Little ones- newborn sleep program

[notsureifimbeingur]

Hello, has anyone tried this Little Ones Newborn Sleep Program to help get their baby into a routine?

I have a 7 week old DD, and I am struggling to get her into a daily routine regarding awake time/naps etc.

The above program is £25 and I’m considering getting it, wondered if anyone has any reviews?

My wee girl will sometimes take a dummy and we have managed twice to get her to nap with it during the day. I tried putting her down drowsy, putting dummy in/walk away/put back in if it falls out technique and it seemed to work.

Would anyone mind sharing their daily routine for their 7 week old?

Night times aren’t too bad, although she co-sleeps with me and I am trying to get her out of this habit too, but want to tackle one thing at a time! Figured if I could get her to associate dummy with sleep then it might help her at night.

Thanks for any advice.

A seven week old is too young for a routine. Just follow her lead and feed her when she’s hungry, let her nap (on you if necessary) when she feels like it, respond to her whenever she wakes at night. I have 3 DC and you either get a sleeper, or you don’t. You’ll stress you and her out trying to force a routine so young. Don’t pay for any program! DC3 only started to get into a rhythm at five months.

You see, I’m more than happy to follow her lead, but family and friends are telling me I’m “making a rod for my back” and “it’ll be difficult later on to get her out of those habits” and I’m wondering what on earth I’m supposed to be doing! This is my first (you can probably tell that!)

You are legally allowed to throw rotten eggs at anyone who uses that awful phrase ‘rod for your own back’. It’s actually another boring stick we use to beat women who are doing their best.

Your baby will change so often over the next few months, naps dropped, sleep cycles change. It’s just not possible to spoil them at this age. Be responsive, get to know your little girl, and be happy with your choices.

In my experience it’s the older generation who tended to be told to bottle feed at four-hourly intervals, let the baby cry in the pram at the bottom of the garden for naps, cry it out at night, etc. that trot out the “rod for your back” lines.

Strict routines don’t work with successful breastfeeding as it’s so baby-led. They know when/how much they need and it varies over the early weeks. Advice is now not to sleep train until at least six months, but I never tried before a year, and wouldn’t consider CIO (which was what my MIL etc. were trying to push from a newborn). Just nod, smile and ignore...

So even if I try really hard to get her into a strict pattern she likely will change it many times as she grows? I suppose there’s no guarantee she will stick to it after both of us struggling to fit into a routine!

So I should just kind of go with same time waking each day and try to just go with what she wants during the day, and same bedtime routine (which we already have)

What about when I would like her to nap? She will only nap on me and I can’t get anything done! If I lie her down and BF her to sleep and then sneak out of bed she will wake 20 mins later, and the cycle starts again. But if I stayed with her next to her she would sleep much longer before waking.

She's so little op , just keep on following her lead. Kids fall into their own (ever changing) routine eventually so just relax and go with it.

That "rod for your back" crap pisses me of too. My 11 week old has his bedtime bottle then chills out on my lap until he's sleepy enough to go in his cot because that's what seems to relax and settle him.

Just do whatever works for you op

Honestly, you’ll think you’ve got her into a routine and a week later it will all go to pot anyway!

When you sneak out when she’s napping, try womb sounds played louder than you think, this kept my Dd asleep for a lot longer than without. She’s 1 now and still suddenly changes her routine just when I think I’ve got it down, keeps me on my toes!

Yes, in a nutshell she’ll just keep changing. DD slept well at night until 3 months, by four months she was waking hourly at night, now at six months she’s beginning to settle again but it’s slow progress. At seven weeks she was doing 20 min naps or so too (and I have two other kids to look after). I got a good sling and let her nap in there while I did school run/cooked/went to playgroup. I’m afraid it’s normal - frustrating, but normal. Resisting it or trying to force her into long naps will likely end in a lot of crying from her. If your dummy technique gets her to sleep, fab! But don’t think there’s something wrong if she wont do the two hours “the book” says (burn the book) or your friend’s baby does. I say again, you either get a sleeper for a newborn, or you don’t...

Anything that looks like a routine at this age is just coincidence. Just do what gets as many people as much sleep as possible. And remember that the thing you need to “get done” is your baby. Nothing else matters.

