My Baby is Sleeping Through - Miracle!!!

[TC08]

I want to share my story with you in hope that it will help some desperate parents who like me were eager to do anything to get their babies to sleep. As I learned I didn?t even had to go extra mile.

My DS was not sleeping until last Friday. He is 5,5 month old breastfed baby. With my DD we tried Baby Whisper and after a couple of days/1 week she was sleeping through, we never looked back and were absolutely happy. So when my son turned 3 month I was eager to try the same technique. But it failed, he just wouldn't settle. I was up one night from 12.30 until after 5 constantly picking up/putting down, he was not interested in sleep. He was happy to play and not happy to stay in a cot on his own. We tried EVERYTHING: not feeding during the night, giving just water, giving dummy, not giving dummy, feeding on demand just to get any sleep, but no matter what we did we were up at least 5-6 times every night. On most occasions it would take him 30min-1hour to settle down. I was climbing up the walls. A couple of times we got to the point when we just couldn't get up and we left him crying but he wouldn't settle and yes he would cry non-stop for over an hour. I felt terrible and crying myself went to pick him up.
I purchased The No Cry Sleep Solution and did try all her tips with taking dummy out, putting back in, counting to 10 etc But on most occasions he would be up after me trying to do it a couple times and afterwards just wouldn't settle. It seemed that no matter what we tried he was not having it. HV was just saying ? ?you have to accept it, your baby just doesn't need sleep?. I didn't think so, I just knew he didn't know how to put himself back to sleep.

Going over and over internet and mumsnet in particular I came across a post mentioning name Dr Richard Feber and his book "Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems" . Desperate for anything I purchased this book and It was the best money I ever spent. It took us less then 2 nights and yes my baby is sleeping through now.

If anyone is interested in trying his technique I can highlight main points. But I would still recommend to get a book as it give you a good look at sleep in general and does explain everything very good.

I wish someone would of tell us about it months ago. Still over the moon and hope my post will help someone.

x

[mookickkick]

First of all, congratulations! And thanks for offering to share your good fortune. Please do provide a brief summary. I would be very interested

[soremummy]

Oh summary needed Im struggling with my 17mth old bf baby who has never slept through have tried the no cry sleep solution to no avail

[soremummy]

Suppose I have to say congratulations
WELL DONE!

[inscotland]

The points would be great as I don't have much time for reading!

[TC08]

First of all thanks, still can't believe that after all these months he is sleeping. So if my message will help at least one parent - I will be delighted!!!

So Dr Richard Ferber (director of Sleep Laboratory and the Centre for Paediatric Sleep Disorders and paediatrician) talks in a book in general about sleep: REM (rapid-eye-movement sleep) and non-REM. I am not going to go into it but the only thing I would like to mention is that I noticed myself before that after finally I did settle my baby and he fell asleep he would sleep without interruption first 4-6 hours and then will be up every 40min-1 hour. Dr Richard Ferber explains that first we fall into very deep sleep which last approx until 11.00-12.00 then it is very light sleep, during which we dream and then eventually near morning we fall into deep sleep again. That explained to me why he was up more during this specific time.

As regarding to the technique Dr Richard Ferber advices the following (brief):

Summary

Day 1stWait 2ndWait 3rdWait SubsequentWait
1......5........10......15........15
2......10.......15......20........20
3......1 5.......20......25........25
4......20.......25......30........30
5......25.......30......35........35
6......30.......35......40........40
7......35.......40.... ..45........45

1 The chart shows the number of minutes to wait before going in if your child is crying at bedtime or after night-time wakings

2 Each time you go in to your child, spend only 2 t 3 min. Remember, you are going in briefly to reassure him and yourself, not necessarily to help him stop crying and certainly not to help him fall asleep. The goal is for him to learn to fall asleep alone, without being held, rocked, breast-fed, or using a bottle or dummy.

3 When you get to the maximum number of minutes to wait for that night, continue leaving for that amount of time until your child finally falls asleep during one of the periods you are out of the room

4 If he wakes during the night, begin the waiting schedule at the minimum waiting time for that day and again work up to the maximum

5 Continue this routine after all wakings until reaching a time in the morning (usually 5.30 to 7.30) you have previously decided to be reasonable to start the day. If he wakes after that time, or if he is still awake then after waking earlier, get him up and begin the morning routine.

6 Use the same schedule for naps, but if your child has not fallen asleep after 1 hour, or if he is awake again and crying vigorously after getting some sleep, end that naptime period

7 The number of minutes listed to wait are ones that most families find workable. If they seem too long for you, use the times shown on the chart below (I am not typing this chart but if anyone wants it, let me know and I will type it)

8 Be sure to follow your schedule carefully

9 By day 7 your child will probably be sleeping very well, but if further work is necessary, just continue to add 5 minutes to each time on successive days.

First night my DS cried after 5 min, 10 min, 15 min and fell asleep on the second 15 min. He woke up again that night at 12am and again cried until second wait of 15 min and fell asleep until was up at 6am. He cried until 6.30 and I got him up for the day.

Second night it took us the same to put him to sleep (he fell asleep during second wait of 15 min) and slept until 6am.

Third night he just went to sleep and slept until 6.30am.

I was braced myself for the worst but to be honest it was not that hard. He normally did cry anyway when we were putting him to bed and to be honest it was taking us longer to get him to sleep.

Hope it will work for you aswell!!!

[CharCharBaGOOOOOOORE]

Congratulations My DD is 14 months, bf and still wakes at least 3 times a night. It's just controlled crying though isn't it? I don't do that. DD did sleep through the other night but it was a fluke as she's teething (again!) She'll sleep when she's ready.

[VeryHungryKatypillar]

Well done TC08, it must have been hard but you're clearly pleased with the result!

That whole deep sleep, light sleep thing - does the book shed any light on why my DD might wake up 45 mins/1 hour after first going to sleep at 7pm? She wakes up really quite upset, but if we go up to settle her back to sleep, it doesn't take long. Some nights she wakes up twice before doing her longer stint of sleep. It really confuses me why she does this...

Sorry to hijack your thread, just wondered if you had any words of wisdom!