Pu/pd success and failure stories?

[Natalie77]

LO is 3 months old and always bf to sleep; man, if I could just go back for a second and tell myself NOT to do that!

She has never napped without being held, as she always woke up within 20 mins, if not as soon as put down. She had terrible colic and so I couldn't bear her overtired as well so I indulged her. Now, I can't even move her position without waking her up, let alone hand her to someone else or put her down! Can't sleep and can't go out because she won't even sleep in stroller.

Thinking of doing pickup put down, and need some reassurance/reality check!

If you tried pu/pd did it work? How old were they when you did it? How long did it take each night & how many days? What did you do if didn't work? Tell me everything!!

Help?

Dismally failed for us, but then so did everything else! My sister had a lot of success with it, I think because her DS was much calmer so he would be properly soothed by a brief pickup and cuddle, whereas ds1 would actually get even more upset on being picked up! Probably depends a lot on the baby's temperament...

Also - at 3 months you haven't indulged her, just nurtured her! There's plenty of time for good sleep habits yet, and plenty of your friends who now look smug about their dozy little people will be looking a lot less so when the four month sleep regression kicks in!

There are definitely some things you can do to help with sleep,but fundamentally some babies just sleep better than others, especially in the early days. The No Cry Sleep Solution has some good gentle techniques including a whole section on good habits under 4 months, so you still have time

If you do want to try pu/pd, you'll know soon enough whether it is working or whether your instincts are telling you to leave it for a bit longer. Good luck whichever way you go!

My DS is nearly 6 m and we tried pu/ pd around 3-4m and no, didn't work. I think they're still too little really. I still feed to sleep a lot, but from about 4 m he would drop off in pushchair. Once he'd graduated from lying flat in the pram to sitting up a but he was better.
I used a sling as well and he would fall asleep in that without feeing to sleep, have you tried one? A stretchy wrap from birth then from 3-4 m a mei tai.
He also did the very short nap thing, I feel your pain! we have a toddle pod, there is a version for under 6 m called a snooze pod which can help them feel more secure when lying down. Also lying on his side helps too.
It does get better, just do what you feel is right.
Good luck

I mean 7m, not nearly 6
Night feeds

A combination of pu/pd and "pat and shush" worked for us at 5.5mo. Dd1 was a Velcro baby and would only sleep on us, she lived in a sling and slept on me at night. I was knackered!

We did three nights of pu/pd and she was sleeping through. But f*ck me, they were a hard three nights. Hoping to avoid it with dd2... But that said, she's currently sound asleep with my left boob in her mouth

As hard as it is i think your dc maybe too young to sleep train. In the early days they either do or they don't. There's not a lot you can do about it.

I tried from birth with ds pfb and we had a good bedtime routine from 6 weeks but he woke up so much and would not nap anywhere other than his cot.

Dd we left till 6 months. It took a week to get her into naps. A bit longer for bedtime but were almost there. Only need to address night feeds, she's 13 months and still wakes most nights but I think teeth, cold, food allergy etc have a lot to do with it.

Thanks all. What worries me about it is how darn hard she is to settle when she gets going. Usually only settles when given boob, which obviously is not on option with this! I can see me still on the first pu hrs in! I worry her temperament isn't suited, but I haven't been able to slip my boob out even when she's right on the verge without major meltdown so the 'no sleep' doesn't seem like it'll work, and I don't want to do controlled crying, even if she were old enough, although I suspect that's where we'll end up! :( thanks for the help!

At 3 months you get them to sleep any time, any place, any how!

Mine was a crap sleeper, 4 month regression slammed us hard and ultimately drove me to sleep train for my own sanity.

Pu/pd did not work at all - was far too stimulating and worked him up into a rage. Small bursts of cc was what got him self settling in the end.

I can't remember, but doesn't the Baby Whisperer say 3 months is too young for PUPD?

We are dojng pu/pd at the moment and it's working well. Dd is 6 months old and had previously always been fed to sleep. First night took 45 minutes and numerous pick ups, second night 25 mins, tonight 2 mins and no pick ups. I wouldn't have tried it when she was any younger though.

