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SLEEP => General Sleep Issues => Topic started by: Scrapbooker on January 03, 2007, 20:44:00 pm

Title: POST YOUR SUCCESS STORIES HERE!!!
Post by: Scrapbooker on January 03, 2007, 20:44:00 pm: We went away to in-laws for Christmas vacation with almost 4 month old DD. The trip (6 hours by car) was not fun but it could have been worse. My DD had slept poorly for a few weeks (waking after 45 minutes and night waking possibly realted to growth spurt-see post on BF board) and Dec. 23rd I finally broke down and cried I think because I kept hearing what a good sleeper my niece had been when she was a baby. Anyway, I brought both of Tracy's books along for some light reading if I had time and I did. I was thinking we'd have to do PU/PD sometime in January if she hadn't been able to sleep independently by then and my back was fearing the long pat/shh sessions we used to do. Christmas Eve morning I was reading a bit after crying a bit in the nursery by myself (while C+DH layed with DD and family). I think it gave me the confidence to just try and see how it went. When it was time for DD's nap, I took her and swaddled her bottom half and put her in the crib instead of sitting with her in the chair while she cried herself to sleep. You know what, she cried less. (She usually cried 5-10 minutes before every nap and we help her until she feel asleep and placed her in crib-AP, but at least she slept). I kept my hand on her and shh'd a little, but she fell asleep faster and slept longer. Next nap I did the same thing and she didn't cry at all. I hugged her in her swaddle and placed her in the crib, kissed her "night-night", told her I loved her and put her down. I sat in a rocking chair behind the head of the crib and listened for her. She fell asleep within 10 minutes. She has been sleeping independently every nap and bedtime since then. I guess she was just ready and so was I. It was the best Christmas present I could ever get and I think she likes it too. She still cries a bit once in a while, but goes to sleep well. I never thought it would happen. If you're waiting, keep up hope!
Title: Re: POST YOUR SUCCESS STORIES HERE!!!
Post by: chell on January 03, 2007, 20:51:09 pm: :D WOW WEE LAURA!! CONGRATULATIONS TO YOU!! KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK :D
Title: Re: POST YOUR SUCCESS STORIES HERE!!!
Post by: macsmum on January 03, 2007, 20:54:56 pm: ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

well done
Title: Re: POST YOUR SUCCESS STORIES HERE!!!
Post by: nursekat on January 04, 2007, 01:29:09 am: EXCELLENT job!! ;D

I heard a quote once, "When you KNOW better, you DO better!" Hmm...think I'll add that to my signature. ;)

Congrats. I can hear the relief in your post!
Title: Re: POST YOUR SUCCESS STORIES HERE!!!
Post by: Jenn© on January 04, 2007, 02:03:00 am: WOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!
Title: Re: POST YOUR SUCCESS STORIES HERE!!!
Post by: Jenn© on January 04, 2007, 02:37:02 am: We've all had days when we wondered if our lo's sleep would ever get better. Please post your success stories as encouragement to others. There is light at the end of the sleep train tunnel!!! :D
Title: Re: POST YOUR SUCCESS STORIES HERE!!!
Post by: ladyboggess on February 07, 2007, 15:24:00 pm: CELEBRATE WITH ME!!!!! My DS FINALLY slept without his swaddle or any other help for the first time last night!!! Instead of 3-8 (yes 8!!!) wakings during the night, he slept from 6:30 - 10:30 (Dream feed) and then from 10:30 - 4 (Bottle without picking him up) and 4-6:30!!! THATS HUGE!!!! Also, you could set a watch by his 40 minute naps, but yesterday afternoon he took a 2 hour nap!!! ;D I have posted here MULTIPLE TIMES. My DS has been a TERRIBLE sleeper. I literally have LUSTED over my friends' calmly sleeping children!!! :-\

ONE OF THE BEST PARTS IS THAT I DID IT WITHOUT SUCCUMBING TO THE OVERWHELMING PRESSURE FROM EVERYONE (INCLUDING DH) TO LET HIM CRY IT OUT!!!!! NO CIO!!!! :P :P :P

If you really want to know how bad it was just read my past postings, but here is a brief synopsis. DS was colicy from birth to 4 months. Then he just had bad sleep issues, both day and night. I won't go into the horrible details of everything we (I) had to do to get him to sleep each nap/night. I have recently had to swaddle him, rock him to sleep with a bottle, and then put him in his crib with ANOTHER sheet across the top and tucked under both sides of the mattress to keep him from kicking and waking himself up. In the past few months he has been waking himself up when his arms got out of the swaddle and he was hitting himself. About a month ago, I would check on him and see that he got his arms out but was still asleep. I could also hear him stir in the night over the monitor but then go right back to sleep. He learned this on his own. I guess it was just a developmental thing. Last week, after a few nights of constant waking, I realized he was waking up fighting his swaddle, so I started putting him down with his swaddle more and more loose. Finally, yesterday I eliminated it completely and was ready for a day and night of no sleep at all, but HE SLEPT SO MUCH BETTER!!! He sleeps on his side and hugs his blanket. :D When he wakes and I go in to get him, he is sideways in the bed but happy!! AND SO AM I!

SO...CELEBRATE WITH ME! We did it! It took 6 months and A LOT of sleep training, but he did it. THANKS FOR ALL YOUR HELP AND SUPPORT.

;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

now...if you are reading this for support, here is the flow of transitions we had to go through.
going to sleep by bouncing/humming, sleeping in car seat (reflux and colic) --> sleeping in car seat in crib (still a lot of trouble to get to sleep) --> sleeping in crib with wedge, swaddle, and band across his body to "tie" him down (rocking to sleep, singing, or humming) --> got rid of swaddle gradually --> stopped rocking, put him to sleep in his bed with his bottle (I still have to hold it for him though)-->got rid of everything. Still have to give bottle in his bed at night, but I DO NOT PICK HIM UP AT NIGHT when I have to go in to feed. I guess from here I will begin pushing that 4AM feed until he can go longer without food. oh..and there could never be ANY light in his room because he would stare at it and keep himself awake. He is just so afraid of missing something!! (Yes, I even had to put tape over the glowing green light on his monitor and on the wipes warmer!!) SO...good luck. It IS possible to do it without CIO!!! :-*
Title: Re: POST YOUR SUCCESS STORIES HERE!!!
Post by: andibig on February 07, 2007, 18:11:39 pm: WOO HOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
congrats.its great when all that hard work pays off ;D
Title: Re: POST YOUR SUCCESS STORIES HERE!!!
Post by: samijoe on February 07, 2007, 18:12:07 pm: 4 SURE IT IS! ;)

NO CIO HERE!

