Sleep training please tell me your success stories

[1500mmania]

Ok we have decided to bite the bullet and sleep train our 1 yr old as he has started waking 3-4 times per night we I think it is behavioural as I keep on rushing in and feeding him.

He was previously quite a good sleeper and used to sleep through (albeit only to 5am) from about 5months but it has recently gone downhill.

We are not adverse to CIO as we did this to help settle him for sleep when he was 5/6 months but I do feel a bit apprehensive about doing it for his night wakings partly because everything seems so much worse in the middle night and I'm more likely to give in & also because we live in a flat and our neighbour upstairs complains about DS crying.

Tell me your stories - how long did it take/ how long do I need to warn the neighbours the crying is likely to last & most importantly did it work?

I did every method going, then did CC took 3 nights. DD went from 6 hours broken sleep to a full 12 hours.

Hi, there is a thread somewhere in Sleep called 'what worked for us' which was brilliant, it's basically a gradual withdrawal method where you go in and sit next to them in the cot but don't feed or pick them up. You just shush, pat etc for every waking until they fall back to sleep.

Gradually the chair gets moved closer to the door and you're giving a check and settle before they go back to sleep.

We started on a Friday night so we knew that we could have a nap during the day if we were shattered at the weekend!

Definitely need a DH or DP on board - for us there was a fair amount of crying but more put on/shouty crying than being really distressed. It took 4 nights and then she slept through! Our other children didn't wake and the neighbours said nothing though we're in a house with very thick walls!

It felt amazing to get some sleep after hourly wake ups - my DD was 10 months when we did it, my other children slept really well so I has never had to consider anything like this before but I'm glad I did, I don't think it was cruel and I got my sanity back.

If you are worried about you neighbour and this is making you feel uncomfortable, can you speak to them just to let them know what you are doing? Then you may have 1 less worry.

Thanks for the quick responses and please keep them coming.

I'm going to email my neighbours and let them know what we are planning I'm just not sure how long to warn them about the crying/ how many days etc so your experience will be greatly appreciated and will spur me on and help to keep my resolve in the middle of the night.

I don't think gradual withdrawal is an option for DS as it just seems to infuriate him more (similar with PU/PD which i did when he was younger) he's an all or nothing kinda kid!

Just check for ear issues my DD2 only started to reliably sleep when she had grommets to alleviate glue ear.

I sleep trained DS2 at 12 months. Like you I had gone in to feed him every time he woke prior to this and he was waking 3 or 4 times a night. The last night, I went in fed him, put him back in his cot and he just cried.

I left him to it. I had tried walk in/walk out half heartedly for naps, and it just wound him up even more, so I shut the door and went back to bed, with the monitor on. I think I went in once after about 5 minutes, and told him to go to sleep, but nothing after that).

It was horrible, but after 40 minutes he went back to sleep.

From then on, he slept through the night, unless unwell. If he makes a noise now, I know something is up with him. He loves his bed, is happy to go and we have all got good nights sleep since.

(DS1 I went along with, and to be honest I was still going into him waking in the night at 3+ so it really didn't do him any good).

It was harsh, but quickly effective.

You can't say how long it will take. Dd1 cried for 1 hour every night for a week. Dd2 cried for a whole night, and then got it.

Decide your strategy, agree it with your supporter, and stick to it.

Good luck

we were in a similar position, ds2 (9 months) was waking up to 6 times a night, and I'd feed him to sleep. Over the last week I've been trying something different. The first night, each time he woke I'd feed him, but only for 7 min. When the time was up, the first night he took about an hour to get back to sleep (I stayed with him until he settled), and we did that four times. The next night we did 6 min feeds, and he settled back to sleep within 10 min each time. Friday night we were down to 1 min feeds, and that wasn't a good night. I wasn't looking forward to last night, which was the first night of no feeds, but he really surprised me and slept until 3.30. This was the first time ever that he'd slept for over 7 hours. He settled back to sleep within 10 min without a feed, and slept again until 5.30, bit which point he was awake for the day. I don't know yet how he'll be tonight, but I'm feeling more positive.

We have just done sleeping training with our 6 month old. We started by trying to keep her awake during her bedtime bottle and then put her down awake. She was fine with this, but still woke at least once a night. So we decided to step it up a little and moved her bottle to before her bath. Then bath, stories and down properly awake. The first night she went straight to sleep (I was amazed!), but woke unusually early (10.30pm). I tried walking her around with no luck, but was determined not to feed her. So then we put her down and did the checking routine. The whole crying thing lasted max half an hour and she wasn't really distressed. That night she slept through till 7.30am and has done since (2 more nights). It was simple, manageable and most of all it worked. I have had 3 proper nights sleep for the first time in 6 months! I know its early days, but it really feels like she has got it.

Sorry - also meant to say good luck!!

Hiya,
I'm writing this at nearly 4am, in the middle of sleep training my nearly 12month old (she is now asleep but I can't sleep as I must be so used to being up at this time!).

I am doing CIO as having half heartedly tried various things over the past few months (gradual withdrawal / controlled crying / lots of shushing & patting etc) she just seemed to get more upset & furious when I appeared in her room & didn't offer her a feed. Also, when I did get out of bed to go in her room to her, I was finding myself just offering her boob because it was a quick & easy way to quieten her down.

When I don't go in, she is angry, but not hysterically upset - I call it her angry singing - and figure that if I don't go near here then I won't be tempted to just latch her on.

I told myself that if she cries hysterically and sounds really upset, then I will definitely go into her. Otherwise, I'll leave her to it.

So far tonight (night 1) she has woken at 10.30pm, 1am, 2.55am and 3.30am. She has fallen back to sleep on her own each time after 20-40mins of her 'angry singing'.

Hopefully it'll only take 3 or 4 nights of doing this - worked a dream with DC2 (& am happy to report that she is a beautiful sleeper now, and not at all scarred by CIO!). My DC1 has always slept well & I'm constantly analysing what I did with him that made him that way, when my next 2 have been such terrible sleepers, and the only thing I can think is that he was bottle fed whereas DC2 & DC3 have been fully BF - and its just SO easy to latch a baby on when they're grizzling at night, hence leading to problems teaching them to fall back to sleep on their own - I have been their own personal dummy!

Good luck whatever you decide to go with - you need to psych yourself up to it, and remember that it shouldn't take much more than 3 or 4 nights.

I really must get back to bed!

I'm in the middle of sleep-training my 5 month old.

I'm putting him down awake, singing a lullaby, then leaving. Check on him after 3 minutes, 5 minutes then every 10 minutes. By check, I mean I go back in, sing the lullaby while I re-adjust his covers, and leave. I'm doing both naps and bed-time. Yet to tackle in the middle of the night. I know he can go from 11pm (last feed) till 7am, but once he wakes up around 3am it's impossible to get him back to sleep.

We're about a week in, and for the first 3/4 nights we had about 20-30 minutes crying on each night. Today, for all 3 naps and bedtime, he's gone down awake, cried for about 1 minute and then fallen asleep.