Sleep Training

Re: Sleep Training

• seansgirl2006 member

  October 2012

  Yes, I have.  I did not do it with my older son until he was closer to 6 months because I didn't really know much about it but this time did it sooner and was again amazed at how fast he got it.  What worked best for us was me researching different methods and then using what I thought he would do best with, not necessarily everything they said.  One thing Ferber (I think it's him) says to do is to put them to sleep under the same conditions that they will have when they wake up.  With my son, he was using a paci too but then waking when he lost it.  I quit giving it to him and now he just sucks his thumb or hands or plays with his blanket to get back to sleep.  It's totally normal for them to wake, we all do, but they have to learn how to get themselves back to sleep.  That is how I look at it.  If I keep helping him every time, he won't be able to figure out what works for him.  Yes, I did let him CIO some.  He only had to do it a few times for 2 nights and now has slept through the night since then.  It is really amazing how fast they figure it out.  I know it's not for everyone.  I liked reading Ferber and also Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child.  So much good info in there, not just for CIO, but lots of info to help you understand sleep in children and what they need etc.  Also, if you do CIO and have a video monitor, my tip is to turn the sound down and just look to see that they are fine.  It's much easier not having to listen to them.  You don't have to full on CIO either, I did the method where I checked on him at intervals.  My break is over and I can't read back over this so it's probably a mess.   

  

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• APrice member

  October 2012

  seansgirl2006:

  Yes, I have.  I did not do it with my older son until he was closer to 6 months because I didn't really know much about it but this time did it sooner and was again amazed at how fast he got it.  What worked best for us was me researching different methods and then using what I thought he would do best with, not necessarily everything they said.  One thing Ferber (I think it's him) says to do is to put them to sleep under the same conditions that they will have when they wake up.  With my son, he was using a paci too but then waking when he lost it.  I quit giving it to him and now he just sucks his thumb or hands or plays with his blanket to get back to sleep.  It's totally normal for them to wake, we all do, but they have to learn how to get themselves back to sleep.  That is how I look at it.  If I keep helping him every time, he won't be able to figure out what works for him.  Yes, I did let him CIO some.  He only had to do it a few times for 2 nights and now has slept through the night since then.  It is really amazing how fast they figure it out.  I know it's not for everyone.  I liked reading Ferber and also Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child.  So much good info in there, not just for CIO, but lots of info to help you understand sleep in children and what they need etc.  Also, if you do CIO and have a video monitor, my tip is to turn the sound down and just look to see that they are fine.  It's much easier not having to listen to them.  You don't have to full on CIO either, I did the method where I checked on him at intervals.  My break is over and I can't read back over this so it's probably a mess.   

  No, not a mess at all! What I needed to hear actually! The pedi seemed to think that if we start doing this sooner rather than later that we will be very happy we did it. The thought that he is hungry has crossed my mind and I thought about feeding him when he wakes but I don't know if that will start a bad habit. The pedi seems to think that based on his weight (16 pounds) and the amount he eats during the day that he should be going at least 8 hours at night without needing to eat. It seems that what is happening is that he is waking when the paci falls out. When he is hungry (between 3:30- 4...which is right about 8 hours) the paci doesn't help at all. I'm going to try and see if we can get him to sleep without a paci and see if that helps! Thanks for that tip!

  One silly question, how long did you let him CIO? I'm just curious what your experience is because everyone has their own "thing." My worry is that if I don't go in and put the paci back when I first start to hear him fuss he goes into a full on cry quickly thereafter. I'm just not sure how long I should let that go on..

  

  
  

  
  

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• seansgirl2006 member

  October 2012

  APrice:

  seansgirl2006:

  Yes, I have.  I did not do it with my older son until he was closer to 6 months because I didn't really know much about it but this time did it sooner and was again amazed at how fast he got it.  What worked best for us was me researching different methods and then using what I thought he would do best with, not necessarily everything they said.  One thing Ferber (I think it's him) says to do is to put them to sleep under the same conditions that they will have when they wake up.  With my son, he was using a paci too but then waking when he lost it.  I quit giving it to him and now he just sucks his thumb or hands or plays with his blanket to get back to sleep.  It's totally normal for them to wake, we all do, but they have to learn how to get themselves back to sleep.  That is how I look at it.  If I keep helping him every time, he won't be able to figure out what works for him.  Yes, I did let him CIO some.  He only had to do it a few times for 2 nights and now has slept through the night since then.  It is really amazing how fast they figure it out.  I know it's not for everyone.  I liked reading Ferber and also Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child.  So much good info in there, not just for CIO, but lots of info to help you understand sleep in children and what they need etc.  Also, if you do CIO and have a video monitor, my tip is to turn the sound down and just look to see that they are fine.  It's much easier not having to listen to them.  You don't have to full on CIO either, I did the method where I checked on him at intervals.  My break is over and I can't read back over this so it's probably a mess.   

  No, not a mess at all! What I needed to hear actually! The pedi seemed to think that if we start doing this sooner rather than later that we will be very happy we did it. The thought that he is hungry has crossed my mind and I thought about feeding him when he wakes but I don't know if that will start a bad habit. The pedi seems to think that based on his weight (16 pounds) and the amount he eats during the day that he should be going at least 8 hours at night without needing to eat. It seems that what is happening is that he is waking when the paci falls out. When he is hungry (between 3:30- 4...which is right about 8 hours) the paci doesn't help at all. I'm going to try and see if we can get him to sleep without a paci and see if that helps! Thanks for that tip!

  One silly question, how long did you let him CIO? I'm just curious what your experience is because everyone has their own "thing." My worry is that if I don't go in and put the paci back when I first start to hear him fuss he goes into a full on cry quickly thereafter. I'm just not sure how long I should let that go on..

  Glad that helped.   He may truly be hungry and need just one feeding still after that 8 hours.  But he also may drop that on his own too though and just eat more during the day as he starts to sleep better.  The first time I let him cry he only cried like 10 minutes maybe and then he went right out.  It wasn't even true crying either, just fussing.  Then when he did his first wake up later that night, that's when it took longer for us.  I let him cry and checked on him a few times.  It lasted about 45 minutes.  It is crazy but just when you think that he is truly pissed and it's not working, he will quit.  He literally was screaming and then just stopped and went to sleep.  He does the same thing in the car.  There have been times when he's tired and starts crying and I can't help him at all because I'm driving.  He will cry and then all of a sudden just stop and go to sleep.  It's weird because he goes from one extreme to the other, just when you think it's not working.  So I get what you're saying- that when he starts to fuss he will just go into a full cry soon without help but that may be when he really starts to figure it out and surprises you.  It took us a couple nights (second night way better than first) but we were really happy that we did it.  I know it is hard but I try to think of it as a learning process for him and that he's just protesting because it's different.  Yes it's hard to listen to crying but I know that he is ok and that he'll figure it out and it will be over with. 

  

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• sam19 member

  October 2012

  I did it with my first when she was around 5-6 months old. The big thing was being consistent. We would sleep train but then wouldn't be consistent with what we were doing so she would revert back to her old habits. Sleep is really important for an infant so I don't think sleep training is a horrible thing as long as the baby isn't sick.

  We have been having trouble getting our daughter down for the night sow e thought about a type of sleep training but the doctor confirmed that her two bottom teeth are about to break through so we are going to hold off on sleep training until her teeth get in. Hopefully she'll go back to being easy once those teeth pop through.
  

  NATALIE - 9/13/09 HANNAH - 6/8/12

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• unaveragejane member

  October 2012

  I was nervous about not going right to DS when he started fussing at night, but he actually started sleeping a lot better when I stopped rushing in. He seems to fuss a little bit in between sleep cycles, but not he usually falls right back to sleep. I haven't really done any CIO (except for one very misguided day WAY too early but that's a whole different story), so don't feel like you have to go there if you don't want to. (I have nothing against CIO, but I haven't felt the need to do it with DS yet.) There was a week back around the beginning of his 3rd month when he was waking a lot at night, so I upped his feeds a bit during the day and that seemed to help. We do still have some tough nights where he wakes up frequently and needs some help getting back to sleep, but most nights he does well on his own from 8:00 to 4:00 or so. He eats between 4:00 and 6:00, then goes back to sleep until about 7:00 or 8:00.
  

               

  
  

  

    

      
  

   
  

  
  

   
  

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