a schedule etc it's all been a nightmare. We have continued responding to his needs with patience and love. In the middle of the night he will only go back to sleep by nursing so we kept doing that on demand. At bedtime he usually nurses to sleep but did go through a period where he would fall asleep in the stroller while we walked the dog in the evening. 

Anyway, he's almost 2 and a half and he has just STTN 3 nights in a row for the first time in his life! I didn't have to do anything, he was just ready. I'm sure we'll continue to have night wakings but not every night. He also used to wake up at like 5 AM on the rare nights that he would sleep through. The last 3 days it's been 7, which is what he normally does with a night waking. I'm so excited I can't stand it! I'm also really glad that I was right that he would eventually be ready and that all I had to do was respond lovingly and wait, because we all know I've been told otherwise. 

3003girl

yeah! My Lo is similar, always a crappy sleeper, even waking 2x after night weaning. She is finally STTN a few times a week. 

I agree with you - when they are ready, they will do it. yipee! 

lovekissedmama

Thank you for posting your sleep story. This is encouraging! I also believe sleep is something kids grow into when they are ready and love hearing about kids who sleep without going through the popular sleep training.

celiabwatson

Oh, and I forgot to mention that all my work with my son came back karmically (is that a word?). My daughter has been STTN since she was a few weeks old and we didn't do anything differently.

mesmom2011

Both of your posts give me hope.  DH and I do not believe in CIO and we feel that DD will STTN when she is ready.  Some nights it's harder to continue on this path than others as the waking / nursing at night is exhausting.  I'm also hoping that our next LO is a better sleeper.  Thanks for posting this!

LizBGood

Good for you! Great that you followed your instincts. My DS has always been a great sleeper and terrible napper but he's gone through a few phases of changing sleep patterns. I believe its natural with their ever expanding developement.

Still free to be me

I just wanted to chime in with another my-kid-STTN-when-she-was-ready story.  It was like a magical transformation when DD was a little over two years old.  Just before she was two, she was waking up 6-10 times a night.  Then, we went on a vacation.  Sleep was pretty terrible, but when we got home, she suddenly just started sleeping.  Well.  She stirs once a night, I re-cover her up and adjust her pillow and back to sleep she goes without a word.  It's amazing.

danigirl7181

Same thing here. DD started STTN a lot sooner then your LOs, but she did it on her own too. We tried the CIO method one night and just couldn't do it, it wasn't for us. We weaned her from the bottle at about 13 months with no problems, she didn't even cry for one. If she woke up we would give her a sippy with water in it. Then about a month later she was STTN. She still wakes up occasionally and we just bring her into bed with us, I think she just likes to cuddle sometimes. I now put a sippy of water in her crib because she gets thirsty at night. She'll take a drink then go back to sleep. 

I had a lot of people tell us to just let her CIO. It was rough not getting a lot of sleep but worth it now. She is now a great sleep and will sleep 11-12 hours a night and take a 3 hour nap during the day. She evens asks for her bed when she is tired.