Setback with Ferber

mittyleigh23 · May 2013

My guy is 6 months old, we just started Ferber on Monday. We had been doing great, he only cried max 10 minutes for both bedtimes and naptimes. Well, tonight he was just not a happy camper, I think his teething was really bothering him and his nose got really stuffy after awhile of crying in the crib (about 20 minutes, and he had never cried so severely as he was tonight). I know he was becoming overtired and since he seemed to just feel crummy, I finally ended up rocking him to sleep because I know everything would just get worse the more overtired he got. Has anyone had setbacks due to sickness, teething, travel, etc? I plan to get right back to it tomorrow, and I'm sure he will not do as well as he did the first 2 nights because now he will probably think if he keeps crying I will come back in and get him. I couldn't find any info in the book about setbacks and what to do with them, so I would love any thoughts and input as to how to best go about getting back on track. If he is in pain I don't expect him to happily go to sleep on his own, and I just feel so bad for my baby that I can't leave him when he's suffering like that!

[Deleted User] · May 2013

From what I've heard on here it's very common to have setbacks from teething, sickness, etc and have to retrain your lo. Sorry he feels bad but if he's teething then right now isn't an appropriate time to sleep train. Good luck.

FTMCali13 · May 2013

I just started reading the book as we plan on starting soon. I remember it saying if there are situations where you might have disruptions to your routine so to speak ie visitors, travel, illness etc, do what you need to pretty much. But as long as you don't stick to the 'new conditions' you have started, like rocking him to sleep, you will be fine. Just return to normal as soon as possible. Don't worry Momma! You know in your gut if something is wrong, so do what you need to, then just get back to routine. GL!

thepretzelchick · May 2013

Setbacks due to teething and illness are normal. It's also not unusual to have a setback on the third night of Ferber.

danieliza1127 · May 2013

If he is teething and/or sick, it's really not the best time to try sleep training. The book does say that and it also says that it's normal to have a setback after traveling or sickness.

If the baby is sick or in pain, you just do what you have to do and start over when he's well again.

mittyleigh23 · May 2013

Thanks ladies! As a FTM it's so hard to figure out what to do, not wanting to "ruin" the progress that was made so easily in the first couple of days of Ferber! But I need to trust my mommy gut and do whatever I think is best!

He slept all night, even though I rocked him to sleep, and put himself down for his am nap with only a few minutes of whining. Hopefully tonight will go well and we will be back on track! Oh, and he wasn't sick or having teething issues when I started, I definitely wouldn't have started the training if he wasn't well. The stuffy nose came out of nowhere and the teething issues are only a problem on occasion, not everyday at all. Thanks again for the input!

LyndseylovesHugh · May 2013

danieliza1127:
If he is teething and/or sick, it's really not the best time to try sleep training. The book does say that and it also says that it's normal to have a setback after traveling or sickness.
If the baby is sick or in pain, you just do what you have to do and start over when he's well again.

Yep, this. We did Ferber and it went great, then about 3 weeks later she got sick. I did what I needed to do to get her to sleep and then when she was healthy again we went back to Ferber. Good thing was it only took her one night to get back to where she was prior to getting sick, so its not like we had to start the entire process over again.

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