Shush pat- are there babies it just doesn't work for or am I doing it wrong?

[KikiShack]

The title says it all really!
I've tried shush pat a few times, mostly to extend naps (DD was about 8-11 weeks at the time) but no luck at all, she just gets more and more upset and once even vomited from upset.
I've also had no luck with the 4Ss. Do I just need to keep at it? DD is now 14 weeks and I haven't done any of that for a while, I've just been feeding to sleep and doing naps in the buggy or sling.
Is it worth doing anything now or shall I just limp along until 5 months then do some sleep training, maybe cc or cio?

No it doesn't work for all, definitely not my dd, the patting seemed to really irritate her! Your dd sounds quite young tbh to respond well to many methods in my experience. Weirdly the thing that worked best for me was just to put dd to bed and leave ASAP! If she could see me she wanted me and therefore cried but if I put her down (sleepy but not asleep) and quietly left she would settle. Good luck, there really is no one size fits all!

I tried it briefly at 6 months - never seen an angrier baby! We ended up getting a great sleeper (eventually) through CIO. It isn't for everyone, but we worked out that anything even vaguely involving us in the room (sitting, patting, shushing, anything) would make her incandescent with rage. She started self-settling after about 2 days of CIO (quite painless), we then reverted to feeding to sleep for a few months while travelling at 8 months, then she quickly reverted to self-settling again at 11 months when we got home.

Try lots of stuff - but remember, there is no one-size-fits-all solution. Good luck!

Shush pat didn't work for us, nor did the four S's. However, when they were about 1, and not feeding in the night (breastfed small babies) I did pick up put down, which I found brilliant.

I really don't agree with leaving them to scream hysterically not knowing why mummy has suddenly abandoned them cry it out. Sorry

I'm really not keen either howbad but I can't survive on the current system of feeding to sleep from 6.30-9 then between 3 and 10 wake ups from 10-6.that's ok (ish) while I'm on mat leave but is slowly killing dh, and will definitely finish me off when I'm back at work.
I really really hope she improves by herself before I have to resort to something like cc, but I have no confidence the gentler methods will work- I have a very strong willed little girl! However I have said I'm planning to leave her until at least 5 months before doing any of the more hardcore methods. And by then I will sorely need a rest.
DD is EBF and feeds at least once an hour, so I get no break at all apart from night time and I'm getting close to breaking point. DP is wonderful but can't help much as we have a bottle refuser, so I'd appreciate it if you kept your judgement to yourself- this thread is asking about shush pat, not cc/cio which I absolutely hate. However I value my long term mental health above my gorgeous daughter having a couple of painful nights.

Hi Kiki

I've very little experience but two things I found really helpful were extending the duration between day time feeds (my DS was grazing every 2 hours) and moving him to his own room.

Because he was grazing, he neither ever felt full or what it was like to have an empty tummy and this, I believe, was impacting his sleep during the day and night. I managed to get some day sleep into him by using the stealth of the stroller over 3 days and feeding every 3 hrs. We're now up to every 3.5/4. His napping improved, as did his nights.

Also, in my case, I think DS was waking in the night, smelling me and thinking 'food'. Moving him to his own room, while against SIDS guidelines, helped this - I now hear him wake, have a wee grunt or chat, and turn back over to sleep.

But in response to your original question, the technique never worked for us - made him more grumpy.

Good luck....

Morning,

Hang it out until you start weaning. The day DS first had solid food (I gave him a mushed up banana with expressed breast milk) was tge first time he slept through. It was like magic. You have my sympathy, DD is a greedy guts and feeds every three hours at night and doesn't agree with daytime naps.