Sleep training?

[Treasured]

Would love some advice because I cannot bear the thought of months of this torture anymore.

So my DS hit the 4 month sleep regression and 3 months later, his sleep gets worse and worse every day.

I’ve tried everything I can possibly think of to help him sleep but he still wakes every 30-40 minutes every night and screams to be rocked back to sleep. The only way he’ll sleep longer is if I cave and take him in with me.

The last few weeks we have gradually moved him in to his own room to see if that might help... still terrible!

So I’m thinking my last resort is some kind of sleep training which I’ve been reluctant to do until now.

The problem with this is I don’t really know where to start... I guess I’ve probably created a problem for myself with the rocking but it’s hard in the middle of the night when you’re exhausted and have neighbours through a thin wall.

Keep him close to you. Babies want to be near their mums as they sleep.

What is his routine op?

Also sleep training doesn't always mean cry it out.

Tackle one thing at a time. Start with bedtime - he needs to learn how to fall asleep by himself. You can do this gently and gradually, or you can rip the bandaid off and do it quickly, with some crying. I did it the latter way and it took a week.

I kept doing whatever worked overnight, but i started giving the baby 5 minutes to grumble and cry before i went in. She put herself off to sleep a few wakes each night and gradually woke less, until she was only waking once or twice. I could live with that, so we stayed like that for a few months, and then i did CC again for night wakes to wean overnight. She was sleeping 7-7 after one night.

Cry it out isn’t sleep training it’s just ignoring your baby’s needs - keep your baby close, it won’t last forever

Sorry to say but I was in your position so I did a sleep course, we trained him and it worked for a week... then back to square one. He now sleeps 7-10 in his own bed and 10-7 in bed with us.

We were recommended the book 'teach your child to sleep'. It was fantastic - loads of facts and strategies but did not preach. It also has step by step instructions and flow charts for sleep deprived parents to follow!

We chose the 'gradual withdrawal' approach which had some crying but we never left him when he was crying.

I sleep trained DD at about 10 months to get her to fall asleep by herself, this did improve the night waking a bit as she learnt to self settle between cycles. We did CC which I know isn't for everyone but PUPD didn't work and gradual retreat just annoyed her (did work at 2.5 though). She was still in bed with me from about 4am every day though.

Annoyingly it's such a period of development that you might get a bit of respite for a while but then it might change again.

Not much advice but have a 5 month old who’s sleep has got worse since around 3 and a half months. Last week or so has been waking every 35mins- hour day and night and it’s exhausting. Assuming it’s his sleep cycle as he is well fed, has a dry nappy etc. Your not alone

So bring him in the bed with you and keep him close. Follow the safe sleep principles which you can Google. Babies need their mothers. It's only natural. Sleep training is not. Good luck

Oh and don't let anyone make you think that you've "created a problem for yourself" by rocking your baby to sleep. If it works, it's better than a baby crying and screaming themselves to sleep IMHO.