Seems like there's a lot of buzz about sleep training (and a blog post today! Woohoo Mrs. Superhero!) so I thought it would be helpful to have a thread going to post our progress and encourage each other. I think it is one of the most painful times of parenthood because it involves a lot of tears... baby tears if you're letting them cry at all, and your tears of fatigue if you're not!!!
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@mrs. wagon: We just sleep trained a couple of weeks ago. I have a whole thread of how our progress went but now LO is usually sleeping 6:15pm-7:45am with one wake up and her naps are better! Before, she was sleeping around 8:30pm-7am with about 6-8 wake ups and naps were horrible!
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Just to start it off... we've been reluctant to sleep train LMW even though she's 6 months now. I think we are just softies when it comes to her because we know she's probably our last baby
plus we don't like the two kids waking each other with their cries. But I think we may have inadvertently sleep trained on Tuesday night because I wasn't home for bedtime. For the first time it was one of us putting both kids to bed (Poor Wagon Sr....!! I brought him lots of goodies for being superdad!) and after he put her down, he was putting Wagon Jr. to bed and she started to cry. He rushed thru WJ's bedtime routine but she still ended up crying for 13 mins, and by the time he got to her she had stopped and fallen asleep. She STTN that night, and she STTN last night too!! She had STTN about a month ago for a few weeks but stopped when she started getting 3 teeth on top at once. So these are her first couple of nights where she STTN. Oh glorious uninterrupted sleep.... I thought you'd never find me again....
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Me. Definitely trying, but having little, if any, success. Last night I just cried while I was rocking her back to sleep (I tried to let her put herself back to sleep, but after 2 minutes, she was screaming hysterically). I just can't see the light at the end of the tunnel yet, and with 4-6 wakings every night, I am one tired mama.
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@BelugaBean: sweet!!!! One wakeup is fantastic!! that's where we were last week. As of two nights ago she's down from 6:30pm-7:00am with no wakeups and her napping is going pretty well-- usually one big one and two shorter ones.
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We are going to need to try something because what we have going is not working. I love this thread idea. It is SO hard to listen to LO cry because I feel like I am abandoning her, and that she feels the same way. I really need to sleep train her though because she is sometimes up 8 times a night, and for an almost 5 month old that is crazy. When she was around 10 weeks old she was sleeping 6:45pm-4:00am before she would wake up to nurse, and then sleep until 8:30am so I know she is capable.
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we're probably going to have to after olive gets better again. she's been waking up a lot because she's so congested. she usually doesn't get back on track with night sleep on her own. not looking forward to it!
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Ugh I should be.
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@MsLipGloss: oh no
I hear you on the crying while rocking baby back to sleep. It just defeats me!! Sometimes they are just not ready yet... hang in there... @Bao: 8 times a night is crazy
not only for you, but she must be suffering too, not ever going into deep sleep and getting really restorative rest. Still to this day it's the most painful thing hearing my kids cry and not going to them, but for us it's been the best thing. It's just the way they are. My mom once went to Wagon Jr. when he was crying at night and he practically assaulted her, then when she left he went right back to sleep. She now understands why we let him cry sometimes!!@Mrs. Bee: I think LMW has her first stuffy nose (we've never even had to nosefrida her yet, and I've been dying to try it! first world problem that's not really a problem...) so I'm dreading just this... LMW is a mouth breather so I'm hoping she'll be ok :T
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Here's the link to my thread that shows my progress. I was so upset with having to let her cry too but we saw real progress pretty much every night!
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I don't know if this is considered sleep training or not. But we've been letting DD fuss it out right after we put her down at night. She'll rub her eyes and chew on her lovey for a while (maybe 15 mins) and then she'll start making these fussy noises that sound like "Waaaah!! (pause) "Waaawaaaawaaa!" (pause) "Waaaaa" (pause). It's hard to describe with words. It's not a full on cry because there are no tears and she pauses in between her wails. We let her do this for maybe 15 mins and then she passes out on her own. I call it her "sleepy cry" because she only makes this sound when she's really tired/sleepy. Is this what CIO is?
