Sleeping issues....

AMcLaws

DD recently (last 3 weeks or so) began having sleeping problems. If we walk into the room with lights off and her jammies on, she begins to cry/scream. It just completely breaks our hearts.

With that being said, what is sleep training/ferber? I've never had to use any kind of sleep training in the past, so I've never educated myself. (A mistake, I'm finding now)

 Lately, we have to rock her to sleep in our arms, in the light. When she finally falls asleep, we have to carefully place her in her crib. If she's even the slightest bit awake, she starts to scream. Or, she'll wake up in the middle of the night, realize where she's at (or, maybe she's NOT realizing where she's at??) and starts to scream. DH and I are at our wits end. We've begun to just give up and put her in bed with us. We both work, and both need our rest. (I work in a bakery, so I have to be alert to be sure I don't slice any body parts off while using the huge slicer, etc.) She obviously needs sleep to. This is NOT a habit that I want to continue with.

She still has a pacifier. But I notice people talking about "lovies". What exactly is a lovey? They only thing she's really attached to is her pacifier (which I was hoping to change like, now). Not terribly attached to any toys or blankets, that we've noticed. What do your LO's use as a lovey?? I'm desperate to return to the days of STTN.

 Oh, speaking of STTN....the other day, she didn't get a proper nap (we were out running all sorts of errands and naptime just came and went), and she STTN that night. I always thought naptime was necessary, but do I need to drop naps?

Any advice is more than appreciated. I'm a FTM, and have SO MUCH to learn still.

bluejetta

We used Ferber sleep training at 4-5 months for naps and night time.  The concept behind it and other methods is allowing LO to learn to fall or return to sleep on their own.  It took about a week for bedtime (putting DD down awake) and a couple weeks for naps.  I still nurse her at bedtime and sometimes she'll fuss a bit but the sleep work did also cut out non-hunger night waking and gradually she has cut out night feedings to just one at this point.

As for the lovey -- we use this at home and she has one at daycare.  To introduce it I started holding it while nursing and at bedtime and left in the crib with her -- she plays with it/ snuggles it.  There are lots of different kinds https://www.amazon.com/Blankets-Beyond-Friends-Minky-Lovey/dp/B006DNE3LU/ref=pd_cp_ba_0/186-0724371-7413662

memali26

1 - It almost sounds like she might be afraid of the dark. Does she have a nightlight in her room? Glowing starts? anything that would give off just a touch of light so it's not pitch black?

2 - Sleep training is teaching your child to sleep. Sometimes it's to get them STTN, sometimes to teach them to fall asleep on their own, stop midnight feeds, or correct other sleep problems. We used the Sleep Lady Shuffle tot each both of our girls to put themselves to sleep in their cribs rather than being rocked for an hour.

3 - Lovey is just a cute name for a comfort object. Some kids never have one, some kids have a dozen, and it rarely works to push one on them, they'll choose what they want. DD1 didn't have one until about 16 months, and now has four "friends" she takes to bed. DD2 has a seahorse that plays music that she snuggles while she falls asleep. 

4. I would not recommend dropping naps. Most kids need at least one nap a day until 2-3 years old, and some even until 4-5 years old. Naps are just as important as nighttime sleep, and often babies who aren't getting good naps actually sleep worse at night because they are overtired.

I would suggest doing research on sleep training. Google Ferber, Weisbluth, Sleep Lady Shuffle, No Cry Sleep Solution and you'll get some ideas of methods out there. You can check out books on sleep from the library. I ready at least 4 or 5 books before settling on the Sleep Lady for our girls.