WE CONGRATULATE YOU AND YOUR DS....

STICK BY US AND WE'LL STICK BY YOU!

sami
Title: Re: POST YOUR SUCCESS STORIES HERE!!!
Post by: chell on February 07, 2007, 19:08:30 pm: WOW WEE LADYBOGGESS!!!! YOU ARE AMAZING!

:D It is so empowering when you stick to you plan and it works, good for you, thanks for sharing! :D
Title: Re: POST YOUR SUCCESS STORIES HERE!!!
Post by: maxysmum on February 07, 2007, 20:01:48 pm: Congrats, thats really fantastic ;D
Title: Re: POST YOUR SUCCESS STORIES HERE!!!
Post by: Alison7148 on February 08, 2007, 20:11:38 pm: That is so inspiring ......heres hoping my 7mo terrible sleeper is heading in that direction in the near future!! Thanks
Title: Re: POST YOUR SUCCESS STORIES HERE!!!
Post by: ladyboggess on February 10, 2007, 23:28:56 pm: Alison7148....I will pray for you. Its hard to go this long without much sleep ourselves! I thought everyone was crazy when they said our babes would let us know when they are ready for the transition, but it is true. He definately let me know. Keep at it. Just listen to her signals and communications with you. She will sleep when she is ready. Even now, Noah doesn't sleep as much as the pediatritian recommends but I swear I think he just doesn't need as much sleep. He is happy just the way he is. He sleeps on his own, but I still have to pat his back to sleep and he is waking up several times in the night. The difference is that he is putting himself back to sleep usually. ;) I still dreamfeed at 10:30 or 11 and he eats again around 4 but I am really trying to push that 4 AM feed out the window. (He isn't so big on that idea.) ::) Just keep in there. I know you can do it.
Title: Re: POST YOUR SUCCESS STORIES HERE!!!
Post by: Scrapbooker on February 11, 2007, 16:03:07 pm: Congrats Ladyboggess!! I think that is wonderful!! I had the 1st story here and now am having terrible trouble so stick to your guns and don't let DS bring you down the road we've gone (see other post). I am so happy for you and I am gleaning some hope for my DD from your story. Keep up the good work!
Title: Re: POST YOUR SUCCESS STORIES HERE!!!
Post by: emonsp on February 28, 2007, 14:36:36 pm: Just wanted to provide people some hope! I know that naps and sleep time can be a bit of a challenge.

We started to follow the EASY and use the shush pat method when our little guy was about 5 weeks old. At about 10 weeks every nap and at night we could just put him in his crib and he would just go to sleep on his own.

At 12 weeks he starting sleeping from 7:30 pm to 7:00 am (he is formula feed) and now at 5 months he goes down for 2 1h30m naps a day and one 30 mins. Compared to our first son - this is amazing - we always had tears when we approached the crib.

Anyway - I know it seems like really hard work at the time - it is definately worth it

Penny
Title: Re: POST YOUR SUCCESS STORIES HERE!!!
Post by: marijke on March 18, 2007, 07:35:12 am: Finally I can post my succes story! My ds didn't sleep well at all (severe reflux, waking every 10 mins in the beginning). I kept sleep training him (ok used a paci but no addiction) and last night it payed off... he slept for 11 hours without waking (he's 7 months)!!!!! Our ped referred us to a sleep doctor in the university hospital who told us to use ferber method, but we didn't and he did it all by himself!!!!
Title: Re: POST YOUR SUCCESS STORIES HERE!!!
Post by: TKDmom on July 13, 2007, 16:25:42 pm: Hello everyone, I wanted to share a success story.
My LO was born Sept 3, 2006. She was colicky for 3 months and then was never a good sleeper. I felt like a bad mother, my baby slept but not well and not long. She also only ever had 30 minute naps from the time she was 2 weeks old. She would stay awake for 2 hours and sleep for 1/2 hour...all day and then she would sleep for 3-5 hour stretches at night. This continued until she was 8 weeks, then my DH bought a battery operated swing. We lived on borrowed time (and D cell batteries) until she was 5 months old. Then she was too big for it and we had to put her into her cot. We went to a pediatrician who told me to let her cry it out for 20 minutes at a time. My LO woud cry for over an hour before she would go to sleep...but she always woke crying. I found myself crying sometimes just as much as she. Someone had recommended the BW books and I just didn't get any (really kick myself now!). Finally after just over 9 months I bought the BWSAYP book and another one my DH had recommended to him. I started with the other book and didn't care for it so I started the BW. I read the book and just loved it, so I thought, I will do this and I will stick to it...Start as you mean to go...are the words that were in my head. My DH wasn't much help for the first 3 days, but after that he was on board.
The book was great, but it didn't seem to work well for my DD. However, in the book it mentions this site. I can honestly say I would never have made it if it were not for this site and nursekat, that's for sure! I wrote almost daily and nursekat was always there, helping me through it...tweaking things and making suggestions.
After 2 weeks and 2 days of frustration and exhaustion...she slept through the night. I was ecstatic, she did it 2 nights in a row, she is now and EASY baby.
I want people to know that if I can over come all my accidental parenting...anyone can. Now my DD is happy and napping/sleeping well. It's not every day, but it's most days and I am so thankful for that! If anyone wants to read the details it posted under General Sleep Issues -Trouble with the S in Easy.
Thanks
Kelly
Title: Re: POST YOUR SUCCESS STORIES HERE!!!
Post by: Wilsmon on September 17, 2007, 18:42:12 pm: Well, not sure it this is the place to post this. I am not sure how much of a "success" story we are, unless you consider we now have a very independent and good sleeper. It took us two years (with each child) but we made it!

I am mostly a debate board poster as of late, but decided it was time for me to move on. I have a full time job and cannot devote much time here. So I guess I wanted to just add some parting thoughts before I go.

The lack of sleep is EXTREMELY hard, I know. But one piece of advise I would give is to just try hard to stick with it. Some see results sooner than others. For us, I never felt we found that "magic" answer, but we just tried hard to stick with the program as best as possible and, foremost, since we did not want to co-sleep, avoided taking either of our lo's to our bed. We always went to their rooms. We spent many nights standing over or sleeping next to both our lo's crib or beds or just outside the door - for up to 2 1/2 hrs many nights. But, like I said, we now have a 2 1/2 yr that asks to go to bed! And both he and our dd are now great sleepers.