My SIL was saying to me that all her children were sleeping though the night very early on and that her sisters baby (1 week younger than mine) sleeps for naps now because they gave her a dummy from almost day 1.
I totally feel ‘meh’ that I’ve missed the boat for giving my DD the dummy and now I won’t get her to nap and that I’ve got her into a ‘bad habit’ by cosleeping with her. She sleeps next to me from 11-7ish with 2/3 dream feed wakes for 15 mins. I was very happy with this until everyone else started chipping in.

I totally agree with ‘you either get a sleep or you dont’

I know that I don’t need to worry about much else other that my wee girl, but I don’t even get a chance to make lunch most days, and am grabbing crisps and fruit and snacks, which isn’t healthy long term.

Like you I worried about getting a good routine early on, bad habits and that 'rod' that we all get warned about. Unfortunately DD wasn't worried about any of this and had no desire for routine at all. I tried putting her down drowsy. She screamed. I tried not feeding her to sleep. She screamed. Gave her a dummy. She spat it out and screamed. I tried putting her down during her naps. She instantly woke and screamed.

So I gave up and went with the flow. I embraced the cuddly naps (which could be a couple of hours if I didn't need a wee) with biscuits, box sets and mumsnet. I forgot trying to force a routine and instead just concentrated on learning her sleepy cues so I could settle her for a nap when she needed one. The only routine I did continue with was a night-time one. Not necessarily at a strict time but always following the same process.

DD is now 9 months. We've got a fab daytime routine that we've naturally fallen into - morning and afternoon naps in her pram either following a walk or just wheeling up and down the hallway - if I time it right she's usually flat out within minutes and most days will stay asleep for 1.5 hours each nap.

Nights still have a lot of room for improvement. She still wakes for a couple of feeds and hates her cot so after 30 mins to an hour max of me being able to have some time with DH downstairs while she's settled in her room she's then in my bed for the rest of the night. At least we both get plenty sleep and I feel confident that once she's ready she'll sleep alone whether that's in the next few months or the next few years. After trying the recommended techniques that late night googling throws up (other than controlled crying - def not for me) and them all only achieving a stressed mum and baby, I'm now happy that her sleeping habits are down to her personality and not a 'rod' that I created. Her daytime naps sorted themselves out and her night-time ones eventually will too.

Just enjoy those lovely cuddles and the excuse to be stuck on your bum, or embrace a sling if you aren't happy being as lazy as me. I so miss those days now. DD will rarely fall asleep on me through the day and when she's flat out in her pram I feel bad wasting that time when my hands are now free to do something useful.

I really recommend the gentle sleep book by Sarah Ockwell-Smith if you're leaning towards a more laid back approach but relatives are warning you off it. It made me feel much more confident in my instincts and helped me relax. Even if you do decide to push for routine / go down the sleep training route there's some useful info about baby sleep and ideas to help baby settle

Awwww @KTCluck your post made me cry!!! (Blame the hormones!!)

I would love nothing more than to just enjoy my cuddles with my wee baby, but everyone has put doubts into my head about what I ‘should’ be doing and now I can’t enjoy my cuddles/feeding to sleep/cosleeping/exclusively BF because I think that since I’m a first time Mum that I should be listening to others advice as they have had babies before as they know what they are talking about, and I don’t.
So I get myself back into sleepless nights (after having 5 weeks of great co sleeping) trying to make her sleep in her crib and now she wakes every 20 mins needing settled. I end up trying unsuccessfully to make her nap in her Moses basket when previously she would have slept in my arms/lying next to me in bed during the day- all because I think I should be following the advice of those who have done it before. And I find I’m stressing about all these things and not able to enjoy my girl because I’m scared of doing it wrong.

You are not doing it wrong! You’re doing it YOUR way, and if you want to co-sleep, feed on demand, snuggle your baby all day every day then screw what anyone else says.

Honestly, please don’t let other’s opinions ruin your time with your daughter, they honestly don’t matter. It is hard to ignore their advice and opinions, but you’ll feel so much better for it. You are a wonderful mum, where or when your daughter sleeps does not change that!

