https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Thu, 30 Apr 2026 00:58:17 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/please-fellow-moms-i-need-tipsadvice-for-sleep-training-my-spirited-sensitive-6-month-old#post-2758706 Sun, 16 Jul 2017 10:20:31 +0000 Ina85 2758706@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@peasinapod: I'm not looking to reduce any night wakings either, the sleep training was just for falling asleep, for night time sleep. We'll work on naps once we work through falling asleep on her own at night. As for night wakings, LO tends to wake once to feed, sometimes twice and that's fine, she's still young I don't expect her to go 11 hours without being hungry. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/please-fellow-moms-i-need-tipsadvice-for-sleep-training-my-spirited-sensitive-6-month-old#post-2758704 Sun, 16 Jul 2017 10:16:51 +0000 Ina85 2758704@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Thank you ladies for your advice, I really appreciate it! DD is doing ok so DH and I will see how things continue. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/please-fellow-moms-i-need-tipsadvice-for-sleep-training-my-spirited-sensitive-6-month-old#post-2758560 Fri, 14 Jul 2017 22:58:49 +0000 gingerbebe 2758560@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>DS1 is almost 3 and he was an intense baby. He was colicky and had severe reflux, so there were medical issues, but his personality is also more sensitive and easily over stimulated, so basically his crying and his reactions to any discomfort was extreme. </p> <p>What we realized with him was that he was just a child who needed a strict routine and a schedule. I went from thinking I had a very low sleep needs child to finding out after sleep training that he was the opposite - he actually had very high sleep needs. But he was so overstimulated and overtired that he was crazy. </p> <p>His personality was such that CIO with checks did not work for him. We tried all the gentler methods first and they did not work. Staying up with him and holding him or tending to his every cry also did not work. His witching hour went for a minimum of 4 hours every night and very often went 6 hours. And never slept more than 20-30 minutes at a time. So DH was like we might as well do extinction because he's going to scream anyway. </p> <p>He cried a lot the first few nights and it sucked. I had really bad PPD/PPA so DH took the CIO night watches. But by the 3rd or 4th night he slept for several hours and then he just got on a roll. We went from cat napping for 20 minutes to waking every 3 hours (glorious), to a 4 hour stretch, then a 5, then a 7....etc etc. </p> <p>My kid who never slept very quickly went on to take 2+ hour naps and was sleeping 12 hours a night. And he was HAPPY when he was awake. He went from the hardest baby to the easiest and even now at almost 3, he is the happiest, sweetest, most well behaved child as long as he is well-rested. If he is not, he's 180 a different person. Even his daycare teachers cringe on days he refuses to nap or something because he's this crazy dramatic hyperventilating tantrum cyclone. He has a little more flexibility in his schedule now that he's a toddler (we can push naps or bedtime a bit), but for a very long time our lives revolved around his schedule. We did it very happily because yeah, sleep training and scheduling worked wonders for us.</p> <p>DS2 is a MUCH more laid back baby and even when he's tired he's much more pleasant and happy. We hardly had to sleeptrain him - we just did drowsy but awake from day 1, let him fuss a few minutes before naps and bedtime, successfully used pick up/put down with him, and he's been an awesome overnight sleeper since 3 months. At 14 months, we're finding he has a bit lower sleep needs than his brother did, but he is obviously way happier when he's well rested too so we have both kids on a schedule. </p> <p>Long way of saying, its worth it. As long as you know your baby is getting enough to eat during the day and not relying on calories at night, you are helping them be their best when they are awake by teaching them to sleep on their own and self-soothe. What method you use is totally dependent on the child, but I have zero regrets doing extinction CIO with DS1. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/please-fellow-moms-i-need-tipsadvice-for-sleep-training-my-spirited-sensitive-6-month-old#post-2758548 Fri, 14 Jul 2017 21:17:12 +0000 Peasinapod 2758548@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Although I'm also not looking to reduce night wakings. This is strictly for falling asleep. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/please-fellow-moms-i-need-tipsadvice-for-sleep-training-my-spirited-sensitive-6-month-old#post-2758546 Fri, 14 Jul 2017 21:14:34 +0000 Peasinapod 2758546@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>With my first sleep training didn't work... she was a very high needs baby and she would just get more and more upset, even CIO after almost two hours of extreme crying I gave in and never tried again seeing she wasn't calming down... at 12 months she was finally able to put herself to sleep which I discovered by accident when she wasn't falling asleep with me nursing or rocking so I put her in the crib and she went to sleep on her own... for her I think she just had to be ready and before 12 months she wasn't.</p> <p>My second daughter is almost 6 months and much more relaxed. But what's worked for us is the pick up put down method. So put her down awake, if she cries pick her up immediately rock her a bit and put her back down. Just keep doing that until she doesn't cry when you put her down... I don't know if this would have worked on my first as I didn't try it but fingers crossed it's worked for dd2! First night it took awhile but each night since it's taken less time. Also I get to skip out on any guilt since if she cries I pick her right back up! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/please-fellow-moms-i-need-tipsadvice-for-sleep-training-my-spirited-sensitive-6-month-old#post-2758545 Fri, 14 Jul 2017 21:08:54 +0000 Truth Bombs 2758545@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I would set a time limit that you are comfortable with and make sure you wait until them, but give up if it doesn't take. At 6 months old I wouldn't be comfortable with more than 20-30 minutes of crying. And I would ready yourself for that chance it doesn't work. With my older child we never really tried full on sleep training. It wouldn't have worked for her. She would have outlasted us all and cried for hours because she was stubborn and intense. With my younger child we did sleep train but we didn't started until he was over a year old and I felt comfortable that I could trust he was dry, full, safe, and set up for success at CIO. The first night he cried for 20 minutes and then whimpered for another 25 and then went to sleep and it just got better from there, so he was a good candidate. Both my kids were crap sleepers until after a year old and at least partially weaned. It sucked (working full time after nursing every 90 minutes through the night was ROUGH) but we all survived! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/please-fellow-moms-i-need-tipsadvice-for-sleep-training-my-spirited-sensitive-6-month-old#post-2758530 Fri, 14 Jul 2017 19:57:30 +0000 Ina85 2758530@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>DH and I have been planning to sleep train our LO for a while and were waiting until she hit the 6 month mark. It's absolutely come to the point of desperation, it's taking 2 hours to put her down for the night and it's driving me insane! What's so annoying is that it kind of came out of nowhere a few weeks ago and it wasn't too bad before this to get her to sleep. My daughter is 25 weeks and is Very sensitive with a high intensity temperant. I read the 9 traits of temperant on the baby sleep site and she is the extreme end of all the traits, which I already knew but had to read all of it and actually accept it and move on rather than keep hoping she will change and become one of those super easy going babies, ha! We are going to start sleep training her tomorrow night with the cry it out method. I'm having so much anxiety already, I can't even imagine tomorrow! Please do you have any tips or advice for me? </p>