Anyway, I guess what I am saying is, no matter how bad it seems, they will eventually sleep! Keep asking for advice and working through things, but know that there is light at the end of the tunnel. Adenoids, ear infections and teething were our three biggest sleep killers. It passes, and now we have two very independent sleepers. They both go to bed without a fuss and rarely wake at night. We still have some milestones (move to big bed and potty training) but I am confident that we have set up ds for a lifetime of good sleep.

Hang in there and hoping for lots of zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz's in all of your futures!
Title: Re: POST YOUR SUCCESS STORIES HERE!!!
Post by: rashpal on October 05, 2007, 20:48:16 pm: I just want to add my own success story here too. Approximately 4 to 6 weeks ago, I came to this board in desperate need of help. My son, who was 9 months old at the time, wouldn't sleep without falling asleep on the bottle. Once asleep, he would require being held for hours at a time at night.

I followed what people suggested. He, at first cried for naps, but now he falls right to sleep (although occassionally he'll fuss for a few minutes) It's been 2 weeks now and he sleeps by HIMSELF. He soothes himself for naps and at night, when he wakes up, he makes noises for a few minutes and goes BACK to sleep. I feel human again!! And he is sleeping almost 12 hours a night. It's fantastic.

Thank you so very much.
Title: Re: POST YOUR SUCCESS STORIES HERE!!!
Post by: skatty on November 04, 2007, 18:34:01 pm: I have what I consider a really big success story even though things aren't perfect. Basically things started going wrong for us around the dreaded 9/10 month mark with NWs and short naps caused by OT, teething illness and milestones :P

Basically we were getting short naps or were running out of day for the PM nap, also every night we were getting at least one NW but quite often up to 6 :o I started logging all sleep in mid August which is when I started to cut the AM nap in order to get a decent PM nap so was starting the 2-1 switch. Unfortunately after a few days success at waking DD at the 45 min mark in the AM she started to wake at 30 mins for both naps and NWs continued. I put this down to her learning to get into a seated position from tummy, learning to crawl, pull up and cruise all within 10 days and also teething but it continued....for another 6 weeks!!! I was at the end of my tether and then 2 days before DD's first birthday she had to go to the doc in her AM nap time so ended up not having a nap for 4hrs 40 and ended up sleeping 1hr and 10 mins which was the longest nap she had taken in months, she then had a 35 min catnap that afternoon and slept through the night ;D Well the lightbulb went off for me and I decided that the short AM nap wasn't working for us and started pushing the nap towards lunchtime and giving an afternoon catnap, this was a month ago and since then we have only had 2 NWs, one was teething and she went to sleep once given meds and the other was a dirty nappy. After 2 weeks of this new routine her wake up times went from 5.45 -6.15am to around 7ish (sometimes even 7.30am ;D ;D) She now has one nap a day averaging around 1hr15 which is not much but for her is more than her 2 naps combined and is more restorative as it's in one go, she then goes to bed around 5.30pm at night and sleeps for 13+ hours though I am hoping the nap will extend and she will start going to bed later again. Anyway here is a summary of what I learned through all this, I just hope it can help someone some day ;):

*When things are going wonky your LO's sleep has to be your life's top priority so you can both get through it.

* Early bedtimes are your best friend, DD went to bed as early as 4.30pm on more than one occassion and didn't wake any earlier.

*WIWO is the best action for NWs otherwise you can end up a prisoner in your LO's bedroom and actually prolong their wakings.

*Yes teething does cause NWs but it is also easy to blame teeth when OT is probably more often the culprit. DD is now teething molars and as long on bad days she has meds before bed she still sleeps through!!

*All LOs are different and what works for most may not work for you, if you have tried a method for a long time and things aren't improving it's probably time to try something else.

* I used to get really stressed and angry about DD's bad naps but one day I thought about it and said to myself it is not her fault she can't nap and she needs my help to get things on track. This really helped me as instead of getting worked up I would take her out of the pram, cuddle her and tell her she's OT and I am going to try and make it better. I would then put her to bed early for the night and make my plan for the following day.

* I read "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child", I ignored the sleep training but I found it really helped me to understand the importance of sleep and the science behind it.

Well as I said before I hope this can help somebody. Things are not perfect for us but after having a year of inconsistant naps and being a prisoner to our home this is like a holiday for us so if you also have always struggled with naps then at least you can look forward to the 2-1 switch and not be shocked after having two long naps everday like clockwork and then it all goes wrong :-*
Title: Re: POST YOUR SUCCESS STORIES HERE!!!
Post by: tkm on November 20, 2007, 08:36:20 am: Hi our LO is 6 months today and has slept through the night for 3 weeks now! He's a very spirited baby and I, too, had to listen to stories about babies of friends and family who slept through the night from 3 weeks. I knew from the beginning that he was just so tired that he could never get to sleep, nap properly, etc. Everyone, including my mother, would say 'he doesn't look tired to me' but I knew that wild-eyed fidgeting was not a good thing!!!! We (I) tried everything, pacifier, sleeping in arms, co-sleeping, PU/PD (which really freaked him out). I was so tired I just couldn't even bring myself to formulate a plan! In the end it was two things: 1-listen to yourself! even though this might be your first baby and it seems like everyone has so much more experience, YOU are the mum and you know and love your baby more than anyone. I knew that the pacifier was probably the culprit and as soon as we got rid of it (and husband backed me up), he put himself to sleep; 2- a support network is crucial - we MUST sleep. It might be a friend, your husband, or pay a babysitter, but we can't deal with sleep issues until we ourselves are rested. It took a while, but my husband finally realized that I was about to lose it! This website was also an important part of that network - just knowing that I could come back and read other stories and receive advice made me feel more normal. Thanks everyone!
Title: Re: POST YOUR SUCCESS STORIES HERE!!!
Post by: Wriggly on March 26, 2008, 08:53:51 am: Hi there,

Wanted to post my recent success battling EWs - my lo is now nearly 6 months old, a spirited textbook baby. We started EASY at 3months when I discovered BW - changed our lives. Got him on good routine, he slept through almost straight away. Was napping well and self soothing great, putting himself to sleep nearly all the time. Then about a month ago he started waking earlier and earlier, would leave him as long as possible but a week ago he woke at 4am, and I went in to ssh him, which worked but took me 40 minutes. DH and I were starting to get stressed about it as it threw the whole day off track, my lo was really tired every morning, grumpy etc, not his usual chirpy self. Naps were becoming difficult as he was obviously OT all day. I spent two weeks bent over his cot at nearly every nap time, putting him to sleep, then doing shush pat through at 30 minutes, it was killing me as he'd then be stirriong by 4.30/5am, so so was I. Tried W2S but didn't work as he wasn't waking at same time. But he wasn't hungry either. Some days he'd have great naps, but we'd still get EW. We tried earlier to bed, later to bed, everything, but still he was waking earlier and earlier.

