2dumbdogs my pediatrician said 1 feed is okay but he should be moving to 0 (I'm going to stick with 1 feed for awhile longer). In the book he basically says that by the time they are only feeding once at night the amount of calories taken in is fairly small. So you could just move it over to the morning. Also, by 6 months he says most kids ate getting about 9 hour of sleep a night and then the other 3-4 during the day. W sleeps about 8.5 to 9 right now. So going from 5 hours to 9 isn't a huge jump for us.
zonagirl I think his whole point is to not mess up the schedule by continuing to try to get them to nap but to just have them go down for a nap at their next normal time. W took a 30 minute nap earlier too but he woke up alert and happy so I rolled with it. Then I just put him down for his 3rd nap (2 hours later) and he barely fussed and fell right asleep. The goal is to not have them getting more sleep during the daytime as they're working through the process. We'll see how W's sleep goes tonight.
Omg you guys. I'm beside myself. We did out bed routine and we were reading our books when she started to cry, so I cut the books short and swaddled her. Tried to hold her and calm her, she wanted none of that. Put her in her rnp and put my hand on her to comfort her and talked to her about a minute. She screamed. I ducked down out of her sight and no joke, she instantly went silent. She was asleep about a minute later.
I'm sharing this with you guys partly because I'm so excited and know you will get how huge this is. I don't mean this post to make anyone feel bad if it isn't going as easy for you...trust me when I say getting her to nap all her life has been a complete nightmare, and that is still a mess. So I definitely don't have it all figured out. And I know each baby is different, but it is just amazing to me how much anxiety I had about doing this harsh" method that doesn't really jive with my parenting style, and yet here she is going to sleep on her own with less tears and than if I were holding her! We will see how tonight goes...
I'm a little confused about what's going on over here. DD2 takes a short 30 min nap everyday around 5:30-6 to hold her over until bedtime at 8-8:30. Tonight I put her down at 6:10 and 2 hours later she's still sleeping. Is she down for the night 2 hours early?? DH says she's taking advantage of being swaddled since I'm not swaddling her overnight anymore lol.
noname w went down over an hour early too. Except he's woken up a few times because he's teething and his gums are bleeding poor guy. We're probably going to skip training tonight and just have him cuddle and feed as needed for comfort. Hope everyone's night goes well!
noname maybe she needs an earlier bedtime? Might be nice for you guys too to have more time for yourselves in the evening!
Just finished a hard one....she cried for about thirty minutes. Mh and I got all snappy with each other too. But we can't turn on each other, that's just what she wants to happen! Haha.
zonagirl I've been actively trying to push her bedtime up for a few weeks but the earliest I've ever been able to get her down is 8. DD1 goes to bed at 7 so I'd definitely welcome an earlier bedtime for DD2 too. She's now been asleep for 3 hours. She hasn't done a stretch this long even overnight in weeks. Maybe it's a growth spurt? I got myself all geared up for another night of sleep training and she fell asleep before I could do anything. Oh well, we'll try ditching the swaddle again tomorrow night. Babies are so unpredictable
This is the guide for reducing the number of feeds at night. He's says " no normal, healthy full term babies still require a nighttime feeding when they are 5 months old, and you can certainly insist on stopping them altogether at that point if you want to." I'm not sure if the la Leche league would agree and one motn feed doesn't bother me so we're just going to stretch the two feeds until it's just the one in the middle after 6ish hours.
I tried to push feedings last night to every four hours. He was at 2-3.5 hrs typically. He went to bed at 7 and woke up at 9. Instead of feeding him like I would I just rocked him. He went back to sleep until 2! The second half of the night (3-7 am) there were 3 wake ups but only one feed. This makes me so excited. Only 2 feeds last night!! Now to work on keeping this schedule of feeding.
Post by RandomName on Jan 28, 2016 14:05:34 GMT -5
noname I second what zonagirl said: maybe she's ready for an earlier bedtime. If I miss DSs optimal bedtime I know the night will be filled with many wake ups. It took me a while to figure out the time but it's between 6:45 and 7:15 where he goes down the 'easiest'.
