Your experience in Sleep Training Methods

[PrincessTwolyilah]

Hi all

I have a 9 month old dd. Who is a terrible sleeper. Im considering the controlled crying method.

she has a bedtime routine bath massage lights dimmed feed etc. but she wont settle to sleep once in the cot and its an up hill struggle from there on.

My question is basically how did your little one(s) manage to settle and sleep at bedtime?

Is controlled crying a good way to train LO?

and How long did it take to train your baby to sleep themselves??

we used the no-cry sleep solution by eliabeth pantley

Hi Princess, I have just started with the no-cry sleep solution. DD is 8.5 m.o. and has so far been responding well when I thought that she wouldn't. She was also terrible at settling to sleep (sometimes taking as long as 1.5 hours for me to get her to sleep) so I looked into CC a while ago.

From what I could see the key to it was consistency and being able to follow it through. I know that I personally don't have the gumption to stick with it so looked for an alternative and decided with ncss which is based on a more gradual withdrawal method.

IMHO, it's worth looking into a few different (CC, ncss, PUPD etc) and deciding what you're comfortable with and can see through.

Sending you good sleep vibes, whichever method you decide to choose :).

If u do want to do CC then read up on it first.it did work with my DD but she was 1.Millpond Sleep Clinic have a good book and I also liked 'teach your child to sleep through the night'.

Basically it's all about them learning to self settle. Also some babies do cry when they're going to sleep as they wind down.

Hi all

Yes i have read up on cc. And i think its the best option since iv basically exhausted other methods and this is my last resort option.

I just wanted to know other peoples experiences in using this method?

thanks in advance :)

I haven't used CC but have helped my DS learn to self settle. He's BF.

He wont do it if he's overtired, ill or teething.

Best thing (if you're going to try sleep training) is to put your DD to bed half an hour earlier than normal. Does she fall asleep quickly if you feed her to sleep?

I would put DS down after a feed and gave him a comforter. Lights are out and he knows I'm still in the room (I make gently noises by folding clothes for example). He flaps about then falls asleep. However, if he's crying then I pick him up, give a cuddle until he's drowsy then put him down and try again. If it doesn't work, I'll just rock/feed to sleep.

We tried pick up, put down, which didn't work after three nights. So we gave up!

DS was a terrible sleeper until 12 months, then suddenly taught himself to self-settle and was sleeping through consistently as soon as all his teeth had come through. Looking back, I can attribute his poor sleeping to teething (even though he had none of the symptoms at the time) so am v glad we didn't consider CC.

we have used pick up put down from the baby whisperer- which at least allows you to pick baby up when she cries and comfort her/support her while she learns to self settle. After using for a month she will now settle in about 20 mins, and most nights sleeps for at least a 6 hour stretch before waking (last night 8 hours) has quick feed then will be put down again and settle herself...

CC was not for us- its tough doing any method, you have to be consistent and I knew we could not leave her to cry at all on her own, but each to their own.

good luck!!

When we did CC we had really quick results,I was staggered.In the book I used it said it would probably work within 3 nights,in fact it was two nights.The most DD cried for was 45 minutes which felt like 45 hours but I went in after 5mins,then 10mins then every 15 until she dropped off.

You sound quite desperate so that is a good frame of mind to start from!Just remember that when they are crying they are pissed off and protesting that you're not doing what they are used to.
good luck,I hope you get quick results.

Thanks all for your responses.

Mumcah I am suprised as well at how fast cc worked.

I did try the cc technique for one night only. well a shortened version of it. put her in the cot and left the room went back in every 2/3mins just to lay her back down to reassure her. gave her sips of water in her cot to settle her. on and off she would fall asleep for 10mins, 15mins then wake up again. but after an hour of struggle she went to sleep for the night.

The initial 30 mins of cc was tough. My lo didnt like it one bit. But the rest of the time she just made wimpering noises and sobbed everytime she awoke. (i did feel really bad at that point - but sometimes tough love is a good thing)

The next day.
During her day naps i did the same thing and put her in her cot. and let her sleep by herself (no patting, shhing etc). But i think she learnt from the night before that cot means sleep and didnt resist or fight.

Iv also been analysising her day routine. So iv managed to see where the problem was. basically she was getting up at 10am/11am in the morning and not sleeping till that time at night 10pm/11pm and i would have her bedtime set for 8pm. So ive changed that round to 7am wake up (thats when she would get up for milk anyway) but now i keep her up for till about 9.30am then she naps and so forth the rest of the day and 7pm bedtime.

This has been the second night and iv not had to use cc technique at all. by 7.15pm she dosed off herself. at 8pm she did awake gave her dummy and she turned to her side and went to sleep again. happy days :) (i hope)

just writing a detailed version in case other mums have the same issues.