Pupd worked for us at 7ish plus months. 3 months is a bit too early

Far too stimulating for my DD. At almost five months she is verrrrrrry slowly making progress, though. I don't feed her to sleep at bedtime or nap time any more and she's recently started napping in her cot. Not for long, but it's a start.

What's helped us with naps is a snooze shade for the buggy - she rarely used to sleep in the buggy as there was just far too much to see. The snooze shade has totally turned that around - she always goes off in the buggy with it on. Again, only short naps (30 mins ish) but it's definitely helped us get into a nap habit. I'd recommend - got mine from amazon for about £18, I think.

I've just got to find a way to drag her naps out now!

Pupd worked well for us. My lo slept well until 3.5 months, then stopped feeding / cuddling to sleep but couldn't fall asleep on her own either.

She also woke repeatedly through the night (with hunger, I am sure), fed well but then couldn't get back to sleep, cue lots of screaming (her) and crying (me).

I tried pupd at around 4 months and she got it really quickly. She can now fall asleep on her own, which helps at bed time, after night feedings and also at nap times. There are still some hard nights but mostly it's MUCH better.

It took 3-4 nights of picking her up about 20-30 times ( I didn't count), but soon she settled with me holding her hand or stroking her tummy etc, without me having to pick her up.

I found it easier not to get stressed when doing pups because i had a PLAN! Before i was rocking, shushing etc for hours until she passed out through exhaustion at midnight. Although tbe picking up can get tiresome, for me it at least felt lime there was hope.

Good luck i hope it works for you.

Please excuse typos :)

PUPD didn't work at all for us (we tried it periodically from 3-5 mths). Dd just became more and more wound up each time I picked her up. She'd cry until she threw up (as I held her).

At 3 months I used a combination of sling (with dummy) and pram to get dd to do 3-4 short naps a day, sometimes in the sling she would sleep for longer. When I weaned at 6 mths things improved slightly, dd would reliably do two 40 min naps in her cot (after solids and formula) and one or two 30 min naps in her pram, per day.

There's no single solution that works for all children, do try different methods if PUPD isn't working.

Yep, pu/pd didn't work. :( thanks for the support! Xx

We're thinking of trying this with DD who is just coming up to 6 months, but she's currently heavily reliant on the dummy to settle. Is it right that dummy use isn't compatible with pu/pd? Anyone had any experience of trying to combine the two, or weaning off the dummy at this age?

So it didn't work at all OP? Not worth persevering for a while? Although I suspect 3 months is probably a bit young.

She's tiny. Just let her have the boob she wants?

Its not a bad habit and sleep training is not essential.

I think possibly 3 months is exactly the wrong age; to old for the shh/pat to work, so young the pick up put down is waaaay to stimulating.

I know, shinynewname, I wouldn't mind (haven't minded) if I could move her. I can't even move her position now to get her in a sling, or pass to another, let alone put her down! I'm basically stuck to a chair for her naps, which means I'm not sleeping and so exhausted, and can't spend as much of her awake time with her as I want because I have to do stuff then. She needs me when she's awake, not when she's asleep! ;)

Can you feed, get in sling then walk about quickly to get her to sleep? That's what I had to do for DS2. :)

It is hard work, but I guess they're kind of designed to guzzle away and grow at this age. Also they like cuddles .

If you can crack sling naps its great to get stuff done, even just eating some lunch. . .

Can you lie down in bed together for a nap so you can catch up a bit?

Yes we did pupd at 4 months with dd. Worked well but really should have tailored it to suit her (not picked up as she got more worked up rather than calmed!). If you have the baby whisperer book, check out tye section on types of baby and work out what you have bfore deciding on a course of action. Eg. If you have a textbook or angel baby they will respond well to pupd. Touchy, spirited and grumpy babies need different tactics and she explains all the stuff about winddown/calming down techniques.

Sounds a bit complicated Mewkins!

Just came on again to say that of you're looking at other options, 3 months is definitely not too old for shush pat as a pp said - plenty of kids still respond to it after 12 months!

It's not really. There's a simple questionnaire to help you figure out your baby type and then some pointers for each eg. Try swaddling a touchy baby etc. They become less important probably the older your baby but helpful to start with. I like the baby whisperer as it gave me hope (there is a bit that says there is no healthy baby it can't work on with perseverance and consistency- gave me hope!)