https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Sat, 11 Apr 2026 02:41:08 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-are-we-doing-wrong-1#post-2459435 Fri, 12 Feb 2016 07:52:25 +0000 JoJoGirl 2459435@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Check out the blog and FB group Precious Little Sleep. Alexis, who writes it, is a sleep GURU and the group can help you troubleshoot.</p> <p>EDIT: 5 weeks is WAY TOO YOUNG to worry about establishing good habits! :) You're doing great and read her blog to get ready for when you guys get closer to 4 months. She has a "newborn sleep survival guide" that is awesome too. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-are-we-doing-wrong-1#post-2459434 Fri, 12 Feb 2016 07:49:02 +0000 Mrs. Champagne 2459434@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I'm sure you're not doing anything wrong!!</p> <p>We had a good nighttime sleeper (don't get me started on naps....) and I think what helped is a routine and no "crutches" he needed to sleep other then a swaddle at first. We placed him awake and swaddled in the rock n play with the vibrate on and gently rocked it. Eventually we stopped the rocking and stopped the vibrate. We usually just sat there staring at him until he fell asleep lol. </p> <p>In the middle of the night for nursing he never fell back asleep nursing! Maybe when he was brand new. But usually he was wide awake. So we rocked the rock n play and he fell back asleep. </p> <p>Good luck!</p> <p>ETA:<br /> Routine was: bath, lotion, jammies, bottle of pumped milk, swaddled, white noise on, into rock n play. It's almost the exact same now and he's almost two. But now he gets a cup of milk and into a sleep sack and crib. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-are-we-doing-wrong-1#post-2459426 Fri, 12 Feb 2016 07:43:35 +0000 Alba4 2459426@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Our 2.5 year old was and still is a pretty good sleeper. I think a lot of it just depends on your kid's disposition though. This is what worked for us- We sleep trained @4 months and my husband swears that is why. We started a night time routine very early, probably around 2 months as per the suggestion of our pediatrician. A Dark room and sound machine helped. We had a co-sleeper side crib for the first few months and then transitioned to the crib. We never bed shared- my DH and I always wanted our bed to be our space.</p> <p>For the first few months DS would sleep wherever: In our rock n play, car seat, our arms, newborn napper. But as he got older, I mostly had him nap in the crib. He never had reflux, so the crib was never an issue.</p> <p>We totally plan on sleep training LO2 and will do it early again. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-are-we-doing-wrong-1#post-2459128 Thu, 11 Feb 2016 21:57:33 +0000 AggieDaze 2459128@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I've felt really anxious about LO2's sleep because of LO1's 4 month sleep regression too. Ironically though, I really didn't have that many bad habits with LO1 and he still had a bad 4 month regression. That's when the bad habits started because we were desperate!</p> <p>His sleep didn't get better until we sleep trained ferber style at 7 months. We've remained pretty consistent with our sleep training rules (ie. if he's crying in his crib because he doesn't want to go to sleep, we walk out like we did originally... if he wakes up before 6 am, we don't go get him, etc.) He hasn't had any noticeable or lasting regressions and is 2.5.</p> <p>Thus far for LO2 (3 months), I've been working on drowsy but awake when possible, and trying to minimize sleep crutches like rocking or feeding to sleep. That said, sometimes he's overtired and patting to sleep or using the swing is the only way I can get him down. I've kind of resigned myself to perhaps it's just luck of the draw... and we'll sleep train if we have to. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-are-we-doing-wrong-1#post-2458802 Thu, 11 Feb 2016 18:55:52 +0000 NovBaby1112 2458802@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I don't think you are doing anything "wrong". I honestly just think that some babies are better sleepers than others by nature, some require a lot of work to soothe and put to sleep while others can very easily put themselves to sleep. I think all you can do when they are super young is start by creating a sleep routine so they know what to expect. I also think parents can have different thresholds for fussing/crying, which can influence how well a baby sleeps. Me for example, I am awful at hearing DS fuss or cry, I go in right away to try and soothe him. I'm sure he would prob sleep better at night if I let him fuss a bit, but I'm too much of a softie right now! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-are-we-doing-wrong-1#post-2458785 Thu, 11 Feb 2016 18:45:08 +0000 brady80 2458785@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I don't think you can do anything wrong in terms of sleep with a 5 week old. We had a sleep consultation when LO 1 was 4 months and it was the best money we ever spent! By 6 months she was sleeping 7pm-7am and getting herself to sleep. In terms of what to do now, I'd just try to get in some sort of routine, especially at night. Good luck! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-are-we-doing-wrong-1#post-2458748 Thu, 11 Feb 2016 18:09:45 +0000 gingerbebe 2458748@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I would say just start incorporating sleep cues into whatever you're doing. 6-ish weeks is a good time to start for most babies. At 17 months, we still do sleep sack, sing the same 2 songs, and put DS down in a dark room with his lovey and the white noise machine going for all naps and bedtime. The only difference is at night he gets a bath. </p> <p>We also implemented eat, play/awake, sleep from early on because he had reflux and we needed him to sit up and digest before sleeping anyway, so he never had that as a sleep crutch. So when we took away the bedtime bottle and replaced it with water in a straw cup after his bath, it wasn't a big deal. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-are-we-doing-wrong-1#post-2458725 Thu, 11 Feb 2016 17:51:58 +0000 travellingbee 2458725@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@snowjewelz: thanks- I know a lot of DS1's sleep issues are unique to him. He is the most stubborn child and always has been low sleep needs. I just want to make sure we do what we can. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-are-we-doing-wrong-1#post-2458584 Thu, 11 Feb 2016 16:36:39 +0000 Pumpkin Pie 2458584@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I know bad sleep is absolutely horrible. You probably already knows this, but I think consistency is important. My now 16 month old was a terrible infant sleeper, waking every 20-30 mins in the MOTN, only sleeping in the car, etc. I began sleep training when she was about 9 weeks, putting her down drowsy but awake, letting her fuss, cry, pick up soothe, repeat. By about the 3 month mark, she was going down pretty easily, and just had 1 MOTN wake up. Then, we started letting her fuss that one out at around 4 months. It's been a hard road, but I just kept at it. We did have sleep regressions, and during those times, I was a bit gentler, but still tried to be somewhat consistent. The regressions would last a couple weeks and I was terrified watch time. I know ppl day not to sleep train until 3 months, but I was going insane and decided to start early. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-are-we-doing-wrong-1#post-2458576 Thu, 11 Feb 2016 16:34:13 +0000 snowjewelz 2458576@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I honestly did everything "wrong" but I'd say from like 11 mo on DD really STTN pretty consistently. She STTN starting 7-8 months I'd say. Obv illnesses and DST caused some turmoil but other than that she learned to fall asleep and stay asleep all on her own without tears!</p> <p>We co-sleep (not a wrong thing), nursed to sleep, rock/held to sleep, still hold her till she is asleep for naps (takes 2 minutes), never sleep trained in any form, always got her if she got upset. Now I sit/lay with her until she falls asleep. </p> <p>So I guess I'm trying to say don't be too hard on yourself! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-are-we-doing-wrong-1#post-2458567 Thu, 11 Feb 2016 16:32:02 +0000 Mrs. Oatmeal 2458567@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>#1 was an awful sleeper, and she still takes ages to fall asleep and won't sleep anywhere but her own bed.<br /> For #2, I was pretty worried about the same thing. We pretty much did whatever until after 4 months passed (co-sleeping, pack and play, swing), and then we decided to do some sleep training. A friend of ours hired a sleep consultant, so I picked her brain. She ended up emailing me the whole program, and after three days, my 5 month old is sleeping 7:30pm-7:00am, and putting himself to sleep for naps. Its incredible. I'm going to write a blog post about it, but feel free to wall me if you have any questions! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-are-we-doing-wrong-1#post-2458559 Thu, 11 Feb 2016 16:27:55 +0000 travellingbee 2458559@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@T.H.O.U.: Thank you so much for reading/replying. I am so terrified of the 4 month regression as that is when things really went downhill for us. Our 3 year old still won't go to sleep on his own. Sometimes we get him doing really well and then he regresses again. Ugh. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-are-we-doing-wrong-1#post-2458541 Thu, 11 Feb 2016 16:14:35 +0000 T.H.O.U. 2458541@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We had a bad sleeper for #1 but I think we made a lot of mistakes too.</p> <p>For the second, I dont think you can really do much harm prior to the 4 month mark. At that point get through that regression and then try to do some light training. For us this was naps and sleep in the crib. Lay in the crib awake (we would go in after 30 seconds of crying). Limiting the nursing to sleep (we nursed to sleep but didn't keep him latched on long). Less "rocking"/bouncing to sleep and more laying in the crib with us patting/shushing. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-are-we-doing-wrong-1#post-2458538 Thu, 11 Feb 2016 16:11:49 +0000 travellingbee 2458538@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I have an almost 3 year old that still doesn't always sleep through the night. He never has regularly. I am terrified we are repeating the same mistakes and that DS2 will be the same. The thing is, I don't know what exactly we did wrong! Here's the low-down. Sorry it's long.</p> <p>With DS1, he slept in the R&amp;P next to our bed until about 8 weeks and then slept in his crib. I nursed to sleep most nights and he was actually a pretty good sleeper until 4 month regression and then it all went to shit. Also he had many ear infections between 5 and 10 months before getting tubes. For naps, he frequently slept in the swing and carseat as he was hard to soothe with his reflux and MSPI. His daycare (I have since switched) let him nap in the swing for all naps. I could never get him to go down drowsy but awake. We "sleep trained" at 9 months and it was absolute hell with him crying one night for many hours. It worked eventually but then he got croup a few months later and he regressed. He was super addicted to pacifier and we weaned at 2.5</p> <p>With DS2 (he is 5 weeks), he sleeps at night in the R&amp;P next to our bed. For naps, he kind of sleeps whereever, as his naps are not super predictable yet. He still sleeps a lot. Sometimes in the swing, sometimes in his crib, sometimes on me, or in the rock and play. Often in the car seat while running errands. I've tried to get him to go down drowsy but awake and it works sometimes. He doesn't usually nurse to sleep. I try to feed him when he wakes so that we have awake time afterwards. He also uses paci but isn't quite as obsessed as big brother. But right now, he isn't a fabulous night sleeper. He sleeps for a chunk early on, and then has a bunch of awake time and fitfull sleep later in the night. </p> <p>Thanks for any advice you have! I am considering hiring sleep consultant to help us get him on the right path it's expensive so I keep waffling... </p>