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Georgia Babies
seansgirl2006
member
Ferber-ish for 2 nights and it's working great and so fast!
seansgirl2006
member
Ok, this is going to be long but maybe something in here will help someone else. 
I'm SO excited to share this with you girls. So we did not make any plans for July 4. We've been really trying to stick to Ethan's bedtime since traveling really through him out of wack. While we were oot and since returning, he?d been trying to get up every 2-3 hours. You are not a newborn sir! So we gave him 3 days and then ended up letting him CIO on July 4. We weren?t planning on trying to do this at all but he was fussing a lot and once we started waiting to see what would happen, we didn?t want to give in. I say ?Ferber-ish? because I used a lot of the rules and ideas from it but we didn?t do the checking at intervals. We went in a few times but quickly found that he got even more angry when he saw us and we didn?t pick him up. The video monitor was a must have for me! I just watched him on there and turned the volume down to the lowest level. We didn?t watch the clock either, which helped. We just watched TV and waited. It was also more difficult for me to check in on him and see him upset face to face. I knew it was best for him and that he was ok, but still, you know how it is! We were really starting to think he would never give in when all of a sudden, he went from totally pissed to just stopping and going to sleep! It took an hour and 10 minutes. I am also totally stoked that he flipped over and slept on his belly for the first time. Up until now he would roll over and then get mad (even though he knows how to roll back). I wanted him to just sleep that way since it?s ok now but refused. So after this, he slept for SEVEN hours! The night before he was up every 2-3. I watched him on the monitor and saw him stir and wake and then soothe himself back to sleep immediately. It is so crazy how fast they learn! Last night (only day 2) it only took him 17 minutes and the crying was way less, mostly just fussing and whining. He did wake up twice, after 3 hours each time, but I let him fuss until he went back to sleep. We made it without him eating until 6:00. I am keeping this feeding because that?s the time I nurse him before going to work, and will be back teaching and doing this in a month. Then he slept until 8:30, his usual time.
Also, we used to give him a paci at night and use the crib soother. I have stopped all of this. I know some of these things don't affect other kids and they can STTN but I just wasn't sure which was bothering him. So I just quit it all. I felt like he wasn't learning how to soothe himself because he was relying on the soother, paci, and nursing. I also nurse him before his bath so that he?s not falling asleep nursing or associating it at all with sleeping. All of the books I keep reading say that when he wakes up, everything should be exactly as when he went to sleep. We did leave the soother in the crib and he has been using it himself though! I have also watched him use his lovey to self soothe, so cute. Oh, and with him not eating all night, he?s not soaking his diaper and waking because of that. I also think it has helped him tummy because he?s not eating all night long and having to digest it etc. You know, how they say you shouldn?t eat right before bed.
This is helping his naps too- I am using the 2 hour rule for naps, to try to fix his schedule, and it really works. I just put him down this morning the exact same way as night time (no music, soother, sound machine, paci) and he was out with not one minute of crying. I am looking forward to seeing if this solves the problem of him taking such short naps. For the past few days he has been getting up after only 20 minutes for his first nap. Today he slept for an hour.
I am so proud of him (and us lol!)and excited that he is learning to self soothe. I know it is better for him to get the sleep that he needs. I thought he was a happy baby before but he?s even better during the day now. I know it?s not for everyone, but I think it is definitely worth a shot. The two books I have used the most are Ferber and Sleeping Through the Night. Even if you don?t want to CIO, they have great information about sleep associations and helping your child learn to self soothe.
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Re: Ferber-ish for 2 nights and it's working great and so fast!
We did Ferber-ish training for G. around five months. I didn't tell a lot of people because it just seemed so controversial to do it so young. But let me tell you, it worked like a charm and we have the absolute best sleeper! 11-12 hours a night since then (minus the one night feed she took until 10 months old). She is the happiest child and goes to sleep without a single peep.
Good for you for having the courage to try it.
Good for you, Ingrid. ? I swear, ?my next kid I am sleep training at 4 months. ? What I read is that by 4 months, they are good to sleep train. ?I waited until 10 months and that was the biggest mistake ever. ?She was already so aware of our patterns and her usual routine. ?Plus she was standing herself up by then but couldn't get herself down. ?It was horrible, sleep training.?
Props to you for starting it early. ? ?