Anyone want to join me for a sleep training support thread?

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Hello,

Just starting sleep training my 5 month old DD and thought it would be nice to chart how it goes on here and hope to get some company with fellow sleep trainers.

Hopefully this will give me more tips to try and more confidence to continue.

What sleep training are you doing? I have 5 month old with horrendous sleep... Thinking some sort of training needs to happen but not sure what!

Good luck to you!

So last night was first attempt.

Here is a quick rundown of problems- DD initially would only sleep on me, after three month got her into her cot but she generally woke every 1.5 to 3 hours and only the boob would do. From around 4am I would have to stay in her room with her snoozing on me or it was up for the day.

We have slowly been introducing a bit of shush pat to try and improve thing and also white noise.

My plan was to train her to go to sleep without boob in her mouth so last night I fed her with both boobs, burped her then put her down in her cot quite awake. Fury ensued. I tried shush patting but she was doing mini push up and wailing, so I decided to add in a bit of PUPD to try and calm things. Cuddled her then put her back down three times, then finally she started to settle.

After 30 mins of back rubbing she was asleep, hurrah!

Went downstairs to watch footy and waited. She often wakes up around 9pm, but nope, nothing. So at 10.30 I went to bed crossing my fingers.

She woke at 1.30 and only cos that when DP got back from the pub. She had a mega feed then went back down easily.

She woke again at 4am and it was looking bad, she was really awake and looking round and wasn't even into cuddling or feeding to sleep, so I randomly decided to just put her back in her cot and do a runner and cor blimey it worked! She actually self settled!

She awoke for the day at 6 .30 and got the biggest cuddle ever!

Am feeling quite hopeful now and will hope tonight is as good, although have an epic car trip and family party today so looking dicey.

Sorry for long and boring post but it's helpful for me to use this as a sleep log. Hope some others join me soon, I could do with the company!

Ooh, I'd bought the no cry sleep solution and did our sleep log 2 days ago with my DS (6.5 months) and we were up 9 times. Last night was the first night of following it and we were only up 6 times!!

Good skills on your good night - long may it last :)

Hi zambooloo the sleep training I am using is pretty much the no cry sleep solution, the bits I am using are the training to not go to sleep bf ing, and I have decided to use shush pat as the calming technique as it has worked in the past. I am just starting with the initial bedtime bit in terms of putting in cot awake as not got the balls or energy to shush pat all night!

pottering hello and welcome! Please do keep logging your nights here, sounds like you are on an upward curve which can only be a good thing!

Oh and I forgot to add that I am going to try and tackle early waking (when there is some) by doing morning nap no earlier than 9 am.

Good luck troops!

Wow bundle that is an excellent start. I can't believe how similar the problems with sleep are with our dc's! We have exactly the same issues - waking throughout the night every 1-3hrs, she is ff but needs to be rocked back to sleep each time she wakes. She also wakes at 5 in the morning, but we have trouble settling her from 4 onwards. I will show dp your post & see about trying it!

Have a nice time today!

That's our issue to crack too - no breastfeeding to sleep. When it was written down it amazed me how little he was actually awake for - hoping to break the cycle!

I started sleep training my 7 month old about 3 weeks. She was a TERRIBLE sleeper, always put down asleep fed to sleep, then after the first 2 hours she would wake.every.45.mins....all night. I finally couldn't take it any longer and did some controlled crying. I cannot praise it enough. Literally changed my life. I placed her awake in her cot after bedtime routine, then left the room for 1 mins. She cried. Went back in after 1 min (set a timer), went in picked her up, cuddles, then back down. The most she ever cried was 8 mins (with me going in every 1 min). After 2 days she started sleeping 7am- 6am. And has been now o 3 weeks. Hope this helps some desperate mummies out there considering this. She now goes in her got sleepy but awake and no tears, not since night 2.

Just to add I guess I did a mixture of controlled crying with pu/pd.

Hi alabama glad your sleep training went so well, let's hope it goes that smoothly for the rest of us! It's amazing how much a bit of sleep can change your life!

Night two

It went pretty good again! But to caveat we did have an exhausting and unusual day as was at a family party so DD got lots of attention and was probably completely knackered.