Our solution - we realised he wasn't tired enough going to bed and down for naps and needed much more A time each day. He was on 4 hour EASY so we dropped the catnap cold turkey, keep him up after his second nap until bed time (that meant 5 hours or more A time) - I know it sounds mad, and not BW recommended as such but he's such a curious baby. He did doze off for a few minutes at catnap time for a couple of days, but we kept him awake, he was very tired going to bed and it seems to be working. He now wakes at aorund 6.30am, and we barely hear a peep out of him. He seems to sleep more soundly. He's eating better. His naps have suddenly improved, and I feel human again!

Think this works as he's spirited, so do consider undertired for EWs as well!
Title: Re: POST YOUR SUCCESS STORIES HERE!!!
Post by: KitchenerMom on May 07, 2008, 20:19:12 pm: I just wanted to give moms of Touchy Babies a success story...

DD#1 was AP'ed in the worst way for the first 4 months, DH and I had no idea what we were doing when we cuddled her to sleep or when she would scream herself to sleep on her play mat. By the time I found BW, she was napping only 20mins, never went to sleep by herself, woke every 2hrs at night to "eat", and I was a walking zombie. But by using Tracey's suggestions and separating out each problem I would have to tackle, I took it one step at a time.

First, DD's naps grew to 45 mins. She would take less and less time to fall asleep in her crib. Moving up her bedtime meant slightly longer sleeptimes at night. Using a post on habit-eating, I switched her habit Breastfeeds to bottle feeds and she slowly gave up the habit-eating one at a time. After 5 exhausting and miserable months, DD was a decent sleeper both at night and at naps. The great thing is, that now she is almost 3yrs, and she can still fall asleep by herself, sleep through most nights (other than for nightmares) and still takes 2 hr naps in the afternoon provided I get her down before her window is missed. All that "torture" was well worth it, especially because she was a Touchy Baby.

If anyone with a Touchy Baby is reading this and needs encouragement with their sleep training, consider yourself hugged!
Title: Re: POST YOUR SUCCESS STORIES HERE!!!
Post by: shark on May 09, 2008, 22:14:56 pm: Aussie Swaddle saved my sanity!

I was going insane because my lo would only sleep if he was being held in someone's arms. It didn't matter if it was naps or night time, the only place he seemed to be able to sleep was in an adults arms (he would sleep in his carseat, stroller and baby swing as long as they were moving, but woke within minutes of motion stopping). We tried putting him down swaddled, unswaddled, elevating the head of the bed, darker room, lighter room, warmer room, cooler room, nothing seemed to work! No matter what we did, if he was asleep and we put him down in his bed he would be awake within minutes. I was losing my sanity as I had to be his bed for all his naps and all night and was barely sleeping myself. Then I came across the aussie swaddle on this website and tried it when he was 9wks old, and he has been sleeping in his bed for naps and nights ever since (he's 13weeks now)!
In retrospect, I think the problem was that he needed to be swaddled but the "traditional" swaddling which had his hands pinned down by his body didn't allow him to suck on his hands which he REALLY likes for comfort. So when we swaddled him with his hands down he screached and hollered at the top of his lungs and when we didn't swaddle him at all he kept startling himself awake. The aussie swaddle let him have his hands to suck on and at the same time keeps him tied down so he can sleep. Within days of implementing the aussie swaddle (and finally being able to sleep in my own bed myself) I felt some sanity returning.
My next project is to get him into a more regular EASY schedule. We've been doing EAS since birth but with his erratic sleep up until recently it has been kind of hectic going anywhere from 2.5-4hrs between feeds and little difference between day and night. We never did anything at the same time on 2 days in a row! But we are slowly getting into a more regular EASY and things are definetely looking brighter.

Thanks!
Title: Re: POST YOUR SUCCESS STORIES HERE!!!
Post by: fifibobandmore on July 30, 2008, 23:51:12 pm: So much inspiraction here. I think my DS#2 is finally sleep trained. Went down for his nap today and sleept for 3 hours. Just put him in his cot said nap-time now see u soon and blow him an air kiss and cuddle (this is what his dad does so I was just continueing all his hard work with him being a way on work until monday) checked on him 10 mins later and he was a sleep on his front with his legs pulled right up under his belly. And did the same again at bed time folded DH bed-time routine of bath, massage, pj's, story, bf then cuddle while being carried to bed. Once laid in bed blanket over feet only teddy at top of bed near the wall bars nigth, night sleep time now see u in the morning followed by an air kiss and cuddle. Checked on him 10 minutes later and again he was a sleep. This is the first time in 2 months that I have had to put him to bed as DH decided to take control of sleep training because of him being bfed. I think this helped him as it took me almost 2 years to get my DD sleep trained but she had reflux problems for that 2 years and was attached to me as a paci until she was 18 months. So I have 2 success stories as my DS#1 was sleep trained from the moment he was born. All we had to do with him was milk, nappy change of clothes lay in the crib and with in 10 minutes he would be fast a sleep. DD was the worst for sleep training and DS#1 was the best.
Title: Re: POST YOUR SUCCESS STORIES HERE!!!
Post by: Colin Macs Mom on March 01, 2009, 00:42:17 am: http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=145073.0
Title: Re: POST YOUR SUCCESS STORIES HERE!!!
Post by: Mom2Allison on March 20, 2009, 14:11:40 pm: This really works! It took us about 6 weeks but we are finally there! I had been holding/nursing to sleep from November until February. I read the baby whisperer and started it immediately. The first few nights were rough. She started sleeping through the night within a week. I was happy with that. Bedtime was a bigger struggle. I slowly worked my way out of her room. Monday night, I put her down and walked out of the room. I had to return 3/4 times to put her down and leave again. After that, she was quiet. The next night we were out of town, I stayed in the room until she fell asleep, because it was a different place. Wednesday night I had to go back in 3/4 times again. Last night, I put her down and walked out, no crying. I'm so happy I found this book and this method. Crying it out didn't work because she threw up from crying so hard. I know there will be bumps in the road but now I know how to deal with them and get back on track. I was starting to think I was never going to get to this point. Be patient. My baby was a good sleeper early on and slipped off track from teething and illness. It may take a while but stick with it. It's worth it!
Title: Re: POST YOUR SUCCESS STORIES HERE!!!
Post by: Maiwenn's mom on May 27, 2009, 15:57:46 pm: I want to share my success in extending naps, thanks to a post on this website. My LO is an angel baby, but she was a chronic 45 minutes napper. She also slept well during the night but she would wake a couple of times - I would just have to go in and pop the paci back in her mouth and she'd fall back asleep instantly.
At some point I actually thought her natural rhythm was to have short naps because she was happy enough when she woke up and didn't seem overtired...then I wondered if the NW could be linked to her short naps, so I tried extending her naps.

