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April 2012 Moms
Sleep Training...
I know this can be a controversial topic, but I'm hoping I can get some real honest answers and no flames towards anyone...
Did you sleep train your child? If yes, how old were they?
What methods did you try?
Which method wound up working?
How long did it take for you to see a difference?
Any tips or advice?
DD's sleep habits have been terrible over the last week or so. She did wind up getting a cold on Wednesday and of course I felt bad for her so I did some things I wouldn't have normally "given in to" just so we would all get some sleep such as letting her sleep in bed with me, feed her when I couldn't console her after "long awake periods", etc etc. Now I'm afraid I've created a monster. Last night was the worst and although she is slightly still stuffy, she really is better from the cold. Assuming the stuffiness goes away, I was planning on reading up and deciding what method might be best for us, but to attempt sleep training this weekend. Hence my questions...
Thanks!
Jessica
Reggie
Madison Lynn
Madison Lynn
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Sleep Training...
Etta Jane and Claire Elaine are here! Born March 28, 2012.
my blog
What it's like to cloth diaper twins, Part I.
Cloth diapering twins, Part II.
The first couple nights were the worst, but we saw a big improvement by night four. We would go in and comfort her if she got too worked up, but we made it quick and never took her out of her room. We never gave in either. Once we decided to go for it we were 100 percent committed.
Every baby is different. But a few nights of crying herself to sleep taught her how to put herself to sleep and she now sleeps from 7:30 pm to 6:30 am. We are all sleeping better in my house.
This is a good point. If your baby was a good sleeper and it's only changed in the past week or so, it might be something that will pass. My baby has been a beast about sleep ever since she was born, so I knew we had to take action to correct it.
This for us as well. Jack was an awesome sleeper who had no problem with me putting him down drowsy. Then, out of nowhere, he HAD to be nursed to sleep and he woke up multiple times per night (sometimes as often as 45 minutes). However, it seems that just this week we have gotten back to normal. He nurses but doesn't fall asleep, and he actually starts wiggling on my lap to let me know he has had enough and he's ready to go into his crib. He's asleep on his own within 10-15 minutes. So the horror that was the 4 month wakeful lasted about 3 weeks for us.
Not knowing if it was 4 month wakeful or his just having sleep issues, I considered doing the No Cry Sleep Solution but it seems I don't really need it now. That would be the most sleep training we would do though since I'm pretty firmly against CIO.
Did you sleep train your child? If yes, how old were they? Yes, sleep trained at 4.5mo old.
What methods did you try? We researched a bunch of methods and decided that The SleepEasy Solution (modified CIO method) was the method best for our family.
Which method wound up working? We only tried one method, see above.
How long did it take for you to see a difference? 2 days
Any tips or advice? Be consistent and stick with whatever method you decide. If you decide to go with a CIO method, dont crack and go in to soothe baby, as they will never learn and would have just cried for nothing.
We started sleep training about 2 weeks ago. We've started putting LO to sleep in her PNP for all naps and bedtime. (We were letting her nap in the swing and fall asleep in the swing before bedtime too or never ending nursing sessions that would cause a freakout when I ended them.)
Anyway, now I put her down awake. She started out crying for 5 minutes, I would go in and stroke her head, put the paci back in her mouth and walk out. Sometimes I would have to repeat this one or two more times but I never let her cry more than 5 minutes before going back in.
Now she either falls asleep without fussing or I only have to go in one time to give the paci back. This works for naps and bedtime. Also, I think I have one of those babies that just cries and fights sleep regardless, so crying for 5 minutes before falling asleep is NBD to me and she is sleeping for much longer stretches both at nap and bedtime now.
I have two different experiences with sleep training...one with DD1, and DD2.
Did you sleep train your child? If yes, how old were they?
DD2 - Kate was 4.5 months old when I started. I had to rock her to sleep, which I didn't mind, but if she awoke 30-45 minutes later, she didn't know how to put herself back to sleep, so I would have to rock her again. This would go on for 2+ hours. Also, she would only nap on me, so I would be confined to the recliner for all of her naps (4+ hours a day).
DD1 - I started with DD1 at 6 months after she suddenly started to hate her crib, and would only sleep with us. We tried it again at 10.5 months.
What methods did you try?
DD2 - Ferber, which is interval training. For example the first night of training you would wait 3 minutes, then 5 minutes, then 10 minutes.
DD1 - Ferber, and then extinction.
Which method wound up working?
Ferber has worked really well with DD2, whereas it didn't with DD1. DD1 would just get more upset everytime I checked in. I gave up the first night with her, and she slept in our bed from 6-10.5 months. I finally just let her cry without checking in on her at 10.5 months. Because 4.5-5 months is still on the young side to sleep train, extinction wasn't even on my radar; I couldn't possibly let DD2 cry until she tired herself out. If Ferber hadn't of worked, I would have tried sleep training again in a couple weeks. However, it has been a much better experience with DD2.
How long did it take for you to see a difference?
DD2 - I saw a difference by the second night; she didn't cry over the 12 minute check in.
DD1 - With extinction, Ella cried for a little bit over an hour the first night, 45 mintues the second night, and 5 minutes the third night.
Any tips or advice?
You may have to sleep train them more than once. DD2 got sick a week after I did sleep training with her, and I stopped because it isn't recommended to do while they have a cold. I had to start all over when she got better, which wasn't bad.
I do pick DD2 up every now and then, which isn't recommended. However, sometimes she will calm herself down in my arms, and go right to sleep afterwards.
Use your judgement, and don't do anything that you're not comfortable doing.
Good luck!
Did you sleep train your child? If yes, how old were they? Yes. We started at bedtime when he was 4 months, 1 week. We started nap training at 5 months. (I'd already been letting him fuss it out in the swing since about 2.5 months because he was a serious nap fighter. No red alert screaming, but some crying.)
What methods did you try? Basically Dr. Ferber's method first at bedtime, but now we do a combo of Ferber/Weissbluth at nighttime. Weissbluth only at naps, no check and console for naps.
Which method wound up working? See above.
How long did it take for you to see a difference? Two nights for bedtime issues with Ferber. About a week with MOTN issues. Still working on naps.
Any tips or advice? I read both Ferber's book and Weissbluth's book. The Troublesome Tots blog is awesome.