STTN, at long last!

danuli8 · September 2013

I watched all those STTN threads popping up 2-3 months ago with envy, thinking, "Why can't that be me?" As recently as a month ago I was still getting up 3, 4, or 5 times a night and wondered if my LO was going to STTN before, say, college. We started some (very gentle) sleep training a few weeks ago and that, along with a few more weeks of maturity under his belt (LO is now four and a half months old), finally did the trick. He went down at 7:20 last night and did not wake up until 6:05 this morning!! I had to get up and pump at 3:40, but I still got nearly 6 hours of consecutive sleep!!

Just wanted to post this for everyone out there still suffering with multiple wakeups every night...if my kid can STTN, yours undoubtedly can too.

BellaBean76 · September 2013

Can you explain your "gentle" sleep training. LO did a few STTN three weeks but now has been up 3 to 4 times a night and I am at my wits end...

ToAoShesha · September 2013

I am super excited for you!! I too would also like to know ur training tips.... My LO either wakes every 1.5-2 hrs or will go a 4 hour chunk then wake up ever 30 min after that.

camdensmom32 · September 2013

That's awesome! Please share your sleep training tips!! DS is 5 months now and instead of getting better each night gets worse and worse!!!

JBDamonM · September 2013

Another request for the sleep training explanation! My LO isn't horrible - but is still up at least once a night. Congrats to you, this mama is uber jealous.

danuli8 · September 2013

OK, if you can bear to read the long version, here's what we did. We got a Magic Merlin Sleep Suit and used that from the very first time we put him in the crib (he does all naps and bedtime in the crib now). We have a set routine for naps and bedtime that is always the same. Nap routine is: turn on music (always the same music), check/change diaper, put in Magic Sleep Suit, turn on white noise machine, nurse, rock to music for one song (always the same song), put down in crib (preferably not asleep, but sometimes he is out like a light). We do not use pacis at all. The bedtime routine is the same, but it has two extra things tacked on the front end: a walk up and down the street for 10-15 minutes and two readings of The Going To Bed book by Sandra Boynton. If he cries once we have put him down and left the room (we do not stay in the room but leave immediately when we put him down), we give it 5 minutes before my husband goes in to console. He will put his hand on LO's chest but does not pick him up. He says a few comforting words and then leaves again within 30 seconds. Then we give it another 5 minutes. Then my DH goes in again. Then we give it 8 minutes. DH goes in again if necessary. Then we give it 10 minutes. We have never needed more checks than that. He has to stay in bed for at least an hour for the morning and early afternoon naps, and 30 minutes for a late afternoon nap.

The bedtime routine is the same, but it has two extra things tacked on the front end: a walk up and down the street for 10-15 minutes and two readings of The Going To Bed Book by Sandra Boynton. The check and console routine is the same (and my husband always does it if possible), but the most important thing about nighttime is that we started encouraging LO to space his feedings a bit. (LO is EBF.) I also started sleeping in another room. We started with a gap of 3.5 hours from the start of his last pre-bed feeding to when I would feed again. (Note: When we started this he was 15 pounds and clearly healthy.) If he cried before the 3.5 hours was up, my DH would go in and console him. If DH had to go in a second time, he would do a diaper change just to ensure LO was comfortable. Things started improving within 3 days. After about two weeks, we bumped the feed spacing up to 4 hours (start to start). If he was only 5 or 10 minutes "early" I would still go in, but more than 15 and I would let DH console him instead. We also had a rule that we were not getting up for the day before 6 AM. After another week or so, this resulted in a very tolerable 12-hour routine for LO: he'd go to bed at 6:30 or so, I'd feed around 10:30, go to bed myself, get up at 2:30 or so (and DH would automatically do a diaper change here), and then start the day with a feeding around 6:30.

I knew we were really getting somewhere last Sunday: I put him down at 6 PM (he was clearly tired), he woke up at 11:55 PM for a change and feed, and then he slept through until 6 AM! Wow! This was followed by several not very good days and then a return to the 4-hour-ish schedule. Yesterday was a very busy day, and he had three naps, the last of which was a 20-minute catnap at 5 PM. He was out cold at 7:20 PM when I put him down, which usually results in more wakeups, but voila! He finally slept through. It only took us, oh, about five weeks from when we really started working toward it, but everyone is so much happier now, including LO. He is much smilier in general, and is actually less likely to fuss and cry if I put him down awake then if he is mostly asleep.

I think I covered it all but if anything doesn't make sense, feel me to PM me.

lovelyday39 · September 2013

Yay!

kreeper611 · September 2013

Yay! DD was STTN for a while and stopped afew weeks ago. Growth spurts suck.

arschm02 · September 2013

This is how we accomplished STTN too! Congrats!

Kmape36 · September 2013

We read healthy sleep habits, happy child with my first and are implementing some of the same techniques with DD2. I highly recommend it. And you don't have to read it cover to cover (who has time for that) to get the gist. DD2 is napping better and sleeping better at night. Sometimes she STTN and sometimes she is up once but it is totally manageable. Plus she used to be a horrible napper and now she is napping well in her crib. That has been the biggest change. I'm a big believer that babies have to be taught to self sooth and put themselves to sleep and this book shows you how to help that process.

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