Let's talk sleep (tricks/tips??)

[danizee]

I'm starting to get nervous about 4 month sleep regression. DS went through it at 3.5 months. I felt like DS took a long time to get past it and I really want to try to avoid that with DD. From everything I have read baby needs to start getting put down sleepy but awake. HOW do you do that? DD is a great sleeper but I nurse her to sleep. I don't follow the EASY method (but probably should) because she eats so often during the day that she will eat after she wakes from nap and then again before next nap. Sometimes she will put herself to sleep with a paci but from what I've read that doesn't count and won't help with the regression. She is sleeping fine now and I'm not about to mess with a good thing but if there is anything I can do to help her with the transition id like to do it.

[WittyLittle]

With ds we also sleep trained, the guy would not go down easy, even with asleep training we had a lot of issues with his sleep.
Now with DD I can put her down just after she first closes her eyes.She wakes up slightly and then fuses until she falls asleep. If she's just eaten though forget it... in other words I call BS on this method. Sleep training for the win here too

[britta]

I don't remember a sleep regression with DS1, but between 3 and 5 months we were really struggling with his respiratory issues and trying to find a medication regimen to get that under control. So, he woke a lot at night, but mostly because he was having asthma attacks.

Anyway. I think I mentioned this in a thread before, but DS1 always ate to sleep in the infant stages. It wasn't something I did intentionally, there were just certain times a day where he would take a bottle and then pass out after that luckily coincided with typical nap and bedtimes. Once he stopped taking bottles he was rocked to sleep. We've never had sleep issues with him, thankfully.

DS2 seems to be following in the same footsteps with eating and passing out. On occasion he passes out for little cat naps on his own, so potentially he'd be a good "put down drowsy" candidate, but again with the eating and passing out thing. I like rocking my babies to sleep, but if he ends up having sleep issues that DS1 didn't, I will be reading up on sleep training.

[becole]

Sleep training is an intensely personal decision like breast feeding or bed sharing. There's no right or wrong, just different. Some people try to make it a bad thing or show research to fit their POV but it really has nothing to do with it. It really depends on the kids personality. This kid fusses a few minutes and passes out- is that sleep training a 2 month old because I let him cry to sleep for 2 minutes?
Is it any more sleep training if I let my oldest cry for an hour because he's 2 and stubborn and takes forever to give.it.up. ?
I am team babies cry. They just seem to do so much better once they're STTN. So if I have the 4mw, I plan to do Ferber intervals.

[vavavictoria]

We had a mix of success with putting down awake. Sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn't with #1. I definitely fed her to sleep at night and that actually never caused me any issues. I tried waking her up at first but she was determined to eat and sleep. We ended up sleep training at 6 months however for a different reason bc she started routinely waking up at 11pm. She had been sleeping longer stretches and didn't really need to eat. She would wake up and cry and eat for 3 minute and then go back to sleep. This killed me bc I was usually just falling asleep a little before she woke up. We tried sending in dad with the paci but it didn't work. I think it took two, maybe 3 nights tops of letting her cry for about 15 minutes and she never did it again. I'm a big fan of sleep training. She turned into a great sleeper and was doing 7-5 until I stopped breast feeding to try for #2 at 15 months. Then she slept from 7-7.

My philosophy is that up through about 4 months they are most likely waking for a reason. Be it comfort or hunger. If they revert for a few days or maybe even a week it's ok as long as it doesn't kill mom and as long as it's not a pattern. Like others have said. Sleep training is very personal and you have to do what you are comfortable with. I was just told my my pedi to sleep train at our 2 month apt. She said lose the swaddles and let her cry for 15 minute increments. Said she may even cry for a few hours the first night. I ignored this advice when she gave it to me with my first kid and I will do so again this time. I'm not ok with sleep training my own kid at 8 weeks but if someone else is, that's their choice and whatever works for them is ok

[penguin129]

Others have already stated so well how much of a personal decision sleep training is. I agree with them.

AG was a horrible sleeper. A lot had to do with her GERD. We tried to sleep train once. AG cried so much she nearly threw up. I can't remember exactly how old she was. We decided after that we were done sleep training.

I'm not sure what we'll do this time around. It depends on the circumstances going on at the time.

[Deleted]

DS used to be such an amazing sleeper. Put him down awake or drowsy and he'd go to sleep on his own. He was in his crib from night one.

DD up until 2 days ago was also a great sleeper but we got lazy with her and let her sleep on us and rocked her to sleep. She can put herself to sleep in her swing but now it's only cat naps

[becole]

I honestly have no idea how you teach a baby to put themselves to sleep. They either do it on their own, or cry while figuring it out. I even tried the "patting" and some of the gentle stuff with DS but he wouldn't do it. This baby fusses but for a minute or two and then he's out. He just understands how to do it.

[dke2010]

We did sleep training with DD1 and I'll definitely attempt that again. She slept for 12 hours every night, which was awesome. I think it'll definitely be tricky with two. I'm thinking they'll take longer to fall asleep because the crying may keep each other awake. I guess we'll see when the time comes.

[erien22846]

We do the EASY method. All three of our babies took to it very naturally. I've never nursed to sleep beyond the sleep around the clock newborn phase. Sometimes for naps we'll have to invoke the 5 S's but he goes down no problem at night after his 6th feeding of the day (his bedtime is whenever he's done with the 6th feeding).

If there were a magic bullet to sleep, there wouldn't be so many books and conflicting advice on how to help your child sleep. I hope you find something that works for her and you to quickly navigate any sleep regressions.

[becole]

Bedtime would be 3pm around here if I did the 6th feeding thing. This kid likes to snack.

[adouces06]

We didn't figure out a "sleep plan" per se for DS early on, and it was a mistake. We finally sleep trained at like 7-8 months, and after a week we were good. Definitely doing it sooner this time around. Team CIO. For now, she is doing really well with falling asleep on her own, so I hope the trend continues.

[danizee]

erien22846 that's the problem I feel like I'm having is that she still sleeps around the clock like a newborn so she ends up nursing to sleep. She has some obvious nap times (1-2) big naps in the morning- 2 if it's a shorter nap and 1 of she sleeps 2+ hours. Then she sleeps on me (and then wherever I transfer her) for 3-4 hours in afternoon and then she nurses and dozes on and off throughout evening. She sleeps A LOT and her nighttime sleep is great too. I guess that's why I'm stressing about 4 mo regression. I've been spoiled by a sleepy baby and DS was an awful sleeper, I know how bad it can get!!

[sanibel21]

It's already started here that we put her down asleep and she wakes up