My DD also has a 7 pm bedtime so I'm like you and look forward to the time when I have more time for me and my BF in the evenings.
noname I second what zonagirl said: maybe she's ready for an earlier bedtime. If I miss DSs optimal bedtime I know the night will be filled with many wake ups. It took me a while to figure out the time but it's between 6:45 and 7:15 where he goes down the 'easiest'.
My DD also has a 7 pm bedtime so I'm like you and look forward to the time when I have more time for me and my BF in the evenings.
If she's ready then I'm ready! I had been pushing it back by 15 min intervals and she was largely resistant- I'd shoot for 7:45 and she'd just take 15 min longer to put down. Maybe I should've been trying even earlier to avoid missing her window. We'll see what she does tonight. So far today she hasn't napped longer than 30 min at a time but I think she might be hungry- lower supply from a stomach bug. I may give her a small bottle of frozen milk tonight just in case.
I haven't read all the other posts, but we did full extinction CIO. (no checks) Ferberizing didn't suit E's personality and like some others, just got him more hysterical.
The first night, he cried 45 min at bedtime and a good 1.5 hours after a MOTN wake-up. It took about a week for those times to reduce, but now he babbles a few minutes at bedtime, rolls over and goes to sleep. No MOTN wake-ups just to cry, but he does still eat twice a night, around 1:30 and around 4 (he sleeps in his crib from about 6pm-6am). No pacifier, but he does have a lovey. ETA: no swaddle either, and now that he can roll around, he seems to prefer sleeping on his side or belly. I would like to start to reduce his night feedings. I may wait until after his 6 month appt with the pediatrician, just to make sure his growth is on track.
CIO has been a huge success for us. I didn't think we'd really do it, but I was never opposed. We were in a bad state with sleep deprivation (all 3 of us) and now we are all a lot happier! My sleep anxiety is getting better, but still not gone. (I was so stressed about when the next wake-up would be, I couldn't fall asleep hardly at all.) Before starting, he was in the swing, then in our bed and none of us were well rested.
We haven't done anything to work on naps yet, but maybe we'll work on that during a long weekend. Naps at day care are HORRIBLE.
If any of you are considering to try CIO, I recommend giving it a shot. Feel free to ask me questions about our experience, I am willing to share!
esgrunner thanks for sharing you experience! I do have a question. I still feed her a couple times a night too and I was worried that by doing so I would negate the cio. It sounds like it worked for you to still feed motn and also cio. How did you go about doing that? Did you set a time for how long you would wait between motn feeds? Does your LO cry at 1:30 and 4, or are you waking them up to dream feed? I just feel like my little Ava may get confused as to why sometimes I let her cry motn and sometimes I pick her up to feed. Maybe I'm over thinking it....
esgrunner thanks for sharing you experience! I do have a question. I still feed her a couple times a night too and I was worried that by doing so I would negate the cio. It sounds like it worked for you to still feed motn and also cio. How did you go about doing that? Did you set a time for how long you would wait between motn feeds? Does your LO cry at 1:30 and 4, or are you waking them up to dream feed? I just feel like my little Ava may get confused as to why sometimes I let her cry motn and sometimes I pick her up to feed. Maybe I'm over thinking it....
I sort of set a time and sort of just followed his cues. He tends to still wake up around 10 and fusses for a few minutes but goes back to sleep. So I just kind of assumed he doesn't really need to eat then. I am just kind of guessing/making it up as I go! For his other wakings/feedings, I am going to try to push the first one 15 minutes later each night so they can hopefully be consolidated into just one around 3am or so. Then I will try to push that one all the way to his wake up at 6. Eventually. But I have never woken him up to eat after we got past his slow weight gain in the beginning. No dream feeds here, I have just never tried it. I think you sound on the right track, pick what you think is an appropriate interval for Ava and not feed before then. Sorry this response is all scattered. Exhausting day at work!
Hey ladies, still have to catch up on this thread. I have a CIO sleep training plan from a sleep specialist if you all are interested. A woman from my local mom group passed it around.
Thanks for posting the Ferber method, I definitely wanted to read that too!
We start our sleep training tomorrow...gulp!
I'm interested. I'm focused on getting the number of feeds a night down to 2 consistently. Then I'm going to focus on sleep training. I'd love to see the plan.