So at bedtime we did the usual bath routine then I fed her from both boobs, burped her and gave her a cuddle to make sure she was a little bit awake. I put her in the cot with the ocean sounds on and rubbed her back for about five mins. She was so tired she didn't even protest, just lay there and sucked her fingers which seemed to help soothe her.

After five mins I stopped rubbing and just left my hand on her for another five before sneaking off. Then shock of shocks she didn't wake until 3am! 'twas amazing! She then had a feed and was back to sleep within 20 mins.

She woke again at 5am and I tried feeding and leaving but that didn't work so I snoozed with her until 7am, not ideal as am trying to get out of this habit but just too temping to stay asleep.

Am so chuffed how much better things are and hope they continue to get better or At least stay the same as this!

Night three, not so good.

DD has a cold and is very snotty so things went backwards a bit.

Took twenty minutes of back rubbing and a PUPD cuddle before she settled for the night at 7pm, she kep snuffling all evening and nearly woke at 9before resettling herself. Then she woke for a feed at 11.30 and was quite tricky to resettle, then woke also at 3am and 6am I fed her both times and snoozed with her from 6 until 7 am when we got up.

Could have been worse and hopefully she'll get over her cold soon and we can get back on right track!

pottering and zambooloo how are you getting along?

Hi, well think we may be onto something but too soon to tell really. Dd is very active & alert & nosy!! This weekend we have been really busy. I made sure she got decent naps but in between naps we were straight out the door and she was constantly busy. So yesterday her last nap was at 3.30 for 1/2hr. We then went out to eat, then to dp's mum so didn't get home until 7. She had bath etc and went to bed at 8.

Previously she has only ever stayed awake for 2hrs without needing a nap so am amazed she was happy from 4-8! She went down fine, woke for milk at 10 and 3. I let her in bed with me after 3 as she never really settles in cot after that & she slept until 6 - this is AMAZING for her!!

It's going to be exhausting and probably impossible to be busy all the time but she does obviously need a lot of stimulation in order for her to be tired enough to sleep well.

Today I'm also trying 2 rather than 3 naps so will update tomorrow!!
Good luck for tonight, hope your lo feels better soon. That night was still v good though!

Good work zambooloo glad you have found something that works, it feels amazing to have a bit of a break through cos it makes you realise that things can get better! Hope the two nap strategy works for you, it might take a few days to settle but then hopefully things will keep improving.

Night four was basically foul.

DD pretty unwell with temperature and snot galore so everything went out the window and it was feeding every two hours all night and sleeping onme from 4am.

Fair enough as she is ill but really hope things can continue improving once she is better. Worried we are back to square one.

Oh, can I play too?
My son is almost 6 months old. Every time we've tried sleep training before we have been ambushed by a cold, travel, growth spurt...
He was on a baby whisperer EASY schedule but it all went to hell when he was ill and I'm finding it much harder to get him back into it.
We have the evening routine down, no problem: nappy-free time, bath, feed, sleep (by bedtime he's shattered and falls asleep while I'm burping him but wakes when he hits the cot - a bit of shhing and a hand on his chest and he's asleep). He then wakes up every 3 hours to eat until we go to bed, after which he wakes more often. At the subsequent wakings I've got into the bad habit of just feeding him to get him back to sleep, but judging by the amount he's eating he's not really hungry, just wants the comfort (cuddles etc don't seem to cut it).

I was planning to go the library and get the No-Cry Sleep Solution today, I take it that you would recommend it?

Hi moxxie welcome to the thread, I share your pain.

I did base my loose 'plan' on what I read in the No Cry Sleep Solution. There is lots of good advice there and you can kind of pick and choose what you use.

Sounds like you have very similar prob to the rest of us in the thread so hopefully we can all help and encourage each other. They say the most important thing is to be consistent so hopefully we can help each other stay on track when we waver!

Good luck! Let us know which tactics you intend to use...

Currently reading the Pantley book. It all seems to make sense, and not be too far from what we're doing already.
So we haven't really started yet other than sticking to bedtime routine. I also tried to avoid feeding him lying down last night, as that's where the temptation to feed feed feed comes from. He definitely slept better and only fed when genuinely hungry, though was wide awake at 4.30 and naps this morning are already off track...