I followed the suggestion of Heather10 of a modified W2S approach...the first time I went in, I managed to keep her from waking up at around 40 minutes...I stayed with my hands on her for about 10 minutes and then left the room...it took about 2 minutes for her to jolt awake! It took me a good 20 minutes to get her back to sleep - I realized I had left the room too early - she wasn't into a deep sleep yet. The next nap - I committed to staying as long as it would take for her to go into her deep sleep...it took 25 minutes! My back was killing me. But she slept through and had a good 1.5 hours nap. I did the same with all of her naps during the day - I was really hard I have to admit and I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to keep it up for very long...it seemed I was in her room most of the day!
but then, night came and she didn't wake up once! I thought that might have been a fluke. The next day, because of a doctor's appointment, I wasn't able to ensure she'd get a full 1.5 hours nap - following night, she woke up again. For me that was it: the more sleep she got during the day, the more she'd sleep at night! So i decided to commit the next week to helping her fall back asleep for every single naps. Just as Heather10 had predicted, it started taking less and less time. I soon stayed in her room, close to her crib but wouldn't actually touch her unless I saw she was getting restless...and eventually after barely a week I didn't go in at all...It's been 2 weeks and Maiwenn is sleeping solidly 2 hours for her first morning nap and at least 1.5 hours for her afternoon nap...I'm so happy, and so proud of her...and SO SO SO thankful to Heather10 (and Mathewsmommy for putting her post back!).

Sophie
Title: Re: POST YOUR SUCCESS STORIES HERE!!!
Post by: jashton on May 29, 2009, 03:18:58 am: Just wanted to post my success story too. I started the EASY method with my daughter almost two years ago when she was first-born. There were days when I shsh-patted her until I thought I was going to lose my arm ;) I tried the wake-to-sleep thing a bunch too. She was never a great napper, but after months of sticking with it, things REALLY clicked at 4 months! She has essentially slept through the night since. And has become a great napper.

Our #2 (boy!) came along 6 months ago - and he LOVED EASY from day one! I have to say it is easier the second time around. And the hard work and consistency pays off! Now we have a 6 month old and a 22 month old (2 under 2!) and even though people look at us like we are nuts for having them so close - it really is "EASY!" I hear stories of parents up at all hours of the night with their toddlers, and still struggling with their little ones, and I'm so glad I stuck with it. Thank you Baby Whisperer mentors and friends!!

Jackie

Jackie Ashton
Founder, Baby Brain - the ultimate iPhone app for parents
jackie@maternia.us
http://www.babybrainapp.com/
Title: Re: POST YOUR SUCCESS STORIES HERE!!!
Post by: ALmom on June 15, 2009, 14:01:46 pm: I found the BW book and then forums when N was about 5 months old, and still waking 2-3 times a night. We were drained. I started PU/PD, had a hard first week (but made it through, reassured by people here that we were doing it the right way) and within a month it was so much better - he now sleeps through the night almost every night, only occasionally waking once between 1-3am because he's hungry!

(Of course now he's teething, and cranky when we're trying to GET him to sleep, but once he's there he stays asleep!)

Thank you, ladies, for all your help and support.
Title: Re: POST YOUR SUCCESS STORIES HERE!!!
Post by: LMcKinney on October 14, 2009, 03:48:37 am: I wanted to post a success story for Pat/Shush. I have a spirited LO and started EASY at 5 weeks. He's almost 7 mos now and easily goes down for his 2 naps putting himeself to sleep.. he's going down for bed time easier and easer with little pat/shushing..

He still has 2 NW, but they're spreading out and he's going back to sleep easier and easier now.

Just wanted to encourage parents to keep at it. I'm so GLAD we didn't let him cry but have made huge improvements towards independent sleep. We're not "there" yet in all his sleep issues, but we're gettin better. He's touchy and not a great sleeper, but it does work if you stick with it and stay consistent!
Title: Re: POST YOUR SUCCESS STORIES HERE!!!
Post by: LinziB on October 20, 2009, 11:52:13 am: Hi I'm a new Baby Whisperer mom (2 weeks now) and would just like to share my success story for all those of you who are still busy considering giving it a try!

A bit of history, I think I have what BW refers to as an angel personality type baby who never cries and is always happy even when OT or OS. First 4.5m were amazing she slept between feeds and fed every 4 hours from birth, had a soft cloth that she put against her lips and sucked against so when she stirred in the night she would just suck against it (wouldn't suck a dummy).

BUT after about 4m I fell into some accidental parenting, feeding her inbetween feeds for comforting so she would stay awake longer (because no dummy) so she started snacking and then just after 4m we went away for a few days and because there were ALOT of people who made ALOT of noise she started waking after I put her down for night so I fed her ... when she started waking more regularly I then swapped to feeding her bottle to go to bed instead of BF then putting her into cot with bottle for a few minutes before retreiving it! (this happened in a few days!) Within in a few weeks she was waking most nights ever 1-2hrs wanting to be fed!

I started doing some reading online and came across a website that spoke about the BW Techniques and routines which sounded like something i could do (didn't like Crying since she was always so happy), ordered some books and in the meantime decided to teach her to go to sleep on her own.

1st day swaddled her and put her into cot with light patting she went to sleep in about 5min same for that evening, next day 2min and night went down on her own with no patting and so it continued by 4th day (Friday) it was going so well I decided to give BW 4hr E.A.S.Y routine a go 1st day didn't go so great but day 2 she went exactly to routine even sleeping 2hrs and then 1.5hrs and then catnap of 30min - 45min. After about 2 or 3 days she was back to waking once during the night for a feed between 2-4am. I also re-introduced DF which she had dropped at about 3 months (at 4 months she would sleep from 7 - 3am).