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Yes! It's going really well!! DD only cries now for 5 mins then puts herself to sleep. She is waking up once or twice but within 2 minutes or without real crying puts herself back to sleep. We started Friday !!
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*Raises hand*
DS is 5.5 months and we've been doing sleep-training (something between CIO and extinction) for over a week now. He now naps in his PnP, going down almost exactly 2 hours after he wakes up from the previous one, and usually for 1-2 hours.
He usually cries for about 10 minutes before he falls asleep at night (and usually around 5 before a nap). He sleeps from 10p-8/9a and wakes up 1-2 times during the night to nurse.
We weren't planning on sleep training, but he would only fall asleep nursing in my arms and sleep *maybe* 20 minutes, and he had to be nursed to sleep. I still bring him into bed after his first wake-up to nurse, and sometimes he stays there, although the past few nights he's squirmed and fussed until I put him back in the PnP, and then he goes right to sleep.
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We just finished sleep training. @BelugaBean and I were both sleep training at the same time.
It was great having support.
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We are hit or miss (almost 6 months old FYI) Putting him to bed has been sooo much easier. Last night he laid down awake and didn't make a peep! But he is still waking 2x/night and last night he wouldn't give up until fed both times. Also, naps are short and infrequent, but he goes to daycare so not sure I can change it. When alone with us on the weekends, he is a MUCH better napper, there is just too much going on at daycare for him to sleep
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We started sleep training at the end of December, when DS was 3.5 month old. He is doing very well at putting himself back to sleep in the middle of the night. He sometimes cries when we put him down for the night, but it doesn't last long.
My struggle right now is getting him down at the same time each night. If try to get him down around 8:30-9:00, but sometimes we'll go somewhere in the evening and he doesn't get to bed until 10:00.
Happy tears: DS woke up twice last night instead of once (boo!). It took him more than 45 minutes to fall asleep the second time, but he was quiet the whole time. So proud!
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My lo wakes every hour. 11-13 times a night.
Im so tired but nothing is working.
I am trying ferber tonight. 40 minutes of screaming bloody murder so far.
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Last night (well, early this morning) was pretty rough. It took two tries to put him down for the night--I went and picked him up at 12 minutes the first time because he was screaming hysterically to the point of choking--the second time I tried he did eventually fall asleep, but at the 15 minute mark. Then he woke up 1.5 hours later (usually he makes it 4-5 hours before waking up), and it took two tries to get him back down.
He slept a good spell after that, but woke up at 4:45, 5:30, 6:13, 7:30, 8, 8:30. Usually at night if he's having trouble going back down he'll sleep with us, but even that wasn't working, he just kept waking up crying. At 8:45 DH got up and walked around with him a bit, and at 9 I gave up trying to sleep and got up with him. Keep in mind we're night owls. Last night I wasn't able to fall asleep until almost 4, and DS was up at 4:45. I was running on fumes. At 10:30 I put him back down for a nap (he cried for 9 minutes) and went back to sleep.
On the bright side, when I put him down for his second nap today it was in his own crib in his own room instead of the PnP in our room because we discovered there's a leak in our ceiling right close to the PnP. I was going to put off transitioning him to his own crib until after we got back from our long NH weekend in early Feb, but it seems I don't really have a choice now, the PnP is in the only spot in the bedroom that it will fit.
I'm bracing myself for having to start from scratch again now and then when we get back. And I'm a little sad he's in his crib
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Yes, DD has been sleep training us from day 1!
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We started sleep training out of frustration. LO would only fall asleep if you were rocking him, and it had escalated to an hour or more of rocking. One night, it was taking over an hour, and he was being extremely fussy, so I put him down in his crib out of frustration. He cried for about 20 minutes (with me sitting in the rocker in the nursery) and finally went down. Later that night, he woke up at 3:30am and cried until 4:30am before putting himself back to sleep. It was pure torture.
