Seriously... EFF sleep training!

danibonello · July 2015

I've fallen into the "experts say" trap that i always swore I would avoid. I'm very much a believer of doing what works for you, but since LO has been having trouble napping lately, I've looked up sleep training techniques, opinions, etc.

1. Put to bed early, they are programmed for it............ okay, we aimed for 7ish tonight.
2. Look for cues that LO is tired...... she yawned at 7:05, bring on the swaddle and bottle.
3. Create a calm environment to promote sleepiness..... nursery, dark, white noise, rocking.
4. Put LO down BEFORE they fall asleep to self sooth..... hahaha. You mean put her down so the second her back touches the mattress she's screaming?
5. Don't let baby get overly tired..... so now it's literally 4 hours later and i haven't left this nursery other than to get a bottle and trade off with DH. I think I broke my baby. Now she's overly tired (i guess) and refuses to go to sleep. Not wet. Not hungry. wont take a paci. Will only lightly nod off and wake herself up mins later, even in my arms.

I'm at such a loss! Why do I keep getting duped into believing anything is ever as as they say it should be???? Please tell me I'm not alone!

LadyBlood · July 2015

In my 2 month well baby checkup packet, my hospital gave sleeping tips, which was aim for a late bedtime (10-11pm) and try to keep baby awake for 2 hours prior to bedtime, feed immediately before bed, and to put the baby down while sleeping but still awake. My son already sleeps great, so idk if it actually works but this is basically what we did even before we got the packet. We also give him a shower (usually no soap, we only soap him up as needed or 3x a week) and use sleepy time baby lotion and have him all ready for bed before feeding him so he doesn't wake up from trying to dress him.

jmorneau09 · July 2015

@danibonello don't give up yet...it's only the first night. I swear sleep training works. I have done this with 4 kiddos I was a nanny to as well as my two. I do basically the same routine that you posted but I start with a nice warm bath. Even if you don't soap baby up every night (I know some people only bath baby every other or couple of days) a nice warm soak will help baby wind down. The idea behind sleep training is to get them to self sooth. At this age that doesnt mean cry it out (some people think that is what the whole self sooth thing is) I don't put my baby down awake and make him cry it out... I rock him to sleep...not dead to the world asleep but just asleep and then put him down and rest my hand on his abdomen for a minute or two to create a sense that I'm still there and that it's okay to go to sleep. If our guy wakes when we put him down we try to reassure him without picking him up first....hand on chest and or binki. If that doesn't work we usually rock him some more. It won't be a perfect routine right away but give some time and it will work. My LO has settled into our routine and he let's us know when it's 7:30ish..sometimes a bit before sometimes a bit after but usually between 7 and 8 we start the process. Now the whole process from bath to out cold takes about 30min.
You poor LO ended up overly exhausted tonight it sounds like which is never fun but I promise you if you keep trying this it will work.
Whether you continue or do something different good luck.

odawg · July 2015

Shoot i start my routine at 8 with a bath...she has been up and down (mostly up) and now its 1236....screw everyone who has a baby who likes sleep

prplz · July 2015

Like PP said dont give up ive been trying to put DD on the same sleep schedule and it was working for 2 weeks when she would be out within 30 min but then it takes me a max of 2 hours with her napping 10 min and waking up. Trust me there will be days where LO (took me 4 hours yesterday but today she went down within 30-40 min) will just not go down but if you keep at it they will get use to it and go down. Goodluck and dont give up!

HeatherC21 · July 2015

My LO usually eats around 8 ish after that i get her in pjs and then she plays on her activity mat til about 10 to 10:30. We then go into her room and I turn on the nightlights and noisemaker and nurse until she falls asleep. I put her in her crib and by the time I get to my room and turn on the monitor she is awake and moving all around. She doesn't fuss though and goes to sleep on her own and sleeps for about 8 hrs. This has been our routine since she was 3 weeks, she is now 7 weeks and DH wants to start getting her down earlier. We tried last night holding off on the 8 feeding til about 9. Well it was awful, she did not go down after that feeding but cried in her crib, we tried rocking, swaddling, music, swing, paci, nothing worked to get her to sleep so an hour later I fed her again, no sooner did I put her in her crib did she start crying again for another hour. I think she finally fell asleep around 12:30 so much for an early bedtime. Oh and she was up at 6... Long story short I'm sticking to what works.

danibonello · July 2015

Thanks everyone! I ended up at my wits end at about 1am so I gave in and put her in the RnP and slept in the living room with her, which I've never done. I figured she needed the sleep and one night wouldn't kill everything. Tomorrow is another day!

babyblue0501 · July 2015

I stick to my schedule for bed time to a T. It's my only "me" time since my husband works from 6am-7pm(sometimes 8). I give my son a bath EVERY NIGHT. Yes with soap. He loves it. And my pediatrician says it's fine! I use a light soap, either honest company or Cerave. My baby is a sweat machine, and also goes through 10-15 diapers a day. That deserves a good soak before bed. After his bath we massage him with lotion, do some tummy and play time, and get him in his PJ's, we nurse on both boobies, burp, and then read a book. He's usually passed out before the end of the book, if he even makes it to the first page. I give it a few minutes of rocking and extra cuddles and lay him down for bed. It's usually 830-9 by then. He will sleep through the night, and wake between 5-6, just enough time for daddy to say goodbye and get a cuddle in before work. If he falls asleep around 830, I'll usually do a stealthy diaper change around 10 or 11 to ensure he sleeps all night. I figured out that doing a late night diaper change was allowing him to sleep without a middle of the night nursing session. And most of the time he doesn't wake up during the diaper change. If he does, it's a paci and a few strokes on his nose and it's back to lights out.

Do what works for your baby. I'm exhausted by bath time, and really needed to figure out a way to get some mommy time in. And time with my husband. One of the only pieces of valuable advice we all received when we were pregnant was... Get on a schedule. I think we all quickly realized the importance of schedules. And baby likes it! Customize your bed time, take things out, add things in.

Mine is the 4 B's... Bath, Boob, Book, Bed.