FFFC

doublem · June 2011

iHeartHimMore:
MSTie24:
MrsKatie:
We started sleep training this week. She'll be 4 months old this weekend and it was time to get her in this routine. I wake her up at 6:00 everyday and we are out the door by 6:45, I pick her up at 4:30 and we home by 5:15. She was going to bed at 7:30, but was starting to get really fussy during the day. So I'm starting to put her down at 6:30 or 7:00 after our night time routine, but not rocking her to sleep. It has been hell (she cries and cries and cries) and a lot of my friends have been totally judging me. It is really frustrating, but we have to do what is right for us. We are an extremely active family and need for her to be able to soothe herself to sleep without having to be rocked. I stay in the room with her and put my hand on her head or chest until she falls asleep, but she just cries. I talk softly to her and she calms down, but the minute I stop she looks at me with the biggest lower lip jutted out like, "What are YOU doing?!" It's heartbreaking and I'm totally second guessing myself on this.
Not a flame, I get the sucky sleep stuff (believe me, I have a 10.5 month old who has never once STTN) but from everything I've read/heard 4 months is just not old enough to self-soothe, which may be why she's not responding well to it. I am not a CIO person although DH wanted/wants to, but I wouldn't even let him discuss for real until she was 6 months plus. Hope you are able to figure something out. She is sure a cutie pie and getting so big!
Actually, the sleep books I read that were promoting a CIO (or something similar) method all said that some babies are in fact ready by 4 months. Sleep training doesn't necessarily mean that the immediate goal is for the baby to STTN, but instead to self-soothe so that they don't always need to be rocked, nursed, etc. back to sleep when they do wake up.
We started Ferber (then straight CIO) with Lila right around then and it worked really well for us. Luckily she took to it pretty quickly so we never had to deal with hours of screaming.
Katie, my best advice is to do whatever is/feels right for your family and your baby. And don't beat yourself up because she's crying or because you think others might be judging you. It's definitely not right for everyone - but that doesn't mean it's not right for anyone. Of course it's difficult, but ultimately teaching your child how to soothe herself is a compassionate thing to do.
Also, if you haven't already I would definitely recommend reading Ferber's book. Even if you don't use his method there is some extremely valuable information in there about sleep in general. I had so many "aha!" moments while reading it - suddenly the issues we were facing made a whole lot more sense.
ETA: I just read your response to Shane and wanted to add that 4 months old is a pretty typical time for some sleep regression in most kiddos. Your previously great sleeper is likely going through some big developmental steps and is having some sleep trouble as a result. If you've ever seen anyone here talk about the "4 month wakeful", this is what they were talking about.

We went through this exactly with E, and it was no fun! Luckily it didn't seem to last all that long. Hugs to you, mama! Do what works for you! Everyone needs their sleep, and only you know what will make that happen for your whole family.

CDMay2006 · June 2011

skenyon:
This whole thread is why I come back to this board so often. ...

Yep!

doublem · June 2011

MSTie24:
Seattle_JiLLn:
I'm going to break the flame free rule and say MUSHROOMS ARE AWESOME AND YOU ALL ARE FREAKS.
This. Mushrooms are the shiz.

I love them too. I put them in all sorts of foods even when recipes do not call for them. I also like wine, and cooking mushrooms in wine, and then putting it all in a salad with blue cheese.

However, I don't like beer and don't drink it (although I will cook with it and serve it to nice people who come to my house).

Nancy_Drew · June 2011

I love all you guys!

I love mushrooms in moderation. Love blue cheese. Pudding pops of 30 years ago were da BOMB! I love Jill, her wit and sensibility to say it as it is. Tiffany, know that this too will pass and we are all here for you! Go HayHay!

my confession: I went to the same restaurant 3x in 2 days this week. And had cocktails at lunch everyday with a fellow co- worker who is my Dads age, yet it's the 2 of us going out to eat every meal so we look like a couple.

theresab · June 2011

FutureFung:

YES. For a while when I was in college, Kraft sold their orange powdered cheese stuff, the kind you get in the little paper envelope to mix with your noodles, IN A CAN THAT YOU COULD BUY AND SHAKE ON ANYTHING YOU WANTED. Just like parmesan cheese. It was heavenly, and I shook it on top of my already cheesy mac & cheese. I put it on popcorn. I slept with it under my pillow. I cried when they stopped selling it.

This stuff was awesome.

KNemo · June 2011

FutureFung:
YES. For a while when I was in college, Kraft sold their orange powdered cheese stuff, the kind you get in the little paper envelope to mix with your noodles, IN A CAN THAT YOU COULD BUY AND SHAKE ON ANYTHING YOU WANTED. Just like parmesan cheese. It was heavenly, and I shook it on top of my already cheesy mac & cheese. I put it on popcorn. I slept with it under my pillow. I cried when they stopped selling it.

I thought that powdered cheese was the best idea Kraft ever had. I put it on everything too. I also cried when they stopped selling it!