That was about 2 weeks ago. Now, he'll cry for about 15 minutes before going to sleep, and it's not a real cry. It's like @banana:'s LO's sleepy cry. Like he knows he wants to go to sleep, but is getting there slowly. Naps are starting to get a little better, but he has to be pretty tired to go down for us on his own.
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We just started our official first night of sleep training. Put LO down at 7:00pm and she woke up at 9:42pm and cried until 10:14pm. She is stubborn! I admit it is VERY hard to hear her cry but I'm hoping it is worth it in the end.
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Last night (first night in his crib) was hard. He screamed for 15 minutes, then I went in and held/rocked him for a bit. Put him back down and he screamed hysterically for another 15 minutes. By this time I was ready to vomit, so I went in and nursed him (but not to sleep). Put him back down and he screamed for another 15 before falling asleep. He slept for 6 hours, though, which is huge for him!
He napped fine in there during the day yesterday and today...still crying before every nap but for a max of 5 minutes. I decided it was too dark in the room and bought a night-light. Tonight he cried hard for 4 minutes, half-hearted for another 3, and then laid quietly in the crib sucking his thumb for another 5 before he fell asleep. Tonight was most definitely more successful, and I feel good about deciding (well, as good as I can...)
I'm also really glad I decoupled nursing from sleep...that was a big problem for us...it was the only way he'd fall asleep for months. Hope everyone else is having success!
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I started to read sleep easy solution. I'm trying to get dd to sleep through the night. I can't do CIO because it breaks my heart
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We're starting, and after reading about it on Hellobee, we decided to try Sleep Sense. LO is 7 months old, and he is a bit addicted to the night feed.
We're easing off the sleep prop (boob and bottle) for the next few nights and then starting Night 1 on Wednesday. I teach part time, and after Wednesdays, I don't have to be coherent until Monday -- so it gives me permission to be zombiefied without affecting my teaching.
We thought about starting sooner, but after I almost dumped formula into the french press while making coffee this morning, we decided the plan to wait until Wednesday stands!
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@jackieomy: We are also doing a modified version of sleep sense after reading about it on HB
LO Is 5.5 months old and we have been easing into sleep training over the past few weeks, starting with a pricey sleep consultation 2.5 weeks ago. We started by removing sleep props (nursing, pacifier, rocking) and putting him down sleepy but awake. I'm now able to put him down wide awake for naps and bedtime and he falls asleep on his own, usually within 10 mins with little crying.
We moved him to his own room 1 week ago and that really helped. He was waking up 2-5x's/night, now it's just two. The past two nights, I didn't go in for his first wake up at 10pm and he was able to fall back asleep on his own. The first night took 20 mins, last night only 6. I'm hopeful that he will start sleeping through the first wake up and give us (and him) and solid 6.5-7 hr stretch.
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After having a rough night on Friday night I decided it was too dark in the nursery and we got a night-light. Saturday night he was asleep with less than 10 minutes of light crying. He woke up 3 hours later, I went in and fed him and was able to put him right back to sleep. I woke up 7 hours later to him screaming bloody murder. As it turns out, there was a problem with my video monitor...the IP changed and I lost the connection. Or something. It's fixed now, but I discovered I couldn't hear him from our bedroom without the monitor unless he was screaming...I'm really hoping he hadn't been awake crying for too long before it woke me up
DS napped great yesterday. Once he cried for 5 minutes (and not a real cry, but more of what I call his "token cry"...like not really upset, just a cry to see if we'll come in). Twice he cried for less than 5 (both times started as an angry cry but quickly went into the token cry, and the last time he cried for 2 minutes than rolled around his crib for several minutes before falling asleep. On his own. Without crying.
So by bedtime last night I was feeling cocky...and it was like Friday night all over again. Altogether he cried for 25 minutes, with me going in once at 15 to comfort him. I feel like from some of the stories I've read on here 25 minutes total really isn't bad at all, but I was seriously sitting here watching him on the monitor clutching DH's hand near-tears myself the whole time.
BUT he didn't wake up at all last night! Slept for almost 10 hours! And woke up this morning starving...I wasn't quite ready to get out of bed for good so I brought him into bed to nurse him, and he napped with us for another two hours.
