High needs baby, have you tried sleep training?

[twinkleymum]

I have a high needs baby and I cant do much more of this walking about DD asleep as well as awake, my back is killing me and everyone thinks I'm insane.
Has anyone tried sleep training a fractious baby like mine? I'm thinking of PU/PD but think she'll scream her head off and make herself sick, which is what happens if she gets overtired.

Hi Twinkleymum, how old is your baby? Have you considered taking them to a chiropractor or cranial osteopath - many sleep problems are caused by the baby being uncomfortable rather then them being poor sleepers. I have just posted on another thread about our DS2 and what a poor sleeper he was when first born - however when we took him to a chriopractor she discovered that his neck was jammed from a ventouse delivery which was causing him considerable pain when lying in his cot hence the many night time wake up calls - he would often be up and unsettled from 1am onwards. We had 3 initial sessions which unjammed his neck and his sleep dramatically improved, best money I ever spent. HTH . PS if I ever had another baby I would take them to the chiropractor as soon as possible after he/she was born whatever type of delivery they had had.

Hi firststeps, DD is nearly 5 months. Her daytime sleeping is worse than at night but thats not great either. We have mad an appointment with the cranial osteopath for tomorrow I'm trying not to pin my hope on it though as I dont want to be disappointed, but you never know....

hi

i have done lots of sleep training sort of in moderation but approaching 6 months is not a great time to start it imo.....my dd2 was soooo high maintenance i know where you are coming from ( a real shock as dd1 was not at all) so cranial ost might just work for you. it is awful. but it WILL pass. a bit of hard work from you and just settline down by baby will come. but until it does just do whatever it takes to get through the day, dont worry about habits etc as they can be broken

Thats good to hear, a refreshing change. I am just getting through each say one at a time. All friends and family keep saying is, she needs some sleep training thats all. I'm not so sure, none of them have or had a high needs baby

Hi again Twinkleymum - it could take a few sessions so don't expect a miracle by tomorrow night - but I can't recommend this type of treatment highly enough - it changed our baby within 3 sessions over 10 days from an all day screamer who would only pass out and sleep with utter exhaustion to one who sleeps 11-12 hours a night (waking for 1 feed usually) plus 3-4 hours worth of naps during the day. Please let me know how you get on

Hi Twinkleymum - our ds is also a high needs baby and will only go to sleep on either myself or on dh. I would also recommend cranial osteopathy, it hasn't been a miracle cure for us but he is definately happier, even if his sleep hasn't improved a lot. We are also considering some sort of sleep training but are worried about the same sort of reaction as you describe. I can't offer any ideas but just wanted to let you know that you aren't the only one.

If the osteopathy doesn't work I would recommend trying pick up/put down - worked amazingly well for my dd when she was 4.5 mths (before this she had never slept unless carried in sling or in bed with us)