Sleep Training, How To?

[mmmomof2]

DD2 is 6 1/2 months old and I feel like she is the worst sleeper ever. I don't remember if DD1 did the same thing, but I don't remember being this tired, angry, and bitter. I'm to the point where I'm fantasizing about joining the circus, which makes me sad that the fantasy of leaving makes me happy :<

She pretty much will only fall asleep on the boob or in the swing at this point. She *sometimes* will fall asleep in the stroller/car, but I guess that doesn't count as *real* sleep. That wouldn't be so much of a problem if she slept longer than a few hours at a time at night. Tonight we are planning to do something, but I don't know what. I've tried leaving her to cry, but she gets all sweaty and shaky after 10 minutes that I don't know if it's a viable solution.

I think trying to get her to bed earlier is step number 1.

[ijack]

does she take a paci or her thumb? our first step was to send H in at night to soothe - since he doesn't smell like milk, it doesn't prompt them to want to eat IF they aren't hungry.

[mollybrown]

Have you read any sleep books? I think that's step number one. I wouldn't try any CIO methods without reading the theory behind it. I used Ferber successfully twice. Friends preferred Weisenbluth(sp). You can look at summaries and reviews on Amazon to get an idea of what might work best for you.

I do know people that just shut the door, let the kid cry, and the child eventually worked it out. No way would I have been comfortable with that. I needed some guidance.

You may also want to work on eliminating overnight feedings before sleep training. That's what I did with my DD.

[dcrunnergirl]

I agree with MollyBrown, definitely read Ferber and/or Weissbluth b/c they'll give you a plan of action and tell you what's developmentally appropriate for your LO's age.

Also, you mentioned doing an earlier bedtime. What time are you putting her down now? At that age, my kids needed to be put to bed by 6:30pm or things got disastrous fast.

[jenny1223]

Ditto to the 90 minute sleep solution. It made a huge difference for me when DS was a couple months old and napping horribly. It's not about sleep training per se, but it was the only sleep related book I read and DS now STTN for 11-12 hours and self soothes to go to sleep. IME, if he's not getting enough sleep then he doesn't self soothe as well even when he's super tired.

[quickstepstar]

Read Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child. I followed that with my youngest DD and she was sleeping by 3 months old. She is 8 months now and sleeps 12 hours at night + 2 2-hour naps.

[DarcyLongfellow]

I read Ferber, per my pediatrician's recommendation.

I implemented it, but my own version. My DD was a total crap sleeper (still is). She would ONLY fall asleep on the boob, and as she got older (around 6 months), getting her to fall asleep on the boob was taking me (literally) 2 hours a night. It was affecting my sanity and my marriage, so we had to do something.

I tried to get her to sleep with me there but not nursing her. It didn't work no matter what I tried (rocking her, sitting beside her crib, etc.). Finally I had to leave her to cry. I know some may judge me, but it was honestly a question of doing that or making an already strained marraige even worse (because it upset me so much and putting her down took our ENTIRE evening).

I did the Ferber method of periodic checking. I would go in every so often, progressively lengthening the amount of time between checks. I would set a timer on my phone. 5 minutes, then 10, then 15, then 20, then 30, then 45. It was miserable to watch her on the monitor and listen to her cry. But once she got the hang of it, it was great. And her sleep was SO much better because she had learned to put herself to sleep.

That said, with #2 I'm going to try really, really hard not to let the kid rely on nursing to sleep. If you can just transition from nursing to sleep to something else (even falling asleep in your arms), I think sleep training from that point would be so much easier.

Good luck!!!

[mmmomof2]

Yeah, I said I wouldn't do it with DD2 too, and here I am. /sad panda. I have read Weissbluth, but I feel like he is just explaining that it's important to get them to sleep. I agree with him, but she is a stubborn and determined baby that I feel like even leaving her to cry for an hour isn't going to work. I just borrowed Ferber from a friend, so I'll try reading that.

My goal tonight is to get her in bed by 6:30 and attempt drowsy but awake.

[Deleted]

All you need to read in Ferber for now is one chapter - even just the page with wait times if you're starting tonight. Make sure you have a good predictable bedtime routine, and if you're going to do Ferber DO IT. If you cave, you reinforce the crying and it gets harder every time you start again.

[thedash]

Jul 20, 2012 18:56:24 GMT -5 @tokenhoser said:

All you need to read in Ferber for now is one chapter - even just the page with wait times if you're starting tonight. Make sure you have a good predictable bedtime routine, and if you're going to do Ferber DO IT. If you cave, you reinforce the crying and it gets harder every time you start again.

ITA. Ferber worked once I read the book and really followed it. Good luck!