Once again, I'm thinking about re-introducing sleep training for my 11 mos son. We did great around 5 mos but we took a fateful vaca right after he was trained and it threw him off and ever since then he's had really bad anxiety about being in his crib because he knows that we're leaving him. So I've just been patient and trying to help him not have such a fear of the crib, but lately I've been wondering how much our sleep training has been more difficult because we live in a small 1 BR in NYC. If he had his own room, I wonder if we would have been more successful. Any tips or advice for this EXTREMELY TIRED MOM and SON for those who have sleep trained in a small apt.
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I'm really interested in the answers you get, since we are contemplating staying in a one bedroom as well. Does LO have their own area at all, or is the crib right next to the bed? I wonder if it makes a difference if he can see you or not? My sister did sleep train in her one bed, but the baby has his own nook (formerly for the dining room table) with a curtain in front of it, so he couldn't see them when he would cry it out unless my sister came in. It seemed like that helped in her situation, but it was still not ideal.
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I also want to hear any advice people have! Currently, DS is in a pnp next to our bed. We do have a hallway where we could move him but its near our utility closet so I am worried it would wake him up every time the heat/ac turns on.
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We have a small (700sf) townhouse and currently share the master bedroom with DS.
Our routine is I get him in his PJs, give him warm milk, bath every other/every 3rd night, read a story, give him his lovey, turn on his 'twilight turtle' and say goodnight/love you and shut the bedroom door. He knows with this routine it means bedtime/sleep.
He used to wake a few times throughout the night, if he was crying I would nurse/pick him up but now at 13 months he doesn't wake up that often. If he does I do pick him up and bring him to bed with me, most times he falls back to sleep immediately. Sometimes I put him back in bed, sometimes I let him stay there depending on how early he wakes up.
Our routine has worked out great, he even sleeps this way when we're at hotels. -
@Foodnerd81: For us, the crib is close but not next to our bed. I think it made a big difference for our LO because I think he is willing to put up a fight because he can see us and sometimes can hear us. He is always facing our bed whenever he is CIO even when we aren't in the bedroom. I also admit it's been hard because of our neighbor and not wanting to piss them off, so we haven't really let him wail for over 40 minutes. I wish we had a nook because out of sight out of mind I think would at least help him be less stubborn.
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If your bathroom is accessible through the living room, could you maybe sleep with your DH in the living room while sleep training? Or maybe you could get one of those Chinese screens so at least he can't see you and also use a noise maker right next to his crib?
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We live in a functionally 1br apartment, because the 2d is an office where DH works very long hours. It's small and easy to hear everything from any room. I sympathize! Our LO is 2 yrs now and sleeps well in a floor bed near ours. We never did CIO, so I can't speak to that, but we have always had a loose routine of books and back-rubbing (and until a couple of months ago, nursing) at bedtime. Sometimes he's out immediately, other times we finish 'War and Peace' before he's ready to sleep (kidding!). On average, things have gotten SO MUCH BETTER in the last 5-6 months, though, and I'm not doing anything differently. It takes time! Hang in there!
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I would definitely consider putting up some sort of divider or hanging a bed sheet as if to create a little nook for your LO's crib. Babies are so much more aware at this age so if he knows you're there it will be that much more difficult to sleep train.
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