Anyway a couple of weeks down the line all is still going well she is still only waking once a night for a feed! and most days go according to routine and she is able to go to sleep by herself most naps and at bedtimes!

So in short I would definately recommend giving it a try - it definately worked for me!
Title: Re: POST YOUR SUCCESS STORIES HERE!!!
Post by: mamitica on December 15, 2009, 22:56:50 pm: I wanted to post a success story on the whole BW philosophy. We started DS1 on BW when he was 5 months old and since then he's been an excellent napper and night sleeper even though he has a very light sleep. I couldn't even imagine what our lives would be like if he wasn't a BW baby. We used PU/PD with him and worked like a charm. My goal was always 100 PU/PD and many times I got very close to that.

We started DS2 from day 1 and it was a learning experience since I was thinking he would nap and sleep great always just because we were not doing any AP. Well, not true since things are very variable with a newborn. However, we kept our routines as best as we could -considering I had 2 under 2- and now that he's 4.5 month he's napping really well, almost 2 hrs. and is a very deep sleeper :) :) We just used a hand on the chest with him and voice. He's too much of an angel baby for the shush pat or PU/PD stimulation. I'm a happy mom and I love my boys and BW has allowed us to offer the best routines possible for each one of them. :)
Title: Re: POST YOUR SUCCESS STORIES HERE!!!
Post by: Gypsymom on January 10, 2010, 21:03:34 pm: DS is Spirited/Touchy. When he was wee, this meant he rarely slept, fed often, and wanted a lot of touch and "mental" stimulation. Just thought I'd give a shout out to any mamas with that type of babe...

I'm thrilled to report that once DS was able to really get mobile (a later walker around 15 months) he began to be able to burn off a lot more energy. He's now a great sleeper (2 hour nap in the afternoon and 11.5-12 hours at night). I NEVER would have believed it was possible.

Keep up the good habits, girls. They will eventually pay off!!!
Title: Re: POST YOUR SUCCESS STORIES HERE!!!
Post by: yockey1 on January 22, 2010, 01:30:06 am: I just found Tracy's first book this week. I have a 7 month old spirited little girl. She has been getting up every 1-3 hours every night, usually 5 times a night. We're working on her EASY routine, I've just started charting her day. She nurses to sleep at nap time and at bed, and back to sleep. I've already had positive results. I started a nap and bedtime routine that includes putting all of her toys out of sight and completely darkening her room. Our first two nights have only had one 2:30 good feed. Once I have successfully gotten her to sleep on her own and on EASY, we'll be getting rid of the middle of the night feed, if it hasn't already corrected itself. What a wonderful book! ( and author!) Thank you so much for carrying on her work!
Title: ITS WORKING!!!!
Post by: Chicane on March 17, 2010, 08:26:20 am: DS always fed to sleep. One week of doing shh/pat and pu/pd and tears and awfulness...today and last night he did it all himself NO BOOB, NO TEARS!!! ITS WORKING YAY!!!!
Title: Re: POST YOUR SUCCESS STORIES HERE!!!
Post by: Gypsymom on March 18, 2010, 02:55:08 am: Good job, Chicane. Keep up the consistency and you will be rewarded even more :)
Title: Re: POST YOUR SUCCESS STORIES HERE!!!
Post by: emmalou76 on May 17, 2010, 07:58:49 am: Here is my story, i tried to start right by leaving Liam in his Moses basket sleepy but still awake from birth but his dad spoiled it by rocking him to sleep and continued doing this even though i told him this was not going to help in the long run and i was unable to sort this out as we had very noisy neighbors were we live and i was stressed all the time so when i moved i decided to sort it out. We moved into a nice flat with bedrooms downstairs so i knew he wouldn't get woken by upstairs but by this point he was 10 months old and he woke at least 3 times a night and i decided pu/d was the best method as he would never settle back to sleep. On the first night it toke me 2 hours to get him back to sleep but then he woke at 6am, on the 2nd night it took 45 minutes to get him back to sleep when he woke and on the 3rd night it took just 10 minutes but then woke 2 hours later so i had to do it all over again, 3 weeks later i was still doing this and i decided he should be re settling himself by now so instead of going over the minute he cried i left him for 5-10 minutes and kept checking on his and comforted him and lied him back down and then left him again and guess what he just stop and lied back down and went straight to sleep and since then he has been a dream to put to bed and started waking just the once which was a result. As Liam was virtually sleeping through apart from waking at midnight someone pointed out on here the midnight waking has become a habit so i could try wake to sleep well ladies i tried it, i went in at 11pm and gently turned him over and i got woken at.....7am! it really works wow he has never slept till 7am before normally has me up at 6am he was sleepy when he woke me don't think he is used to so much sleep ;D now i know that works going to try moving his bedtime from 8pm to 7.30pm xx
Title: Re: POST YOUR SUCCESS STORIES HERE!!!
Post by: jessicabella on July 22, 2010, 15:06:31 pm: I was having a really hard time doing shh/pat with my 3 week old... I have a 2 1/2 year old that I really don't want to leave to fend for himself for 45 minutes every 3 hours while I shushed our little girl to sleep, so it was really frustrating that the shush pat didn't even seem to be working. I would feed her and then immediately after eating she would yawn so I figured that was her sleep window, so I would put her down for a nap right away. About 5 minutes after leaving her in her crib she would start to fuss so I would go back in a do shh/pat. She would seem so sleepy, with her eyes closing as I shushed her while she was in her crib. But then after about 4 minutes of that sleepiness, she would open her eyes again and be WIDE awake and content as I shushed her for another half an hour. It was so frustrating because it just didn't seem to be helping her fall asleep!
Then I figured out that the yawn after eating was a WAKING UP yawn, not a ready for nap yawn! After eating, she's now up for about 20 minutes or so, during which time the yawning stops and she is just alert (like she was in her crib :) and after about 20 minutes she will start yawning again, whihc are the ready for nap yawns! And the shh/pat works like a charm now, since I'm trying to help her fall asleep when she's actually ready for it! She doesn't always need it--about 1/3 of the time she falls asleep on her own after winddown time, but when she does need help, it takes at most ten minutes! I'm still getting to know her :) but she seems like a textbook baby to me.
Hope that helps somebody with the same issues! :)
Title: Re: POST YOUR SUCCESS STORIES HERE!!!
Post by: lulunut on November 03, 2010, 14:43:08 pm: Success!!!