Sleep training has been going great! We started Tues night, skipped Wed bc she never woke up from her last nap, and picked it right back up on Thurs. She is completely unswaddled and fell asleep tonight in about 15 min with zero crying. She's on her tummy for the first time (last night she'd get stuck there and cry but tonight I guess she decided she likes it) so we'll see how it goes. Her bedtime has also thankfully moved up from 8:30 to 7, the same as DD1. DH and I were able to eat dinner and watch a movie together with no babies!! She's still swaddled for naps, but I think I'll see how the tummy sleeping goes and if it looks like she'll nap on her stomach too I'll try without the swaddle. Tummy sleeping really helped with DD1's naps bc it basically eliminates the startle reflex, which is what kept waking DD2 up when we tried a nap without the swaddle. I'm so glad this topic was brought up, it really got me motivated to finally work on her sleep. Hope it's going well for everyone else too!
noname all my girls have slept much better once they were on their stomach. Glad things are going great for you!
We're going to have to change something. There are still so many tears. Her sleeping has greatly improved, and the length of crying isn't always terrible, but she screams bloody murder every time I put her down. I feel horrible.
I hear you all with the screaming. DS doesn't cry he screams as if he's pissed off. I'm not full on sleep training yet bc I want to see how long between feeds he can go but I think I'm going to have to grow thicker skin to handle the crying.
@amichelle 723 I'm so glad it is going well! DSHM13ajetterRandomName The crying is really hard. Mine cried for thirty mins yesterday for her nap before I ended up calling it. Some things I tell myself to help get through the crying: she is mad, not sad. She is pissed she is awake. She is not crying because she thinks she has been abandoned (I know this because even when I'm checking in on her and I sush and rub her tummy, she will scream) She needs good sleep and the best place for it is in a stationary place. When she sleeps in my arms, she doesn't sleep well anymore. Then I remember how happy she is when she wakes up from a good sleep, regardless of if she had to cry to get to sleep.
Last night was rough in the amount of wakeups- I lost track at nine. But there were some wins. Even though she woke up a lot, with most of them she only cried a minute, and had already put herself back to sleep before I could open her door. Also, she fell asleep when I first put her down with no tears, she blew raspberries to put herself to sleep. It was adorable. Lastly, I introduced a lovey and that helped so much. The few times I did go in to check in on her, I just put the lovey back on her stomach and she went back to sleep so quickly.
zonagirl I'm glad you figured out a lovey works for her. DD1 never cared about them, but I've been wondering if we should try to introduce one to DD2 since she's not as good of a sleeper.
Well it didn't go terrific overnight, I guess I jinxed it lol. She cried for about 45min with one of her wakeups. I hesitate to go in there bc it seems to rev her up more, but DH was able to calm her down so I may have him start doing checks. A new problem has emerged though. She has always gotten up to eat around 5:30-6:30 and gone back to sleep until 7:45ish. Since she's going to bed earlier I expected her to wake earlier, but what's happening is the last 2 days she wakes up at 5:30, eats, then will not go back to sleep bc she gets sooo worked up. Both days I brought her to bed with me and she's gone right back to sleep. Not sure what to do about that. Just let her get up for the day at 5:30 when I know she's still tired?
noname maybe husbands are the secret? I'm out right now picking up breakfast and so he had to put her down without me. I told him to text me when she was asleep and he just texted a picture of her asleep. He got her down faster than I have been able to....
noname maybe husbands are the secret? I'm out right now picking up breakfast and so he had to put her down without me. I told him to text me when she was asleep and he just texted a picture of her asleep. He got her down faster than I have been able to....
I think they are less stressed about it, and your baby totally picks up your energy, so a relaxed dad puts a baby down faster than a mom obsessing over the details of proper sleep training, kwim?
noname maybe husbands are the secret? I'm out right now picking up breakfast and so he had to put her down without me. I told him to text me when she was asleep and he just texted a picture of her asleep. He got her down faster than I have been able to....
I think they are less stressed about it, and your baby totally picks up your energy, so a relaxed dad puts a baby down faster than a mom obsessing over the details of proper sleep training, kwim?
