I don't want to speak too soon but I think we may just have got this cracked at last. I'm basing this on just two nights of sleep but this is the culmination of the last three weeks of firm but loving sleep training. No CIO. No leaving him alone upset in the dark.
My DS has gone from going to sleep with me lying cuddling him and sleeping in bed with me all night (husband moved out of the bed almost a year ago which wasn't great for our marriage) to going off on his own in his own bed all night.
I'm a new woman!
The big shift for me was recognising that he is a sensitive child and that if I leave him to cry he just gets more roused but if I respond quickly and soothe him, he quickly goes back to sleep.
At 11 months I tried a controlled crying technique going in every 5 minutes when he awoke. The first night he cried for two hours and woke up another two or three times crying for an hour each time until he was exhausted. The next night it was six minutes and so forth. It took 22 days and nights of hell. He only stopped crying because he'd given up on me coming but we were both traumatised by the experience and I was an utter zombie. It lasted about three months.
This time round, I moved him into a single bed and stayed with him first in bed and then sat on the chair, singing until he slept. If he cries out in the night I go running and quickly settle him. At first I got in the bed with him but now I simply say 'go back to bed sweetie' and tuck the cover in around him and go.
It's taken the same amount of time to get to the same place but this time round it was done without tears (or at least no real miserable ones).
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Two years of sleep hell cracked?
7 replies
Debhen · 06/04/2016 22:05
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