DD is ten week old and will only nap in the day on me or if we are out In her pram, she's got no routine (I started a thread about this last week) I just go with the flow, some nights once in a blue moon she will sleep through other nights she's up most of the night.

Read up on safe co sleeping sometimes it's the only time I get sleep, the house works gone to pot these last ten week I haven't seen the bottom of the washing basket but DD is happy so that's all that matters

I also recommend the gentle sleep book. It's not for everyone and my family call it 'airy fairy' but if you're already looking towards a more responsive parenting style it will validate that and give you more confidence to follow your instincts. It's difficult when everyone around you is telling you to get baby into a routine but if you get to know your baby's cues then you'll naturally slip into one without any effort, instead of imposing one.

I got a sling (close caboo) when DS was 5 weeks and it made everything so much easier because he slept in it beautifully and I had my hands free to do jobs around the house, have my lunch etc.

The best advice I got when I had my dd was from my mum and it was don't listen to people who think they know best, do what feels right for you at this moment in time.
Your baby is little still, follow her lead, cuddle her, co sleep if you want, routine will come in time.

Oh please don't let the opinion of others change how you want to parent. Advice is usually well meant, but just because someone has done it before you doesn't mean they know better - they knew best how to parent their child but you know best how to deal with yours.

When I've been told I'm spoiling DD I've tried to laugh it off. 'Isn't it funny how much advice has changed since you did it' or 'oh well, it's working well at the minute, I'll deal with the rod later'. Or even just 'thanks, I'll probably not give that a try.' Also, remember you don't have to tell everyone the truth 'Why yes MIL, I'm super strict all night and she sleeps right through in her Moses basket. You were so right'. My MIL couldn't get her head round baby led weaning and was convinced DD was either going to starve or choke, so I encouraged her to read a book about it by saying how fascinating it all was. Just me explaining it wasn't enough but seeing it in a published book seemed to change her mind or at least get her off my case.

Take advice that appeals to you when you need advice. Otherwise do it your way. There's no right way to do things and we are all just muddling along.

because someone has done it before you doesn't mean they know better - they knew best how to parent their child but you know best how to deal with yours

I couldn't agree with this more. Advice is well intentioned but I find that most parents have forgotten the details of how hard it was and look back with rose tinted glasses.

If you are happy with how things are going with your little one, smile to what everyone else says then ignore it completely. First of all, everyone's expectation with sleeping is different - some are happy to co-sleep until toddler years. If you want baby to sleep alone, however, you can slowly work towards that over time.

Ignore the horror stories of children who don't sleep alone until 9-10 years etc etc. From my circle, the majority fell into their own routine and are sleeping through by 14 months with only 2 having been sleep trained. If and when you aren't happy and are struggling, then consider seeking advice and help. Until then, go with your instinct.

I have a super difficult sleeper and did resort to sleep training with a sleep consultant. But I wouldn't have gone there if I had a way of getting her to sleep (be it feeding/rocking/bouncing etc etc). It made a massive difference because life was awful before we used the consultant. I spoke to lots of family members before using the consultant - I wish I hadn't and just used someone independent from the time things got tough.

My first was a shit sleeper (still is, actuallyhe's 5!). My second is a good sleeper. I did more "wrong" with my second, because I had the confidence to do what felt right for me and my family. You are doing a great jobyou don't need to listen to anyone around you.

Thank you everyone, it makes me feel happier knowing that she is happy and contented the way I am doing things now, it only upsets her ( and me!) when I try to put everyone else’s advice in place!
Last night she slept in her own next-to-me crib from 11-2, and today her and I had a nap in the afternoon together, and we are both happy and content!

Keep doing what you are doing and ignore the ROD people

I cuddled DS constantly for sleep for most of the first 3 months of his life as, with hindsight, I had some anxiety issues regarding him waking from sleeping.

He's sleeping in his cot now. He sometimes naps in there, but actually, I lie the excuse to sit on the sofa for 40 min sometimes, or nap with him (he's 6 months)

Currently cosleep half of most nights as the 4 or more night feeds are killing me otherwise

(And about to head up to bed now at 8:30!)