I was having such a hard time with separation anxiety, always wanting to be PU. NW every 2hours and short naps. I everything. Well, most things. I didn't want to let him cry too much!! My Mother suggested I turn off the white noise machine and soft music after an hour or so of sleeping. It worked! He has been STTN since at 10mts. Finally!!!

I guess some kids are bothered by the noise. Or maybe it was just an accident. Hopefully this will last a while!!!
Title: Reflux baby with broken, short naps...is finally sleeping
Post by: Rose. on November 15, 2010, 15:17:22 pm: My son is 6 months old and 4 days. He was diagnosed with reflux during his first month. He was swaddled and used a paci up until 4.5 months. He was chronically overtired until just recently. He figured out night from day around 6 weeks, generally only waking for a feed. Naps were a nightmare; he kept waking at the 40 min mark and I would have to run in and reinsert his paci. If I got there in time he would continue sleeping, otherwise it would take me 40 min or so to get him back to sleep (shhh/pat didn't work for us initially; we used to pace the floor with him all the time until about 3.5-4 months old.) We cut out the paci for three days when he was about 9 weeks old and he still woke at the 40 min mark so we knew he wasn't paci dependent (he just needed soothing to get through his broken sleep). We gave him back his paci. It would take me 1-2 hours to get him down at night because he was sooo overtired from his poor daytime sleep. Feeding was also a nightmare. His weight gain was poor especially between 2 months and 4 months. We often had to interrupt his scant naps to feed him because often he would only feed while asleep. When he was about 12 weeks old we discovered we could feed him if we walked around feeding him. This was all due to his reflux and then I think it became a learned behaviour. In any case, thanks to this site and the MARCI site we got him on the right does of Prevacid and he slowly started eating better (around 17 weeks I think?) Once we got his feeding worked out we started to look at his sleep.

He was getting too big for his swaddle and really hated being swaddled. So at 4.5 months we knew we could do PU/PD (but we also had to lose the paci). So we went cold turkey and got rid of both the swaddle and paci. It took about three days of very hard work but he started being able to put himself to sleep. BUT he was still waking up at the 40 min mark for naps (not at night) and we didn't want to give him the paci after all our hard work of getting him off it. We tried everything: wake2sleep, holding through the jolts, shh/pat (which sometimes worked; by this point he liked it) and PU/PD to extend naps. A month of bad napping. Sometimes I would be at it for 40 min... sometimes 70 min. As the month went on, he grew more and more OT and self-settling for naps got rarer and rarer. Occasionally we had a long nap here or there. I noticed that if he had a rough night he was more likely to have better naps. I should have paid attention to that more because what I have discovered is that I was letting my son sleep too much at night! Strangely though, even after a day of broken naps in which he needed help to fall asleep my son could now put himself to sleep for bed (no more 1-2 h of screaming).

He was still waking at night for 1 feed during this time and so we slowly started reducing how much we gave him. Over that month we reduced his one night feed down to 1/2 oz of formula in 2 oz of water. Clearly he wasn't waking for hunger. We couldn't do Wake2Sleep at night since he kept changing the time he would wake (anywhere between 3-6 am). My husband stumbled on a tip on the internet: if your baby is waking at night but not for food, first soothe back to sleep; if the baby wakes again, feed. This website claimed that the time for the feed would slowly move forward until it became the first feed. Worked like a charm over about 1 week! We accepted anything after 6 am as a wakeup time and I think this was pivotal to solving our nap problem. When we used to feed him in the night, he would sleep for 12 h...but have broken, short naps. Now he is waking up after only 10.5 h of sleep BUT is napping 1.5 h in his first nap, 2.25-2.5 h for his second and having a cat nap. He no longer gets overtired during the day anymore and is putting himself to sleep for ALL his naps!!! We are finally on a great routine. Again, I think I was letting him sleep too much at night. We also started doing a loose swaddle for naps, with one arm out and I don't know how much that contributed to the improved naps; really I think what helped the most was getting his night straightened out.
Title: Re: POST YOUR SUCCESS STORIES HERE!!!
Post by: Mia's Mommy on December 23, 2010, 22:20:23 pm: First off, thank you for your support!!! I'm a new mom and this forum really helps me to stay positive and reassures me that I'm doing the best I can. I really have become more confidant in being a mommy in just the last few days. Thanks to you!

Also, good news! The Four S's wind down routine is really working for Mia!!! I began this routine just 3 days ago and it's working!!! Mia fusses and sometimes cries a little in my arms when sshing, but in just a couple of mins, she gets calms down and gets drowzy. I put her down and she's able to put herself to sleep on her own!!! Hubby and I no longer rock her to sleep, which could take 40-45 mins, sometimes longer. We say soothing words and can lay her in her own crib and trust that she falls asleep. It's been such a dream these last couple of days!!!
Title: Re: POST YOUR SUCCESS STORIES HERE!!!
Post by: trimbler on March 20, 2011, 12:49:29 pm: Ok I have a success story for independently getting to sleep :) [staying asleep past 30-45mins still needs work!]

DS was never a great sleeper from the start (apart from those first few sleepy newborn days), we tried and tried to get him to sleep using shh-pat but often he missed one (or even two) naps completely and took 2h to put to bed. Through this forum we realised we were keeping him up too long for a start - he wouldn't start yawning until 1.5-2h after his last nap, and for a newborn this was way too long! Trying to start putting him down earlier helped. So gradually, although I never believed it would happen, we went from taking 30-90mins of trying to get him to sleep - more at bedtime, to maybe up to 30mins, by about 3mo I think - and often not so long. We were still staying in there with him for the first 20mins of sleep at that stage, so it did feel like all my time was spent in that darkened room...

Moving on a few weeks and we only stayed in there 10mins, he started to not like the pat, then the shh - so eventually it was only placing a hand on his chest. By about 4mo or maybe 4.5, we started leaving the room after only a couple of minutes of sleep... and then finally - around 5mo, we could just put him in his cot and leave the room and he'll usually just drift off straight away or maybe babble a bit. :) Even when we moved him into his big cot in his own room a few days ago, he didn't need too much reassurance from us.

