Wake to sleep - what do I do?

[babyOcho]

DD (9mo) wakes at 3.30am every night. I plan to do wake to sleep tonight to try and break it.

So, I go into her room at 2.30am and do what? Pick her up? Stroke her head? Change her nappy? What do I do?

Anyone??

From what I remember (from reading the baby whisperer) you go in a bit earlier (not necessarily as early as 2.30, but you decide when's a good time) & gently stroke them a bit, go sh sh sh etc, until they very gently wake (a bit) & go straight back to sleep (hopefully!) I would definitely not change her nappy or pick her up, would let her in cot. If you change nappy / or pick her up, she'll wake completely, and that's not what you want, you want her to only very gently wake & then go straight back to sleep.
I've tried this technique sometimes for naps with my boy, to prevent his waking at 45 minutes (which he always does). So I'd go in at 35 minutes, gently shush shush him, stroke him a bit. He would open one eye sleepily, & then sleep again. But I have to warn you, it only worked very few times, most times he just woke completely

It depends on the child to be honest - you'll soon find out, some are easier to wake than others. I did wake to sleep with my DD2 and it worked absolutely brilliantly - but stroking or going sh sh sh would have got me nowhere!! I could have held her upside down by one foot and shouted at her (no no, of course I didn't!) and she'd have snored on happily!! The thing about wakig them an hour or so before their usual habit wake is that they tend to be in their very deepest of deep sleep pattern at that time so it can be very hard to wake them up.

I would take her into the bathroom, lights on brightly, talk to her quite loudly and change her nappy - the biggest response I ever got (which I classed as waking), was eyes flicking open and shut and maybe a bit of a groan or protest. She'd go straight back to sleep and sleep through to morning, so it was obviously enough to disrupt the habit waking. If you are doing 'wake to sleep' I think that if you want it to work you are better erring on the side of actually waking the child, even if you then have to spend a bit of time resettling.

it is important to only just rouse them to the point where they are almost, but not quite awake

you need to do it ONE hour before their usual wake up

i found untucking the blankets/face stroking etc was enough to bring DS round and then leave him to re-settle

you need to do it for 3 nights, see what happens on the 4th

if they wake at the old wake up, you need to do it for 6 more nights

OK so I went in an hour before last night. Stroked her back but she she didn't stir. I moved her and that woke her and it took an hour to resettle her.

Will try face stroking tonight.

you ideally need to leave them to re-settle if possible

can your DD self soothe at all?

try again tonight - even shifting her in her cot may help

ruby - She can self soothe usually, but not always.
Did you find wake to sleep successful?

WTS worked for us - he was 1 year old when we did it

we did have to do it for 6 nights but it got rid of the 5 am wakings

i went in at 230am last night, stroked her cheek she stirred and resettled herself. i went back to bed and at 330am she still woke up.

is this what you experienced as well? do i just need to keep going in at 230am for another 4 nights, despite the fact that she's still waking at her clockwork time?

My baby has been getting up at 2.30am and 7am for the last 8 nights and she usually sleeps thru till 9am.
I have tried wake to sleep for a couple of nights but still not much luck. eg i went in at 6am to stir and wake her and instead of getting up at 7 she got up at 7.40. This morning i went in at 1.30am and she still got up at 3am. Does wake to sleep not work for all babies. Do i need to go in at both 1.30 and 6am as if i go in at 1.30 and she sleeps till 5 then there is no point going in at 6am? but then she wakes at 5 so teh next night do i go in at 4 or stick to 1.30? When she wakes she rolls onto her back and will not go back to sleep until i roll her back onto her tummy! Anyoen else exp this and any suggestions?