sttn - is it really such a big deal?

[butternutforbreakfast]

Or to put it another way: sleep training - is it worth it?

We've been doing some gentle sleep training and now my 7 mo Ds will self settle at bedtime (with a lot of help from me) but he still wakes for feeds 5 times in the night.

I would dearly like to get at least two hrs of sleep in one go, but on the other hand we both seem to cope pretty well with the broken nights. If we get a decent morning nap then we function fine.

DS is thriving and doesn't complain much (well he has boob and cuddles permanently on tap) and I have niggles in the back of my mind - he's not ready for sleep training, he's hungry in the night, umpteen reasons why he needs me...

I don't know whether to plough on with the training or just wait for him to grow out of it. Cd be a long slog since am using no cry methods.

So, some reassurance needed: when your LO finally sttn did it change your life? Was it really amazing and worth every second of the shushing, strokk

7m is still very little, and sleep training doesn't always work.
I'm on DC3 and into my 6th year of broken sleep. I'm sure my IQ is lower than it was, I am clumsier, more forgetful etc. Have tried all sorts but my children just don't STTN until they're over 3. when they get there they sleep well, it's just those first 3 years...

Yes it was amazing!

For me it's not just the promise of unbroken sleep, it's also the fact that you can have a glass of wine at 8pm knowing he won't wake up and need you, and also that once he was sleeping through I could go out, knowing he wouldn't wake and be upset I wasn't there.

I did pick up out down when DS was 6 months and he's slept 12 hours through ever since, is now 2.5. It is wonderful

3.5 years of broken sleep tends to take its toll though.

At 7 months I would probably go for a gentle training method like no cry sleep solution

Sillyoldfool, you have my sympathy. DD is so bad with sleep we have decided not to have another one, at one point I was getting 2 - 3 hours sleep per night.