for those of you using Ferber's method...

Re: for those of you using Ferber's method...

• reannegummer

  January 2010

  I plan to try the Ferber method if need be.  My best friend did it with her daughter and she became the best sleeper and anyone could put her to bed, anywhere.  It worked wonders for them.

  But, I don't think it's meant for babies under six months old.  I will not be trying it before then.  They don't have the ability to self soothe before then.

  

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• MrsWanee

  January 2010

  reannegummer:

  I plan to try the Ferber method if need be.  My best friend did it with her daughter and she became the best sleeper and anyone could put her to bed, anywhere.  It worked wonders for them.

  But, I don't think it's meant for babies under six months old.  I will not be trying it before then.  They don't have the ability to self soothe before then.

  i don't know where people are getting this 6 month requirement from. he does not say that in his book. he says by 4 months, babies shouldn't need to eat over night. we are following the section on night feedings and he is over 5 months. we started right when he hit 5 months and he has done really well with it. he can definitely self soothe. i guess every baby is different though.

  ETA: to the OP, we are not eliminating all of the feedings. i'm still letting him feed once at night - after 6 hours though. we slowly drew it out, starting at 2 hours and increasing it by 30 minutes every night. he seems really hungry and guzzles when he eats, so i know he's still hungry. and then he sleeps until 6 or 7, so it's working for us!

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• KristinB! member

  January 2010

  I've already noticed how much his self-soothing has improved in just in the week-10 days we've been doing this.  We now put him in the crib sleepy but still awake after his last feeding and he falls asleep quickly and now without much fussing at all.  Just wondering if us continuing the one nighttime feeding is confusing DS as we're getting up with him at one night waking and no others...  We're currently trying the same method of having him go 6+ hours without a bottle before we go in.
  

  

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• MrsWanee

  January 2010

  KristinB!:

  I've already noticed how much his self-soothing has improved in just in the week-10 days we've been doing this.  We now put him in the crib sleepy but still awake after his last feeding and he falls asleep quickly and now without much fussing at all.  Just wondering if us continuing the one nighttime feeding is confusing DS as we're getting up with him at one night waking and no others...  We're currently trying the same method of having him go 6+ hours without a bottle before we go in.
  

  yeah, Ferber says that it can confuse them, but he also says it's ok to give 1 night feeding. last night, J lasted 7.5 hours without needing a feeding - he didn't even wake up. our pedi said he should be able to go 8 hours by 6 months, not 12, so i'm using her guideline too.

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• Jacques715 member

  January 2010

  MrsWanee:

  reannegummer:

  I plan to try the Ferber method if need be.  My best friend did it with her daughter and she became the best sleeper and anyone could put her to bed, anywhere.  It worked wonders for them.

  But, I don't think it's meant for babies under six months old.  I will not be trying it before then.  They don't have the ability to self soothe before then.

  i don't know where people are getting this 6 month requirement from. he does not say that in his book. he says by 4 months, babies shouldn't need to eat over night. we are following the section on night feedings and he is over 5 months. we started right when he hit 5 months and he has done really well with it. he can definitely self soothe. i guess every baby is different though.

  ETA: to the OP, we are not eliminating all of the feedings. i'm still letting him feed once at night - after 6 hours though. we slowly drew it out, starting at 2 hours and increasing it by 30 minutes every night. he seems really hungry and guzzles when he eats, so i know he's still hungry. and then he sleeps until 6 or 7, so it's working for us!

  Thank you, Mrs. Wanee.  Everyone keeps telling me that I am starting too early.  I always wonder, "have these people read  Ferber's book at all?" He clearly states that he thinks sleep training a child with significant sleep issues (waking more than 2x a night) should begin at the 4 month mark.  He goes on to say that by 5 months you can even begin to sleep train to treat minor problems, such as short cat naps.  I am not clear as to where people are getting the whole 6 month mark either.  Do your research before making comments such as PP.

  

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• b.heather member

  January 2010

  We do a method similar to Feber (Sleep Easy) - I'm reading Feber now and really like his book so it might be the same.

  We still do one night feeding at 2 a.m., but I dream feed. I picked 2 a.m. becuase DD would usually wake a 3 to nurse before we started sleep training. We don't want her to associate waking and crying with us coming in and picking her up, so I picked an time an hour earlier to come in and get her out of her crib and nurse her. That way she doesn't wake later hungry. It is working great so far and she is STTN. I usually nurse her again at 7 a.m. before taking her to my mom's when I go to work.
  

  I'm thinking I'm going to try to wean the 2 a.m. feeding  at about 6 months and just do it gradually and see how it goes.
  

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