Another round of controlled crying. Who's with me?

[targaryen24]

Anyone else having to re-train (or any first timers) this week?
DS (2yrs) has just got over a cold which threw his good nights out the window, so am bracing myself for a few nights of intermittent stubborn stropping.
If anyone else is doing the same it'd be nice to have some backup so I don't cave in

[forcedinsomnia]

I couldn't do it with my ds now 18mo....although I did try. Now he is pretty good anyway. Jinkes Herself.
However my sil swears by it and all 3 of her dc are now really good sleepers.
So if you can persevere and it works for you good luck. You're braver than me!!!
Sure someone will come along with tips better than my tip to cuddle and sing and rock and dispair and lose the will to live till they are 16mo. Lol.

[targaryen24]

Thanks. And if it works for you it works!

My DS is stubborn as hell when it comes to sleeping and I found that this works better for us, plus he stays awake much longer when I try the gentle route than the harsher one. Need my evenings as i'm a lp & don't really get many breaks At least he strops rather than cries now he's older! Makes me feel less guilty lol.

[forcedinsomnia]

Mine is also very stubborn. It's so hard and trying to find something that works is the hardest thing ever. The only thing that is guaranteed to work with no fuss in the case of my ds is a bottle of milk....dh is happy to do this and does if ever I am away for the night....but I think he must get his stubborn streak from me as I will not give in to the milk bottle....but if I have been away for a night it's then even harder to get him back on track. I sometimes did leave ds to have a paddy if I was making him worse. So I can see where you are coming from.

[Rooneyisalwaysmoaning]

prob not much help, but have you tried seeing their stubbornness as rather an inability to sleep rather than a refusal to?
Or their request for milk as a need?

if they go to sleep with a bottle of milk, what's to fix - you have the solution already.

I'd roll with it, personally though everyone has a different take on this.

[seeker]

Why on earth not give him the milk if it gets him off to sleep with no hassle?

[Rooneyisalwaysmoaning]

unless it's more about establishing who is in charge, ie not giving in to a toddler is the point?

[targaryen24]

He can sleep though. That's the thing, before he had the cold (and countless times before) he slept through. I do this every time he's better and he sleeps through again after 2/3 days. It works, and it means we both get the rest we need again 9seeing as i'm doing this on my own & working, studying etc.)

I didn't post this as a 'should I'. It's not some people's cup of tea & I respect that but it works for us. Just means two horrid days or so.

[targaryen24]

And he's at the age where he'll even sometimes laugh when I walk in after he's been fake-crying for a while. So it's partly about letting him know i'm there when he's ill etc but when he's well, he sleeps in his own bed, without me. He's a very happy, settled boy in the day btw

[targaryen24]

(he's been off milk at night for a few months too. Has it before bedtime, along with the usual bedtime routine)

[Iggly]

See when my ds has had a cold etc his sleep settles down by itself very quickly. Maybe he's not quite recovered.

[targaryen24]

He's been symptom free for a week

[targaryen24]

(he's always been a bad sleeper, so I've always had to be firm about it, even before I tried CC for the first time a year back)

[Iggly]

Maybe there's an underlying issue? My two were/are rubbish because of reflux and food intolerances? Are his ears ok?

[Rooneyisalwaysmoaning]

Sorry if I said the wrong thing. I'm on my own too, so I understand. And we all put distance between ourselves and our dcs, in some way, just not always in the same ways and this is one way of doing it. Boundaries are important and if you see this as a valid argument to have with him then so be it, and best of luck.

Imo though it can be a bit of an unnecessary construction, and those two horrid nights will only have to be done again when he's ill again etc. You may not even need to do it this time, he;s way older than he was...they all sleep by themselves eventually and I think all babies are rubbish sleepers, it's how they come from the factory

I found/find co sleeping/same room easier with my 3. But then I am quite lazy

[targaryen24]

It most certainly is how they come from the factory!
He's a really heavy breather/snorer in the making so I can't sleep a wink if we co-sleep. (though god knows I've tried)! He's getting better and it's taking less time each time which is encouraging as a lp who often feels a bit sleep deprived

[Rooneyisalwaysmoaning]

That's good to know, ds3 is 5 weeks and I am like a zombie

Good luck x

[Iggly]

If he's a snorer - that could be why he's a poor sleeper. Messes with oxygen levels hence waking. A 2 year old shouldn't snore.

[targaryen24]

Thanks.
Congrats on the new baby in that case

[Iggly]

get his snoring checked out