PLEASE tell me your PU/PD or gradual withdrawal success stories....

[Newbeginning1]

I'm attempting to do PU/PD with my 6 month old but i just feel a bit lost with it and i need to hear that it works and how long its taken others because i'm not following it through and being consistent.

If anyone has done gradual withdrawal i'm wondering if thats better so if anyone can shed any light i'd be grateful

Hi,

Ive used this technique with my DS (5MONTHS) when hes not done his day time napping. To be honest I just had to keep perservering untill he was so worn out he eventually slept. Just pick him up, talk to him a bit untill hes calmed down, then put him back in his cot and talk gently to him. once hes calm leave the room (well thats what i did). If he starts really cranking up the crying again I repeated the process of getting him calm, telling him its ok to sleep and that mummy will help him etc). It can take a while or work after one go - t seemed to vary with us. I think the key for me was to just keep at it. I think on one occasion i did give up and got him up for 20 mins then put him back down and he went straight to sleep. All a bit hit and miss but it does work int he end. Good luck

Thanks charleyb. Has anyone else got any success stories for me please?

We used PUPD to get DS off his dummy when he got addicted. It was the second attempt as we had tried using shh/pat when he was slightly younger but failed. PUPD worked better for him though and he fairly quickly found his fingers/thumb and used them to settle himself instead.

We are trying a mix of PUPD and shh/pat currently to get DD off her dummy though, and that is still very much in progress... only started yesterday and I think there is still some way to go...

I'm doing gradual withdrawal with my 10 month DD. Not there yet but we've gone from regulary waking up 10-20 times a night to a few months of co sleeping to starting gradual withdrawal about 2 weeks ago and so far we've had a couple of nights where she's slept through and a few nights where she's only woken once or twice - although last night I was up with her from 3.20am to 5am so not sure it's a success yet - will keep you posted if you like?

mynameisinigomontoya - how is it going with DD now?

gleefan - 10 -20 times a night? Poor you. DS luckily has never been that bad but we too used to co sleep. Are you following the no cry sleep solution or doing it differently and how did you start off? How is it going now?

P.S I'm a gleek too!!!

We tried PUPD for three nights when DS was 6 months. DH did it (so as to not confuse DS as I BF). It wasn't nice at all as DS screamed pretty much the whole time. We felt like we were torturing the poor boy.

However, whilst we gave up after three nights as we never got anywhere near putting him down awake and him drifting off, he did become a lot easier to settle after that. I could feed, put in cot drowsy and pat to sleep. It was 90 mins first night, 60 mins second night and 45 mins third night.

Now I can put DS down awake (if he's not overtired/ill/teething) and let him roll around and he falls asleep (lights have to be off though!). But he does still need a bit of help sometimes, however nothing like before.

Not sure that's success especially as he still wakes in the night! But hey ho

Basically once DS could roll and sleep on his front, he became much easier to settle in his cot (I can put him on his front and pat his bum).

Well we are starting to see some success!

The naps are still pretty horrid, it takes ages and lots and lots of crying before she finally goes to sleep, and then she is very restless and usually jolts awake again before very long. Made a bit of progress today though, first I managed to get her back to sleep after a too-short nap for the first time (she woke after 20 mins, I got her back to sleep again after a while of shhing for another - ahem - 7 minutes!, but hey it's a start!) And then for the next nap she managed a whole 45 minutes straight, sadly then I accidentally woke her by bumping the crib with my foot so never got to find out whether she could go longer! She is still very overtired though from so many very short naps, but hopefully getting better gradually.

The nights though... first night (Tuesday) was pretty horrible, she only woke once during the night but took FOREVER to get back to sleep, with loads of really pitiful screaming, I was so tempted to give her the dummy again but knew that would just lead to more crying in the long run. Eventually got her back to sleep after giving her some milk (she did go off in the crib though not on the boob, so that was something). Then she woke up really early in the morning too and couldn't go back to sleep.

But then last night I was dreading it, but she settled down a lot more easily (still took half an hour, but much less crying than before). Then after her dreamfeed she went back to sleep beautifully, even though she was awake, and we went to bed. Next thing I knew it was 4.20 and she was gurgling away (not crying!) and playing with her comforter! After a few minutes she got more whingey so I fed her, and then she went off to sleep very nicely and slept until 6.40! So that was our best night for weeks and weeks, it was lovely! Am hoping tonight will be equally good and that it wasn't just a fluke! It does seem to prove that there is a difference between naps and night-time sleep though.

How are you getting on now then Newbeginning?

New beginning - The way I'm doing gradual withdrawal is based on some advice a sleep counsellor gave a friend mixed with what I thought would work well with my DD. Did a few weeks of putting her to sleep in her cot - followed a strict bedtime routine of milk, PJs, story, mobile plus grobag then another story then a kiss and lie down and sat with her til she went to sleep. In the begining I'd keep my hands on her tummy or hold her hand but quite quickly was able to just sit by her and she would go to sleep. However she'd then wake up about 10ish and I'd bring her into bed with us. (As before I started doing that she used to carrying on waking every 15-30 mins!)
Then a couple of weeks ago I started properly and when she woke in the night I just went in the room said "still night time, time to go to sleep" then sat wherever I'd sat when I put her to bed (didn't get her out of the cot at all). Basically each night since then have been moving further away from her when I put her to bed and when I go back in to comfort her I just sit where I was when she went to bed and periodically repeat stuff about it being night time. So went from by the cot, to middle of room to the wall but in view, to the wall a bit further away and tonight to the wall but behind a chair so she can't see but can hear me! Hoping if this works for next couple of nights then I can sit outside the room and the theory is that once you can do that she won't bother shouting for you if she wakes in the night - that's the theory but will let you know how it goes! Sorry that's so long!
ps - very sad that glee is over til next yeaar - have bought volumes 1 and 2 of soundtrack to keep me going!

my dd is 20mo now but did PU/PD when she was 4 or 5 mo and she did respond quite quickly. I went in as soon as she cried, always said same thing - it's time to sleep - and then put down as soon as she stopped crying.

Definitely makes them calmer around nap time/sleep time I think. I was careful to get her down as soon as she showed sleep cues. If babies are crying lots and lots, they are probably overtired....

I fretted for months about feeding to sleep but I think it's really not worth worrying about unless it really is the only thing that gets them to sleep. I used the pantley pull of thing and it gradually ended.

Titferbrains do you mind sharing what the "pantly pull off" method is... i am feeding DD back to sleep when she wakes in the night at the moment and not sure how much longer I can continue...

Oh we tried the Pantley pull-off to get DD off the dummy but gave up as it didn't seem to have given any real improvement after trying it for quite a long time..

lola the idea is when they are nearly asleep you take the boob/dummy out of their mouth, then if they wake and protest you give it back but then keep repeating until they eventually fall asleep without it. She says it can take 5 or more attempts but eventually they will fall asleep and over time they will need less attempts and get used to falling asleep without it. Nobody had told DD that though... even after 2 weeks of trying she could go for an hour or more still waking right up and shouting every time I removed the dummy, hence why we eventually gave up! I think it may work better for boob-removal than dummies perhaps though?

gleefan - when i put my DS into his cot even if he is sleepy and near enough off he will wake up and think its play time and he rolls around in his crib kicking the sides so i'm not sure how i'm meant to help him realise ut's not play time.

titferbrains - when you put your DD back down would you then go out of the room or stay in there in view?

mynameisinigomontoya - i've tried the Pantley pull-off the last few days and like you it doesnt seem to be making any difference but i will persevere with it.

How are you all doing with your LO's and the battle with sleep?