https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Fri, 12 Jun 2026 12:33:13 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sleep-training-early#post-2477325 Sun, 28 Feb 2016 00:03:17 +0000 BabyTsMom 2477325@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Hoots: yes, I definitely think it's worth a try! I really, seriously thought my LO was a textbook tension increaser. I thought he would cry hard for hours! But the first night was 40 minutes. And he was fine by night 3. But I will admit that those 40 minutes were so hard! I also think the checks probably prolonged the crying, but we couldn't stomach the extinction method.... </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sleep-training-early#post-2477128 Sat, 27 Feb 2016 18:18:18 +0000 Portboston 2477128@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We sleep trained for falling asleep at 3.5 months. We kind of did cio which I am not a fan of but I thought it was worth a shot. We set our limit at 10 min and we planned on picking him up and comforting him if need be. He cried/whined for 7 min exactly and got himself right to sleep no problem! And it was not a hysterical cry either, that's something we weren't going to do either. He still takes some time to get himself to sleep at 7 months but I'm so thankful I don't have to rock/walk/bounce him for hours on end anymore.<br /> Now if I could just eliminate those MOTH wake ups... 😒 </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sleep-training-early#post-2477117 Sat, 27 Feb 2016 17:51:39 +0000 Alba4 2477117@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We trained DS @ 4 months, but to tell you the truth, I don't remember all the details of how we did it. Luckily he adjusted quickly and we never had to let him cry for more than 7 or 8 minutes. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sleep-training-early#post-2477070 Sat, 27 Feb 2016 16:00:30 +0000 Hoots 2477070@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@BabyTsMom: Maybe we will give it a go then! It's probably at least worth a shot! I'd like to at least get her down to once a night, which is what it used to be. She was just doing a 2 am wake up for a long time before this! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sleep-training-early#post-2476989 Sat, 27 Feb 2016 13:06:13 +0000 BabyTsMom 2476989@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>we also sleep trained for going to bed only, around 4 months, using a modified Ferber method. I, too, thought my LO was a tension increased but it turned out that the sleep training worked, with much less crying than I'd anticipated. He was down to one wake up on his own by then, so I can't speak for sleep training motn. If I had trained motn, though, I would have done something like picking a time range that you will feed baby, and CIO if baby wakes before that pre-designated time. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sleep-training-early#post-2476976 Sat, 27 Feb 2016 12:26:26 +0000 SweetiePie 2476976@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Hoots: honestly anything was considered a win. So if I could do 5 mins it was a success. Sometimes I would put in his paci and he would fall asleep for another 30-40 mins. Those felt like successes but then the next night was pretty daunting because then I knew if he woke at the normal time I should be delaying it another 45 mins at least. So I just used my judgement and if it seemed like he was going to wake a lot if I waited 45 mins I would push it as long as I could and then give in. If that makes sense. And I would reset to that new time. So example:</p> <p>Night one:<br /> Wake up midnight<br /> Push feeding till 12:45am</p> <p>Night two:<br /> Wake up at midnight, goal is 12:50 feed<br /> Use paci, but seems like he is going to start screaming by 12:30 - give in and feed</p> <p>Night three:<br /> Goal is 12:35</p> <p>But you will see that as you are delaying feedings and reducing the bottle your lo will start stretching on their own.<br /> It also gave me comfort that as I decreased the bottle amount he didn't notice. We started with 5 oz in the bottles and even when it was down to 1.5 oz he still drank it and went back to sleep no problem. That's how I knew he wasn't hungry and didint need it. It was habit and comfort. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sleep-training-early#post-2476939 Sat, 27 Feb 2016 11:21:08 +0000 Hoots 2476939@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@SweetiePie: Thanks! I think we may try this! How many minutes would you push back feeding? Are we talking 5-10 minutes or 30 minutes?</p> <p>@jape14: @Mrs. Champagne: Thanks, ladies! Unfortunately, I'm not sure CIO is our answer since DD is definitely a tension increaser. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sleep-training-early#post-2476920 Sat, 27 Feb 2016 10:49:40 +0000 jape14 2476920@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We sleep trained -- just for falling asleep, not to eliminate night feedings -- right at 4 months (I think we started 2 days before his 4-month). DS also went through the 4-month sleep regression a little early, I think around 13-14 weeks? We used Ferber by the book except we did a slightly shorter first interval on the first night. We modified the bedtime routine to: nursing, put in sleep sack (that way if he fell asleep nursing, he woke up), sing bedtime song (same song every night), turn on white noise, put him in the crib. The first night he cried off and on for 45 minutes, but never for more than 7-10 minutes (basically never longer than the longest Ferber check interval - makes sense if you read Ferber). He also never hard cried that much in general so it may be a temperament thing - he's a classic tension releaser as opposed to an escalator. By the third night, no crying at all. Ever since then (he's now 18 months), he's gone down drowsy or awake for all bedtimes and naps. We didn't have to nap train specifically - it just followed from the nighttime sleep training. He kept one MOTN feeding until about 8.5 months, but that was more due to reflux and taking a while to work up to full bottle feedings during the day. Once he was taking in enough ounces during the day (and was on solids more reliably), he dropped the last MOTN feeding easily and without incident. </p> <p>I can't say enough about how well and easily sleep training went for us! I highly recommend the Ferber book. I will say that we started sleep training when we noticed that DS was starting to self-soothe (sucking on his thumb, grabbing a lovey), and I think that was key. He never took a pacifier so I don't know how that might factor in. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sleep-training-early#post-2476901 Sat, 27 Feb 2016 10:12:43 +0000 Mrs. Champagne 2476901@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I think mrs bee has a really good post on it! On the blog about sleep training Charlie. It was super informative! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sleep-training-early#post-2476867 Sat, 27 Feb 2016 09:00:57 +0000 SweetiePie 2476867@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Oh I should also add - the 4 month regression is brutal but it DOES go away. We hit it a touch before 4 months also. And it was after the first night that he sttn on his own! So it was especially disheartening. I wanted to die during it but it went away as quickly as it had started.<br /> I should also add that we sleep trained when he was out of the thick of the regression but was still waking more than he had before (because I gave in and started feeding him during the regression even though I hadn't fed him at night for a couple of weeks). So he was waking every 3-4 hours AFTER regression. That's what we sleep trained. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sleep-training-early#post-2476854 Sat, 27 Feb 2016 08:44:02 +0000 SweetiePie 2476854@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We sleep trained right around 3-4 months.<br /> - I read 12 hours by 12 weeks (don't worry I didn't start it till 12/13 weeks either! Super short read, you can finish it in a few days). I mostly read that to figure out how to get rid of night feeds since my ped said he didn't need to eat overnight anymore. Basically it talks about never giving in earlier than the previous night and just stretching the amount of time between feedings as much as possible. And how their daytime schedule can impact nighttime. I didn't agree with everything it said, so I followed it loosely to a degree I was comfortable with. But of course toi have to follow the main ideas for it to even be worth it.<br /> - we relied on the paci a lot. During training once I would hear him, say at midnight, I'd go in with my pillow and a blanket and lay next to his crib and replace the paci over and over. That's how we'd extend to the next feed. But the key is to do it before they are really awake and crying. Once we surpassed the previous nights feed time I'd just make a gut decision about when to give in and feed. But then the NEXT night I couldn't do earlier than that.<br /> - we decreased his bottle little by little each night until it was nothing left for that feed and hopefully by then he could sleep without waking for that feed (and it worked!). So in short it was a combination of increasing time between feeds and decreasing feed amount.<br /> - once we get to one last wakeup around 5am, that's when my ped said to CIO. There are many ways to do this, you can do what makes you comfortable. For us, checks didn't help at all. Made it worse. So I finally buckled down and just let him cry. I turned the sound off of the monitor so I could faintly hear him through the apartment but it wasn't blaring in my ears. And I just tried to sleep. I'm sure some would say I was being mean, BUT even if you do checks it's supposed to be after a certain length (10, 15 mins) of sustained crying. He NEVER cried for more than 5 mins. He'd then take a break and start up again a couple mins later. So I never felt he was truly in distress and of course if I did I would go in.<br /> The first night he cried on and off like that from 5am to 7am. But he did fall asleep here and there.<br /> Next night it was like 5:30 to 6:30ish<br /> Third night he slept till 6am!!! 7pm to 6am! That's when I felt it was ok to go in and put on his mobile and he would lay there happily for another hour. (The book also talks about being very consistent with the time that you want To be morning. So we said 7am. So we still to this day at 17 months don't go in until 7am. And let me tell you, he will not make a sound until 7am! I think his internal clock knows when it's ok, haha).<br /> Eventually the latest we got him to sleep was 6:30 and we were very happy with that. It was VERY consistent for a long time. Now that he's a toddler and we are in a nap transition period it is more variable but still no earlier than 6am except for a weird day here or there. And still we won't go in until 7 and he happily plays by himself. </p> <p>Anyway I am typing this quickly before I have to go out and start mom duties (I got to sleep in today :-) ) so I may have missed some things but feel free to ask me anything. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/sleep-training-early#post-2476840 Sat, 27 Feb 2016 07:25:20 +0000 Hoots 2476840@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I think DD is overachieving and has hit the 4 month sleep regression early (13 weeks) and hard. Like waking every hour or more hard. She does fine until midnight most nights, and then it's on. I've read a lot of the 4-month regression experience posts. We are considering trying to sleep train her early as it seems like some people have had some success with it. So my questions are:</p> <p>If you sleep trained early, how did you do it? What worked? What didn't? </p> <p>If it didn't work, what were your coping strategies? </p>