Comments on: Baby sleep and sleep training: Part One

By: Iris

Iris — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 17:09:52 +0000

I find that sleep regression – when poor nighttime sleep coincide with a developmental milestone e.g. rolling, sitting up, crawling etc. – seems to explain my children’s bouts of insomnia.

The knowledge doesn’t make things better! – i still remember two torturous weeks when my second son would wake up every 15 min all night – but it helps me maintain some perspectives in semi-deranged nights and feel more kindly in the morning. Once he’s mastered the skill(s), he’s a relatively good sleeper again.

By: Sally

Sally — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 21:31:33 +0000

I like your idea of putting him in his crib and then sitting by him until he falls asleep on his own. When and if I get frustrated enough to accept the inevitable disruption any sort of sleep training will cause for my older boy…well, then I might try it instead of leaving the room. Charlie will still freak out and cry, but maybe he’ll calm down faster if I’m in there. I’ll be sure to let you know if I do anything.

Oh, and he’s most definitely NOT sleeping all night wihtout waking. Right now he’s waking up a couple of times a night, but then he’ll randomly sleep all night occasionally when the stars align perfectly and he’s not too cold and nothing hurts and his belly is full of his favorite meatballs, etc. I know that night-weaning him would probably cure him of 75% of the night wakings, but again I’m being a bit of a chicken about it.

Sallys last blog post..But I’M not ready

By: ella

ella — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 20:43:07 +0000

So when your husband put him down, did he cry and if so, did you do controlled crying or did you find that because it was husband putting him down the crying was less? I’m quite intruiged to try this.

And I have had the same experience about doing cc too early – that is, it made mine more anxious about sleep and harder to settle. Already finding that about Edward this week but that’s for another post…

By: Kristen

Kristen — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 17:03:36 +0000

We tried the controlled crying with David when he was very little (stupid stand-in for our pediatrician said to do it- he was only 4 months) and of course it didn't work and it made me a mess. It actually made him more anxious about sleep. I nursed him to sleep so many times and that's what worked for me until he was a little older and my husband would put him down. All my kids have generally gone to sleep more quickly and easily for my husband, so I would give that a try! You'll have to use your own husband, of course. :>Kristens last blog post..Into the Unknown

By: ella

ella — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 21:36:49 +0000

Edward sleeps in the car, stroller, sling, while feeding or (don’t tell) my arms. So, yes, this putting them down when they are sleepy but not asleep is a gentle form of training for when they are older.

I would love to be able to feed Edward to sleep, that is the joy of having only one baby to look after. I certainly fed my eldest to sleep (and may have napped a little too, myself) and I can’t honestly say for me it caused problems because I wouldn’t have done any kind of sleep training with him at a young age. When Harry was older I stopped feeding him to sleep and tried other ways to settle him, like having a consistent bedtime routine. I think what most mums worry about is the baby becoming dependent on something (like feeding) in order to get to sleep and then having to have it to get to sleep. If you’re worried at this age you can always stop feeding when she is sleepy and try putting her down then but I would enjoy her being little and having the time to spend with her. Once she is 6 months or more you can try to give her sleep cues like naptime/bedtime rituals (songs, stories etc) but I don’t have the heart to leave little ones to cry themselves to sleep so you may want to ignore my advice!

By: ella

ella — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 21:34:14 +0000

And that rod hurts! I know from experience.

By: ella

ella — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 21:21:32 +0000

Hunger might also be a factor at this age. I always offer milk to settle him or if he wakes because I can’t be certain it isn’t hunger making him cry.

By: ella

ella — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 21:19:15 +0000

Your first sentence sums up my exact feelings about the whole issue of sleep problems.

If he settles on his own sometimes could you do a gentle version of controlled crying, like sitting by the bed and then moving gradually away? If he isn’t waking at night then presumable it is just being left to settle himself that is troubling him.

I agree that moving him to a bed may bring problems, although I found that mine didn’t want to settle due to excitement and I could be quite stern about that!

I’d be interested to hear how you get on, whenever you decide to tackle it!

By: Sienna

Sienna — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 15:00:16 +0000

I have a four month old and it was great to read your experiences as I’m wondering what I need to do. At the moment F. goes to sleep by herself but I guess I should start getting her into some sort of routine. How do you get your baby to sleep during the day or does he not need to sleep at all. I think F. would go mad with tiredness if she didn’t sleep so I’m curious to know ways to get her to sleep during the day if she starts being able to keep herself awake. She is my first so I don’t have other children to take care of so at the moment I can feed her to sleep without worrying about how long it takes. Do you think I’m setting myself up for problems doing this?

Thanks for writing about this. I’m sure it will be loads of help to others mums too.

By: BigSister

BigSister — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 14:45:11 +0000

Hi Ella, I know you know my story but I did controlled crying after about a year. with my second we had to do cry it out after controlled crying and pick-up/put-down methods just made things worse. It was hell but, like you, I have good sleepers now. I would agree with not doing anything too early because teething, sickness, nightmares, separation anxiety all rear their ugly heads and it’s not always easy to know if the crying is because of these and also because even if you get them trained any one of these things can set them back again and you have to start all over again. Good luck.