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****SBMBride40****

MrsJRTMrsJRT
in Preemies

Sleep Training-

It's going to break my heart to hear him cry, but we need to make the transition to Robinson sleeping in his crib at night and I need help.

He goes down fine at night; we lay him down when he's almost asleep and he falls asleep fine.  Then like clock work- 10-11pm (sometimes midnight) he wakes up crying.  I go in to pick him up and he snuggles and is fine.  I try to lay him back down and he screams and cries like I'm doing this horrible thing to him.  He will not quit crying until we lay him in our bed and then he goes right to sleep.  So...obviously, I've created a monster :)  and he's just doing this b/c he wants to...not because there is anything wrong.  Any advice??  I'm guessing we are just going to have to try CIO...although, I'll probably be crying too- I'm such a pushover with him.

 BUT...I have GOT to get some sleep-  you can not rest/sleep with a toddler kicking you all night ..and now he thinks it's fun to share Mommy's pillow haha...so now I have even less room. 

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Re: ****SBMBride40****

  • RubyRed7RubyRed7

    I know Sara will respond... but wanted to just in. I did the same technique that Sara recommended with much success! I could not leave Ruby to cry alone in a room, it just felt wrong to me, even if it works. Like your little one, Ruby would go down easily at bedtime and then wake in the middle of the night, sometimes for an hour or more, crying.

    So what we did was put a bed in her room and at bed time we would lay her in bed and one of us would lay in our bed and pretend to sleep. If she woke up during the night we would lay her down, say good night, and lay back in the bed and pretend to sleep. The first night we did this, she cried for an hour. It was horrible. But we were there, she could see us, and we knew she was ok. After that period of time, she finally laid down and past out. She woke up later that night/early morning, and she cried off and on for 20 minutes before laying down and passing out... she slept till 7am.

    The second night, she woke up in the middle of the night, we laid down in the bed in her room, and she cried... for 15 minutes. It was still hard to hear her cry for that period of time, don't get me wrong. But we had progress! And after having her cry with us trying to comfort her for the few weeks prior, this was so much better... The third night, Ruby slept through the night. The fourth night, she woke up on two seperate occassions, but she never cried. She saw us sleeping in the bed and went back to sleep. Pretty cool...

    Ruby sleeps through the night about half the time now. The other half of the time she yells for us, we go to her room, lay her down, say goodnight, and leave the room, and she's fine. So no complaints from us =)

     

     

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  • SBMBride406SBMBride406

    Ha, thanks, K, you took the words right out of my mouth. That technique worked well for us...at this age it seems to be more of a seperation anxiety thing than anything else (they wake up and think "OMG, where are mom and dad?!").

    We were able to transition from that eventually to now just putting him in his crib, saying good night and leaving the room. He doesn't protest too much, although he's started waking at night with a cough. At that point I don't let him cry. I think he's having some breathing issues currently, so crying certainly won't help. I know Robinson has some breathing issues, but it sounds more like he's waking from being lonely and wanting comfort than a physiological thing. I would try this technique...its a watered down CIO and it seems to work for everyone who's tried it.... 

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  • MrsJRTMrsJRT

    Thanks so much to both of you!  I knew there was a technique everyone had tried, but couldn't remember.  Robinson's is definitely just separation anxiety- wanting to be held.  I didn't mind it at all for a while- it helped us bond, but I think now he's too old and needs to learn to self soothe- any Mommy needs her sleep!

    Robinson does have breathing issues, so I won't let him cry if he's sick, but right now (big knock on wood) we seem to be okay.  It would be a good time to try.

    Wish us luck!!

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  • njkarennjkaren
    Brandon had been doing the same thing as Robinson until a week ago. He had started sleeping through the night (or at least waking up and putting himself back to sleep) from August-October. Then he got sick for the first time and was up every 1-2 hours throughout the night. I obviously went into him since he was sick. Unfortunately he got used to me coming in and then was sick 3 more times so I never got a chance to work on him starting to sleep again. He was going to sleep okay but a few hours later waking up and screaming/ crying hysterically. I was going into his room for the past two months 1-2 times. And each time it would take 1-2 hours before I was able to put him down and have him stay asleep. Finally 1 1/2 weeks ago I noticed that he was still waking up and crying but wasn't hysterical. His cry sounded more like a I want my mom and don't want to be alone cry. I had been in his room twice in a 2 hour period. Each time he fell asleep I put him down and 2 minutes later he would stand up and start crying again. After the second time of this happening I couldn't go in his room again so as hard as it was I let him cry. He stood up by the side of the crib crying for 15 minutes. Then he sat down and found a pacifier and stopped. He sat up sucking on his pacifier for 5 minutes and then finally lied down. After I realized he could put himself back down I decided the next night when he woke up crying not to go into his room. He cried for about 10 minutes before finding his pacifier and going back to sleep. I haven't had to go into him for the past week. He does still wake up crying still some nights but the crying lasts less than a minute before he finds a pacifier and goes back to sleep on his own. It was hard letting him cry initially but he has learned how to self soothe again. Like Sara I won't let him cry if he is sick or coughing because then it is a different story. Knock on wood..he has actually been healthy for a little over a month now. Good luck
    Conceived twins with IVF January 2008. Lost baby a at 20 1/2 weeks due to premature rupture of membranes and held onto baby b. Baby b (Brandon) born at 26 weeks and 1 day on July 5, 2008. Wesley born full term on June 29, 2011. My blog http://karenandstu.blogspot.com Lilypie Premature Baby tickers Lilypie Pregnancy tickers image
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