Last week Ryan & I decided it was time that we start to "sleep train" Henry. He has always been a pretty good sleeper, that was until he was about 5 months old. He started waking up in his crib around 11:30 just screaming and nothing we did would calm him down, unless we brough him into our bed where he would promply fall asleep but still whine everytime his binky fell out of his mouth. After a month or so of these shenanigans we decided it was time for him to move back to his crib and start a solid sleep routine.
I started out by reading, "Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems" (how does blogger not have an underline feature!??!) by Richard Ferber. I found the parts of the book that apply to us and enjoyed a bubble bath while reading away.
I found the book to be quite interesting & made me realize a lot of things related to sleep associations that I just didn't think about before.
So anyways, we bit the bullet last Thursday night and went for it. We put him into his crib awake and were to check on him in increments if he began crying (if he was talking or whining a little, we didn't go in). First we were to wait 5 minutes & then quietly go into his room and let him know we are still there. You are not to pick him up or rock him, just rub his back and talk softly. Then quietly leave the room before he falls back asleep. Rinse and repeat as needed- gradually increasing the minute increments.
We must have a genious child (lol) because the first night we only had to go in 3 times total for the entire night and by Saturday (2 nights later) we check on him once if at all.
He is now successfully sleeping in his own crib for 11-12 hours a night. I actually had to go in and wake up him this morning because we had to leave for daycare.
Ryan doesn't know what to do with himself as he is finally back to getting a full night's sleep. I will fully admit that since we stopped Henry's nighttime feeding that Ryan is the one who gets up with him 95% of the time. He figures it is easier than waking me up- which in turn creates a horribly crabby monster mom :)
I know a lot of people think the Ferber method is cruel and bad but it has truly changed our family's sleep habits and we are all much happier- Henry being the most important. :)
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Sleep Training
Posted by Jenny at 12:37 PM
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5 comments:
Thank you for giving me some hope!! Our doctor had recommended this method a month or so ago, but I think it's now time to try it! 4 months without a solid nights sleep is enough for me!
If Alexa ever gets better I need to start this as well. We started the same cycle a month ago of bringing her into bed with us. I feel like its such a set back since she slept in her crib since day one. Glad to hear it worked so well, so fast!
I tried this method with my first kid and even though it was so hard not to pick him, it worked after a couple of days! it is a great method, Glad it worked for you.
Awesome! I'm glad it worked for you. I believe in you have to do whatever works for your family. I plan on using this as soon as I know for sure that my son is not waking up because he's hungry. When did you cut out Henry's nightime feedings? I have a 4 1/2 month old that wakes up 2 times at night. I try to get him back to sleep but usually am unsuccessul so I end up nursing him back to sleep. I wonder if he really is hungry or if he just wants to use me as a pacifier.
We stopped his nighttime feeding around 4 months, if I remember correctly. We just offered him his binky instead of a bottle & he fell right back to sleep.
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