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I think I gave him the tools (introduced a lovey, had a consistent routine) but it was his personality that decided when he would become a good sleeper. He didn't start STTN til 13.5 months and it was prety much afte rletting him fuss for 5 min at 4:30am. He just figured it out.

I think you can have a lot of influence. Both kids are good sleepers due to our routine I think.

Not much. She started sleeping 6-9 hours a night at 4 weeks and now at 10 weeks sleeps 8-10 hours every night. She did this on her own, we didn't sleep train or do anything different from weeks 1-3. She still fiercely fights daytime sleep unless being held, regardless of any routines or things we try. She pretty much does what she wants sleep wise and we just have to go with it.

I think parents of kids with good sleepers will say that they have lots of influence and parents of crappy sleepers will say there's not that much they can do! I've got one of each and since they have been put through the exact same routine, I think there's only limited ways a parent can affect baby's sleep

I've wondered that! So many times I've tweaked a little thing and sleep has been better. But really, could such a small change make that much difference?

I think it has a lot to do with personality, and I think I have a relatively good sleeper. (Is a "stable" sleeper the same as good? We've been riding a status quo for quite awhile now, so I feel like we've adapted!)

That being said, we finally (finally!) got a real crib for E. He usually wakes around 1 am, and this time I let him fuss in his crib. If he cried, I would have leapt out of bed and run to his side, but he just low-level fussed for about 20 minutes, then fell back asleep. If he was in our room, I definitely would have pulled him into bed with me, and then we'd be up and down every hour after that.

Then he got up at 4:30 AM, and I fed him (just fussing again, but I think it is reasonable to nurse him at that point), then he slept until...NINE AM. Never in his life has he slept that long.

I seriously doubt that night's "success" is anything I have done. I think it is all him. Maybe I was holding him back by keeping him in our room? (Even though I miss him, I'm glad he is getting better sleep.) Would I have put him in his own room any sooner? Absolutely not. I wanted to keep him in our room for at least 6 months, and as uncomfortable as the acrobatic sleep was, I really liked co-sleeping. But it was never very restful for either of us.

Luck and consistent sleep routines.

I have a fairly crappy sleeper and I do think that I'm part of the problem because I run to her as soon as she fusses for a few seconds.

@Trailmix: agreed! I have twin nieces who are one of each too.

@Trailmix: so interesting!

I think we some some control in the sense that we're able to do research and then introduce a lot of options (various sleep training methods, loveys, stability, routine, white noise, etc.) but much of it depends on your baby. A friend of mine credits her LO's sleep with her strict routine....she's never had any sleep issues. Sorry friend, but your 1 week old didn't sleep like magic from day 1 because of you: you got lucky.

@Trailmix: exactly. It's easy to take the credit when LO is a great sleeper but hard to take the blame when they're a bad sleeper!

I think we played a big role in it. I'm pretty lax parent, but sleep was one thing I knew needed to be a priority for us since we both have careers that are also important to us. We started "sleep training" at only 4 weeks old. My LO is an awesome sleeper even now at 14 months.

@Trailmix: haha! Yes.

I don't know. Dd is a good sleeper generally but when she goes through a rough patch, night wakings are LONG. (1-3 hours, usually between 1 and 5, and usually closer to 3 than 1.) And though we temporarily quit the paci at 5 months we ended up back on it even though I tried not to.

I think @msmini and @locavore_mama are right to be honest!! I have gone through good periods where I thought "see! all the routines and blahblahblah are worth it!" and then gotten to crap periods where I thought "but I did (almost) everything right! Whyyyyy?" Yes, routines help, but in the end I think nature plays a huuuuuge role in determining how much.

I think we had some, but I think my daughter was also naturally a pretty good nighttime sleeper. We introduced routine, and helped her out with a pacifier -- only fed her at night if she continued to cry for food even after being offered a pacifier. I think those definitely helped her to sleep through the night early on.
BUT, on the flip side, I followed every rule for nap time, and I never convinced my daughter to be a good napper. She finally came into it on her own soon after she turned 1, and I'm sure her daycare nap routine helped with that. But I do think a lot of her sleeping strengths and weaknesses are just part of her personality. While we got lucky on some, and were able to reinforce her natural tendencies with routine... we were not so lucky on others.

I think we helped foster good sleep because we were on it from the beginning--no developing bad habits, etc. It's no coincidence that she immediately slept great after we sleep trained and has mostly continued to. But she was always a pretty good sleeper; we just made her better.

None, really. I think she *touches wood* is a naturally good sleeper... and apparently gets that from her mama as my Mum told me recently that my Sister and I were good sleepers too

@Trailmix: yes!!! I totally agree with this. And the same goes for eating habits and a lot of different milestones.

My son is a great sleeper and a so-so napper and while we started healthy sleep habits early on, I think he is a naturally independent and consistent sleeper. I like to think that because he has been difficult in other areas, he has been easy on us with sleep .