Ferber? Who has done it, what did you do??

Jaimelar · February 2010

All of a sudden my girl went from waking 1-2x per night to waking every 2 hours! Anyway I got the ferber book and have been reading it, but wondering what anyone else's experience has been with it? Also, what steps did you do that made a difference? Nothing has changed and we have tried changing things up with her to see if it would help- one arm out of swaddle, 2 arms out, totally swaddled... sleeping in her crib, sleeping in her carseat (What she did when she was younger), laying down totally asleep, laying down drowsy... anyway any things that you have done that have been successful would be great appreciated!

OSUtiff · February 2010

We did, and the first couple of nights were rough, I'll admit. But now DD is sleeping through the night, and has been for about a month!

We have a very regimented routine (cereal, bath, bottle) starting around 6pm and ending around 7pm. I hold her until she is very drowsy, but not quite asleep, and then put her in her crib. We have a Fisher Price Mobile that she loves so this helps soothe her.

When she does cry, we give her about 3-5 minutes (depending on the cry, usually it's just fussy) and then if she is still crying we go in offer paci, put our hand on her chest, just let her know that we're there. We have stopped picking her up, offering her a bottle, etc.

Usually by the time DH and I go to bed (between 9-10pm) she is in a deep sleep. Sometimes she will fuss in the middle of the night, we take turns going in turning her mobile on (nature sounds, heartbeat, etc) putting our hand on her chest, etc. And she will fall right back asleep. She no longer expects a bottle or to be held or to wake up and play.

I know this won't work for every baby, but it did work for us. HTH!

hi_dn@hotmail.com · February 2010

my suggestion...try something for a at least 4 nights before you give up...I think it takes some time for something to work....maybe she will go back to normal soon...We had a period where our LO stopped sleeping through the night but it only lasted a week.

Hang in there

Jaimelar · February 2010

Thank you! It does... I really hope we can get something going because I know many times she is not crying because she is hungry... I think we need to start working on laying her down drowsy because she usually needs to be totally knocked out and I remember reading that if they fall asleep in your arms but wake up in an unfamiliar spot/circumstance that is when they get upset!

saraprice · February 2010

We loved this method, worked in 3 nights! Also, instead of a swaddle try the sleep sacks, DD loves them, she is able to roll over and still stay covered up.

Jaimelar · February 2010

Thank you... she is just a pretty bad sleeper overall. Naps are still a struggle and I can't really run errands even because she has a hard time falling asleep while we are out which usually turns into a huge meltdown! Anyway I would love to at least get nighttime under control...

Sara I think I will start using a sleep sack- she has one. I think she is fighting being put in the swaddle but doesn't seem to sleep as long without it. (Not that it helped at all last night! ha) We need to break the swaddle at some point anyway right?? Anyway I am trying to gear up for a bad few days I think... Did you put your LO drowsy but awake and all that? I am thinking she may just have a major meltdown and never get to sleep!

Mitchell's Mommy · February 2010

So true! If you are constantly changing what you are doing, you are going to confuse the baby even more. Ferberizing took 3 nights for bedtime and over a week for naptime. Also, we had gotten into the habit of giving him his binkie when he woke up in the middle of the night, which was bad b/c he would wake up every hour or so once it fell out....so we stopped, which sucked for a few days, but now he uses his thumb instead. Make sure you are doing the exact same sleeping arrangement every time she is in her crib...I made the mistake of swaddling both arms and giving a binkie for naps and then swaddling one arm and no binkie for bedtime and it basically reset all of our efforts! We had to start all over again, which was awful! I am also not a firm believer that EVERY nap needs to be in the crib...although that is the only place he will nap if we are home (my child has never been a fan of the swing or pack n play). Sometimes you have to be out of the house and it's okay for them to nap in the carseat if you are...in my opinion at least.

SusieQ1982 · February 2010

It could just be the 4 month wakeful which will go away on its own if you give it time. It's a normal developmental stage so I personally would not try to train it out of the baby.

PAmiler82 · February 2010

I just finished reading Ferber but we have not decided exactly what we will do yet. Drew is up at least 2-3 times a night and sometimes every hour. Has been this way for some time and all three of us are suffering.

Anyway, I agree with one of the pp - whatever changes you make, consistency is key. Trying one thing one night and another thing another night won't give LO any time to really get used to any of the changes.

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Ferber? Who has done it, what did you do??

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