Jumping over a bit early! And sleep training question

[Deleted User] · July 2012

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GibsonGirl620 · July 2012

That was my LO exactly. STTN 6 wks- 4 mo and then it all went to crap. Turns out that's completely normal. Their sleep patterns are changing and she is waking at the end of her sleep cycles, unable to get back to sleep by herself.

I tried no-cry methods for two months and didn't have success. I read Ferber's book and learned sooo much info about the why's and how's of sleep. I tried his method and it changed everything. I was amazed. You have to read that book, even if you don't want to follow his method. GL!

SmittyPants · July 2012

LalaMama81:
GibsonGirl620:
That was my LO exactly. STTN 6 wks- 4 mo and then it all went to crap. Turns out that's completely normal. Their sleep patterns are changing and she is waking at the end of her sleep cycles, unable to get back to sleep by herself.

This. But I don't think sleep training is the answer. I think to some degree you have to wait it out b/c in this time frame between sleep regression, possible teething and other milestones, it's hard to expect them to sleep well or to force them to.

I agree.

DD was sleeping through the night for about two months. Suddenly, about a week before she turned 6 months, it all went to *** and she was up three, maybe four times a night. Yesterday, she mastered crawling and last night slept straight through again.

It could just be a coincidence, but from what I've read, I'm inclined to believe it's related.

GibsonGirl620 · July 2012

LalaMama81:
GibsonGirl620:
That was my LO exactly. STTN 6 wks- 4 mo and then it all went to crap. Turns out that's completely normal. Their sleep patterns are changing and she is waking at the end of her sleep cycles, unable to get back to sleep by herself.

This. But I don't think sleep training is the answer. I think to some degree you have to wait it out b/c in this time frame between sleep regression, possible teething and other milestones, it's hard to expect them to sleep well or to force them to.

I used to think the same thing until I realized how little sleep he was getting. He was no longer nursing back to sleep- He was fighting sleep like it was his job at every waking. We're talking 1-2 hrs each time. None of my old "tricks" we're working. He was getting about 8 (inconsecutive) hrs of sleep at night and maybe a half hr during the day. It was a HARD decision to make, but I'm so glad we tried Ferber. He sleeps SO much better now and is energetic and happier during the day.

I don't mean to start a CIO debate- I just wanted to clarify that it was not an easy decision for DH and I, but I feel like it was the best choice for us.

rockychryslerb2010 · July 2012

We had a great sleeper until about 3.5 months, then it went downhill fast. Our lowest point was around 5.5-6months when he was barely sleeping 90 min at a time, and needed to be held / rocked back to sleep for 45+min. all.night.long.

I started with improving naps - he would barely nap for 1.5 hrs a day (3 30 min naps). I started following the 2-3-4 schedule, and he started taking a longer first nap, so as he got better sleep during the day, he wasn't overtired when we started getting ready to bedtime sleep, which helped.

We tried Sleep Lady Shuffle, but didn't have any luck and stopped after a few nights. We did Ferber a little after 6 months and it has been amazing for us. We had one really bad night, but by night #3 he was going to sleep without fussing and able to put himself back to sleep when he did wake up. Now we let him fuss for 5 min, and I know if he doesn't settle himself back down, he is hungry or just needs me. We're down from 7-10 wake ups between 730pm and 6am to 1-3 during that time. He doesn't STTN, but we're getting anywhere from 4-7 hr stretches a night, which has been amazing.

smilelari · July 2012

Random thoughts after reading all the responses.

-Sleep training is not evil, but I don't like it at this age. There is so much going on and communication skills are immature. How do you know she isn't waking because she's teething or uncomfortable?

-3-4 hour stretches are very, very good for this age.

-I suspect in another couple months sleep will be much better even if you don't change anything (unless she's getting progressively more overtired, in which case it will be much worse)

-My standard advice for sleep at this age is to make sure bed time is sufficiently early (some time between 6 and 8 and probably closer to 6 than 8) and make sure you get good naps in. Max awake time should probably be sometime between 2 and 3 hours at a time during the day.

-Depending on the baby, moving her to her own room may actually help. I'd just do that for now and see how it goes before throwing sleep training into the mix.

-I'd use sleep training as a last resort

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