Canadian Moms & Moms to be!

[Maggs]

Okay I have a question--the last 2 days I've a controlled crying type of thing for Jack. Either leaving him for 5 or 10 mins, then going in and rubbing his back or patting him, depending on how hysterical he is. He napped this morning and twice yesterday in his crib but only for 20-45 mins each time, at the expense of 10-25 mins of crying! Hardly seems worth it. Does it start like this or is it any point in putting him through the suffering if he's never going to sleep more than that?

 

[ryder]

It definately starts like that, which is why its hard. But eventually once he realizes that nap time is non-negotiable then eventually his nap times will lengthen back out and he won't cry.

I think it is worth it, but thats just me... I've seen alot of people on this site and within people I know who have had sleep issues they don't address early enough and they just escalate. And it usually ends up with alot more suffering and crying.

As babies get older they become harder to break of habits, usually earlier tends to have the best outcome. Once they get around the 1 year mark they generally become alot more difficult to change any routine or habit... You can do it, but it is alot hard.

 

[Tiff]

I did CIO/CC with Claire, but not until she was much older. I couldn't sum up the willpower to get it done, iykwim? It was around the 6 month mark (for Claire) that she went from being an awesome sleeper to a crappy one.

My SIL's first boy was a very demanding baby, she didn't get any sleep for the first 6 months. She was at the end of her rope and decided to do the Ferber Method with him. It took about 4 nights/days of listening to him scream and cry but after the 4th day he got better.

I guess its all in your tolerance of what you can personally do. She doesn't regret sleep training at 6 months at all, in fact did it again with her 2nd boy when he was 6 months as well.

Hth?

 

[Maggs]

We don't even have to sleep train at nights, he's so exhausted and stuffed he just falls into bed! Just put him down for his 2nd nap, I find if I go and check too frequently or try to calm him, it just makes it worse. So I put on his musical toy and gave him his blanket and he has a couple of soft toys in the crib with him and left him for 10 mins. At the end of the 10 mins, I could tell he was really winding down and within a minute or two, he was sound. He has such a great night time routine that we've been doing for about 4 months and I hope after a few days of him getting used to a naptime routine, it'll be easier. Currently he nap-nurses on me and even though I love it, I know he needs to sleep in his bed and when he goes to a childminder or a nursery, there's no way they will do that. I could never just leave him for hrs like some people do. At the end of the 10 mins, if he wasn't winding down or showing signs of being ready to sleep, I'd pick him up and spend 20 mins upstairs reading or playing quietly then try again.

 

[Vickie]

Maggs I hope it does get easier

I never really had to do CIO with Hannah she was a pretty good sleeper. Around 10 months when we broke her of sleeping in her bouncer she would throw fits (literally throw her pacifiers out of her crib) and I'd leave it for 5-10 minutes before going back in and it took a few days of that before she realized I meant business and that it was nap time.

And around 3.5 months we did PUPD for her morning nap.

not much going on here today! looks kind of cloudy and gray out. Hopefully the sun will come out so we can go out for a walk or to the playground or something.

 

[Maggs]

Ugh....I just found a flea on my living room floor! Time to flea & deworm the hairball again! We stopped letting her outside for a while because she was pestering the neighbours but we've started letting her out again first thing in the morning before breakfast because she knows she's being fed and never goes for long, then comes home and sleeps all day. Saves me shouting at her from climbing the curtains all day.

 

[apple84]

Maggs I've got to get the girls napping in their cribs soon too. Im not looking forward to it i tried PUPD, but found it didnt work when both babies wouldnt fall asleep. I really want to establish a good routine for their afternoon nap since its at the same time as Andrew's and it's the nap they'll keep for a long time.

Ainslie slept 12 hours last night which isn't unusual for her, but what's weird is that she had turned 180 degrees in her crib (feet where her head was) even though she was fully swaddled!

 

[Maggs]

Where do they normally sleep through the day now? We did PU/PD with Jack for night times when we moved him into his crib but he still napped on me after nursing through the day because we couldn't put him down without him waking up. I tried PU/PD but I found it was too much for him during the day. At night, he was exhausted so could easily drop off but it just overstimulated him through the day. I thought I'd leave it 5 mins in between checking but noticed at 10 mins, he starts to drop off himself so will start leaving him that long. Just wish he'd sleep more than 40 mins now! It is hard though...I cried the first couple of days right along with him. Now I come downstairs and try not to listen to it too much and keep an eye on the clock. I have in my head that at 10 mins, if he's still screaming hard, he obviously isn't ready for a nap yet. So I know I can go rescue him at 10 mins LOL

 

[Melissa_M]

Alia didn't like the "controlled crying" method at all...she would get more worked up if I went in and didn't pick her up so I would just have to leave her to CIO....that wasn't until she was more like 10 months old though. Before that I would just rock her to sleep. Not sure if I'll have that luxury with Joni since it can be time consuming.
Alia went through a phase where she only slept 40 min at a time...it was very frustrating. Baby's natural sleep cycle is 40 min.

Hope his napping starts improving for you!!! Right now Joni naps in the swing usually once a day, then she'll have a couple naps in her rocker, but I really need to start transitioning her to the crib. Will probably start next week.

 

[apple84]

Right now they nap in the swing or vibrating bouncy chair or the car seat if we've driven somewhere.

 

[ryder]

I find CC does prolong and work them up more too.

I know breaking the nap habits can be the toughest though because I think most people use naptime to cuddle their babies.

 

[Tiff]

Claire got more worked up if I went in for the CC as well. Ended up doing CIO, and I'd sit on the phone with my Mom bawling listening to her cry upstairs (when P was working)

 

[Melissa_M]

It's so so tough but I really think it does them a favour. Sleep deprivation is no good for babies

 

[Vickie]

Hannah did well with PUPD but she was also younger and we didn't really have to do much after that--well until recently when she turned three and decided sleep was for the weak

 

[ryder]

haha ya Jasmine was alot better for sleep. It was Peyton where most of the sleep training came from. And I totally agree with Melissa, lack of sleep is no good for babies and small children. They need it for growth and developement... so I don't think a marginal amount of CIO does them any harm at all!

 

[Tiff]

My Mom blames Claire's extreme separation anxiety on the fact that we did CIO with her. Oh, and how she goes out to MIL's all the time is another reason why Claire has such bad SA... cuz she can "sense" and "feel" how I apparently "don't want" to be around her.

Aren't mother's grand?

 

[Melissa_M]

Oh dear, sorry tiff at least you're smart enough to know there's no way thats true!

 

[apple84]

What a horrible thing for her to say Tiff!

 

[Tiff]

For the most part I can shrug it off and know that its not really the case. There are the few times though because she's my Mom that its like programmed into me that she's right all the time.

I do think its pretty awful of her to say though... but for what its worth I'm like 99.9% sure she doesn't think that what she's saying is nasty. (but it is)

 

[Maggs]

What a horrible thing for your mom to say tiff! I agree a little crying won't hurt him, don't think I could manage more than 10 or 15 mins tho so i'm glad jack settles in that time frame. Think doing any cio any longer than that would be too much for me. Well that's jack back to sleep next to me after 4 am feed. Back to sleep for me, night ladies! xx