Ok. I'm in. Have 6 month old dd who HATES sleep! I need help and it sounds like we're all in the same boat here.
At the minute she fights sleep and me constantly. It's so hard to get her to nap during the day and by bedtime she's so wired it all ends up in total meltdown. She lashes out, back arching, legs kicking and scratching herself. Last night she was actually bleeding where she pulls at her hair, ears, scratching so hard due to tiredness. It's now got to stage where boob won't even settle her. We're up every hour or so at the minute. I need to take action!

Think I'll join this one! I have a nearly 9 month old who is still waking in night and is nightmare to get back to sleep and just will not self settle. I was breastfeeding up to 6 months and in my wisdon thought if I changed to bottle feeding he might sleep through! He didn't . Last night he woke for a feed about 1.30 and fed back to sleep but then was awake again by 3 and was up for hours! Some nights he is upsett and crying and other nights (like last night) he just seemed to think it was time to get up for the day! My first dc slept through from 8 weeks so am a bit lost with what to do this time around. DD is aged 3 so sleep durig the day to catch up is just not an option! Keep thinking about controlled crying but just haven't had the heart to do it- plus worried about how this will then wake dd and cause even more problems. Due back at work in 2 weeks so really want to get this sorted as will be returning to 12 hour work days (condensing hours) and just not sure how I am going to cope on the little sleep we are getting now!

Hi trees and milkys!

Welcome to the thread! What tactics are you thinking of trying? I have to say sometimes I feel like I am sort of doing controlled crying by stealth because DD does cry while I shush pat her to sleep and sometimes I think she'd conk out just as quickly if I was rubbing her back or not. I just feel better doing it cos then I don't feel quite so mean.

milkys I feel your pain over trying not to wake siblings. I have a 4 yo and a 2 yo (both of whom loved sleeping so DD's problems are all new to me) and I always worry about DD waking them, but it only seems to wake them from about 5.30 am so can make for early starts all round!

Just back from docs with DD she has perforated eardrum due to infection so I won't even tell you how rubbish last night's sleep was! Will get back to training once she is better. At least being I'll is making her sleep well in the day (albeit strapped to me in a sling!).

Onwards and upwards!

I've read the no cry sleep solution so attempting that with shush pat. Some questions though for the wise; for naps how long do I keep trying to get her to sleep? Is there a point where I should just give up and get on with our day? Also during the night do I offer boob and risk her falling asleep after ten mins, she does this every hour or so at night

Hi trees can you post your usual nap routine so we can try and see what's going on with your DD.

As for nights I am trying to offer boob if it has been at least three hours between feeds, if earlier I go for the shush pat for a max of twenty minutes and if no joy go for the boob, but the shushing usually works.

Not sure exactly what I'm going to try but need to make a decision! Don't think I can go for a full on CC but might try the shush pat rather than automatically picking DS up and feeding/ rocking/ cuddling back to sleep which is what I'm doing now. It's just so hard in the middle of night not to scoop him up and bring him into our bed for a cuddle. As I'm typing all I can think is I need to go to bed now so I will at least get some rest before he's up again!

Nap routine? I try to get her to sleep mid morning, usually two hours after getting up she shows signs of tiredness. Afternoons there is no set time, again I just watch for cues. She generally naps in her pram as I have to walk our dog morn and late afternoon.

Sigh. Here I am, up already...
We had a busy day yesterday so routine flew out of the window and naps were few and far between. The good thing is that he didn't seem to sleep any worse for it, but we've been up since 5.30. I left him in his cot for the first half hour as he was awake but not upset (though grunting and making other noises) but when DH stomped to the bathroom at 6.05 I took it as a sign that we should vacate the premises...
My approach today: do anything I can to get the naps in - though I am experimenting with not letting him go back to sleep before 2 hours awake now, to try and combat the early waking - and start working on the feeding to sleep.

Hi everyone. I've had lots of tips on here that I've been trying to put into practice but I'm not sure how to work it in reality.

Dd is nearly 6 months. She gets tired after 2-2.5hrs awake. I've been told not to let her nap before 9 (to combat early waking) but she wakes no later than 6am so getting to 9 is a struggle. I was also advised to drop late afternoon 1/2hr nap (also to combat the early waking) but if she's only meant to need about 3hrs sleep a day - how am I supposed to work this system? Any ideas???