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@FutureMrsMcK: wow 10 hours straight!! That's amazing
I hope he keeps it up tonight! I've read that night 5 of sleep training is usually a regression but I'm hoping out LO's skip right over that. I could use a good nights sleep.
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Night 4: Went down almost right away with minimal fuss--lightly cried for 2 minutes than chewed on a teething toy for about 5 before falling asleep. Slept for 8 hours, woke up at 5:30, I brought him to bed and nursed him. He stayed in bed with us for about two hours (lightly dozing part of the time but spending a lot of time exploring my face). At 7:30 he started getting squirmy but was yawning so I put him back in his crib...he rolled around a few times but went to sleep with no crying, and slept for another 2.5 hours.
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We are doing so well with sleep training. LO is still going to bed at 6:30 (normally 7:00pm) and she has had to CIO when waking up a few hours later, but it is getting less and less every time. It was 30-35 minutes night one, and now on night 3, ten minutes is the longest she has cried. She only woke up 2 times to eat as opposed to 3-5 times with an additional 2-3 times for a paci.
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So, we planned for Night One (using Sleep Sense) to be Wednesday, but LO decided to start by himself! I did our bedtime routine, working to keep him awake during his last feed, and he slept from 8:40 until 4! We decided that the 4 a.m. feed is still ok for the next few days, so I got him after 10 minutes.
He did wake up for about 10 minutes around 11 p.m., but put himself back down (and wasn't crying hard -- just the whiny "come get me" cry.
A new thing -- he's rolled over in his sleep and is sleeping on his tummy. It makes me a little nervous, but since he can roll back over, I'm letting him stay that way. He always starts on his back, but I think he's more comfy on his tummy.
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@jackieomy: I always put E down on his back, but he almost immediately flips onto his stomach. He's strong enough that I don't worry about it anymore...and even if I did, I can't keep him on his stomach anymore, even if I try to flip him back onto his back after he's asleep her immediately flips back over. I do check on him on the monitor to make sure his nose and mouth are clear (they always are), and remind myself that he's strong and can flip himself back over.
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How's everyone doing? Charlie has a nasty cough/cold, so last night was a bit of a bust (nursed 3 times). Before that, we were getting one 6-7 hour stretch and only nursing once which felt like heaven. I don't have the heart to let him cry when he's sick, but I hope that doesn't come back to bite me in a few days...
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Night 5: Cried lightly for 3 minutes, slept from 10p-3a, DH brought him in for me to nurse, cried for 1 minute, slept 3:15-9:30. Only cried about a minute before each nap except for the first...I was laid up in bed and DH took the day off to mind E...and didn't put him down for a nap when he needed to go down so he was awake for like 4 hours and way overtired. Cried for a total of half an hour.
Night 6: No crying, whined for about a minute when I first clicked out off the lamp. Slept 9:30-7a, nursed him in bed then back into his crib from 7:30-9. He's gone down really easily for naps today...maybe a minute of whining before falling asleep.
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@FutureMrsMcK: wow!! He's doing great! I hope we are on the way to those kinds of nights soon
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@Orvis18: I hated doing it, but he's sleeping in good stretches in his own crib, neither of which he was doing before, so I definitely think we made the right decision in doing it.
plus we don't like the two kids waking each other with their cries. But I think we may have inadvertently sleep trained on Tuesday night because I wasn't home for bedtime. For the first time it was one of us putting both kids to bed (Poor Wagon Sr....!! I brought him lots of goodies for being superdad!) and after he put her down, he was putting Wagon Jr. to bed and she started to cry. He rushed thru WJ's bedtime routine but she still ended up crying for 13 mins, and by the time he got to her she had stopped and fallen asleep. She STTN that night, and she STTN last night too!! She had STTN about a month ago for a few weeks but stopped when she started getting 3 teeth on top at once. So these are her first couple of nights where she STTN. Oh glorious uninterrupted sleep.... I thought you'd never find me again....
It was great having support.
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