+1 to H's are magic. Also, I'm still breastfeeding and W goes crazy if I check on him and don't feed him and then hearing him cry causes a let down which makes him freak out more (because he can smell milk/comfort). I've been having H check on him for the time between feeds but now H is exhausted and I am too (because I still wake up with the monitor). I have no idea what to do. We're not doing sleep training much right now because we're extending feeding times and he's teething so waking up in pain and he actually needs comfort.
Sleep training is exhausting but I think it's starting to pay off! I downloaded an app to track sleep and feeds (mostly for night) and it's really opened my eyes. We are still having ~3 wake ups at night but only one feed. Naps are all over the place but all this sleep is in the crib. Must. Keep. Going!
We are definitely making progress. Her first two naps have been in the crib and get longer each day. Today was a new record of an hour and ten min in the crib with no wakeups! Her third nap is a disaster, and I usually end up nursing and rocking her. Which to be honest, I'm not minding.
Nights are getting better too. She did an almost 6 hour stretch last night! And she has been going down for bed with zero tears, practically giddy to be put in her crib!
The rough parts are that she still cries/fusses when I put her down for naps, and still a couple times in the night. I hate that. But I love the progress we have made!
I've been lurking this thread, and reading about all of your advice and experience as we sleep train. It's crazy, when P was 3 or 4 months, I thought I would never sleep train. She would wake up a couple times a night to eat, but then she'd go right back to sleep. It didn't seem like that big of a deal. But then at about 5 months, she started waking every 1.5 to 2 hours AND taking 2,3 or sometimes 4 hours to get back to sleep. Not for one bad night. For weeks. I didn't understand why one would sleep train until then. Thank goodness you started this thread around then!
We had a rough few initial nights (seriously rough— hours of crying with me periodically soothing her. It broke my heart) but things finally seem like they've hit a turning point. She is no longer swaddled, and she likes to roll onto her side or tummy to sleep, which I think helps. We room share. Her crib is a couple feet from my side of the bed, in what used to be the closet, with the doors removed. This is a necessity given our space— a one bedroom apartment. I thought she would be comforted being able to see me from her crib, but after seeing some of you mention that your H's had the magic tough, and your LO's smelling your milk might be the issue, I tried leaving the bedroom, and going into the living room when she woke up and cried. It worked! She started fussing herself back to sleep within minutes. I also started holding her wubanub next to me while nursing her before bedtime, and then placing that on her belly when she would go to sleep in the crib. Now, often she'll lay in there and play with that, not even fussing, before eventually falling asleep. Thank you all for sharing your experiences— it's been so helpful! I feel like we're both finally getting some sleep.
We are definitely making progress. Her first two naps have been in the crib and get longer each day. Today was a new record of an hour and ten min in the crib with no wakeups! Her third nap is a disaster, and I usually end up nursing and rocking her. Which to be honest, I'm not minding.
Nights are getting better too. She did an almost 6 hour stretch last night! And she has been going down for bed with zero tears, practically giddy to be put in her crib!
The rough parts are that she still cries/fusses when I put her down for naps, and still a couple times in the night. I hate that. But I love the progress we have made!
Maybe she doesn't want/need the third nap? I'm starting to think my daughter is dropping her third nap already, she only does 2 at day care almost every day...I'm not thrilled about this though! I need that third nap to happen!
We are definitely making progress. Her first two naps have been in the crib and get longer each day. Today was a new record of an hour and ten min in the crib with no wakeups! Her third nap is a disaster, and I usually end up nursing and rocking her. Which to be honest, I'm not minding.
Nights are getting better too. She did an almost 6 hour stretch last night! And she has been going down for bed with zero tears, practically giddy to be put in her crib!
The rough parts are that she still cries/fusses when I put her down for naps, and still a couple times in the night. I hate that. But I love the progress we have made!
Maybe she doesn't want/need the third nap? I'm starting to think my daughter is dropping her third nap already, she only does 2 at day care almost every day...I'm not thrilled about this though! I need that third nap to happen!
We barely get a third nap. She does two good ones (1 - 1.5 hours each) and then the third nap is for 20-30 minutes and usually either when I'm wearing her or in the stroller.
Then Comes Family, LLC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising
program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.