So - it's really worth it, but it can take a very long time to see those results! We did use the sling a LOT (well, usually for one nap a day) for the first 4-5mo, to combat OT, since he's still usually taking short naps. But he did learn to resettle himself to sleep at night from quite early on, if he wasn't hungry, so am really glad that we didn't rely exclusively on props. Also, looking back, we should probably have used a swaddle from the start - by the time we started trying it, he just wasn't used to it and seemed to hate it... but maybe he'd have done better earlier on if we had?

I've been complaining about short naps so much on here that I thought I'd pause and be thankful for the independent getting to sleep :)
Title: Re: POST YOUR SUCCESS STORIES HERE!!!
Post by: mamakwe on April 04, 2011, 20:48:21 pm: I thought I should share with you my success story as I know how dishearten it can be when sleep training, I have been lurking around the forum getting loads of very useful info, it's time to give abit back.

I am a 1st time mum and my DS is coming up to 6 months, he's exclusively breastfeed, ( dreamfeed at 10.30pm) and things have been good for a while, he is an angle/textbook baby.

I came across Tracy's books and this site when DS was 5 weeks old and implemented EASY from 6 weeks, in a way I was already doing most of the things in the book, but needed to just tightened the routine, he took to it well.

Tackling the 30min/45min nap.
Don't give up helping them bridge their sleep,
At times I got so dishearten, as he could bridge the sleep by himself at times and other times not, I kept reading the phrase just to remind myself!
".... 1-3months they work on organising their night sleep and 3-6 months their day sleep....." ...and that bridging their sleep is a developmental thing...'
GUESS WHAT? IT'S TRUE. at 5.5months he just started sleeping through for his naps, 1.5hrs / 2hrs am & pm

Night time sleep.
when I got Tracy's books I realised that some of his wakings might not be hunger related! ( explains why he had bad wind pain in the early mornings!!) I tuned into his cries, which was hard as he never really cried much, I was not sure how his hunger cried sounded like!
I gradually replaced the 2-3am feed with ssh/pat, not always succeful I have to add, then one night I realised that if i feed him at 2-3am in the night he would sleep till morning! this time gradually moved to 4am and one morning, i woke up with a start at 5.30am as he had not woken up for a feed! needless to say i was so shocked i could not go back to sleep! he woke up at 7am! that was the revelation i needed. so slowly i worked to get rid of the 4am feed, as i did with the 2am .
He has been sleeping through the night (7pm-8am) from 3.5months, with 1/2 NW, and since 4months with no NW at all.

TIPS
1. Stick at it!: stick at it! it will come right.
2.Feeding well: If i felt they he DS had not taken much during a feed, i would not be scared to try in an hour or so time.
3. Smart phone : My iphone is God sent! those times spent by his cribs gave me plenty of reading time both of books and this site, which gave me loads of info, so had my Y time in that sense.
4.From early on: I knew that sleep training will fall down to me as DH (driver) works long hours and early mornings, jointly agreed i would do night wakings, that way we both knew what to do when DS woke up, my DH move to the spare room and i do what i needed to do to settle DS. ( this my not work for everyone)
5. Self soothe: Get them to learn to self soothe early on, DS was 2months when he started, it actually happened accidentally as i didnt have tracy's books then, i put him down in the cot when he was tired/drowsy... and he started to turn his head from side to side, and whithin 10min was asleep! he still does that to date.
6. Rest: If u are well rested, it's half the battle, in the begining i slept when DS slept.
7. Keep a chair next to cot. Early on when DS was in our bedroom, cot was next to the bed for ssh/pat, when he moved to his room I keep a chair near cot, saved my back!
8. Check your feelings/moods & learn to calm down and go with the flow at times:
whenever i went to sssh/pat and i got frustrated, DS picked up straight away and would not settle, so i learnt to calm down, if after a while he was not settled,I would step out of his room, shake my frustration off and come back in as if I was coming in for the 1st time and with a smile say something like " Hey DS are you struggling to settle for the nap, not to worry, we will try later..." get him out of cot and keep his A time shorter and try later, I ALWAYS PICK DS UP WITH A SMILE...... he smiles everytime i go for him.
9. Know your LO:
They are all different and the books are only a guide! DS was born on the big side and he seems to reach milestones and develpmental stages sooner, it took me nearly 2 weeks to realise that he was fighting me to drop his catnap which he did at 4months!
10. Dreamfed if you can: I have always done this, DS started anticipating it, and would wake up, I use to ssh/pat to settle him wait 20min then fed, even if it was just to get him to start drifting off....it worked for me and soon he did not wake up.
11. ALWAYS go to your LO when they cry.
It promotes trust, reassurance, & confidence in your LO, II see it in his eyes.
12. ENJOY THEM, it passes ever so fast!

N/B I dedicated alot of time to sleep train, am aware that if its not your 1st LO, it would not be feasible, I hope that some of the tips help though.
Title: Re: POST YOUR SUCCESS STORIES HERE!!!
Post by: Mackjack on May 24, 2011, 17:55:20 pm: I broke the 45min naps!
I didn't read any books before LO was born as I wanted to try to work things out for myself - I had no idea how hard it would be! LO slept through the night but would only nap 45mins. The problem was that for her first two weeks she was colicky so we rocked her to sleep and it then became a habit - so she would nap but wake up at that dreaded 45min mark needing rocking again. I would literally spend HOURS each day for MONTHS rocking her to sleep, crying my eyes out because I was exhausted and so was she. My house was a mess and so was I. Everyone thinks that if your baby sleeps through the night, that's all your problems solved but a baby that can't sleep through the day is pretty draining too!!

Two HVs told me to use CC - horrendous. (Really think HVs should be trained in different sleep methods).

I stumbled across BW and what I liked straight off was that I read about EASY and realised that was exactly the routine we had fallen into naturally - so Tracey's methods seemed really natural to us which gave us the confidence to try her sleep training method. At 6months, I started PUPD - it worked the very first day. To say I was amazed is an understatement, I felt like I'd won the lottery. Yes, a couple of days later, we had the regression but we stuck with it and within 5days to a week, she could go to sleep with merely a cuddle and then go in her cot drowsy and drift off.

Yes, you have hiccups along the way but STICK WITH IT and it will pay off - I can't stress that enough - whenever sleep issues start cropping up again, use the same methods and it will pay off for you!!
Title: Re: POST YOUR SUCCESS STORIES HERE!!!
Post by: angnzandy on July 05, 2011, 02:21:34 am: I am thrilled to be posting this today. My third child (DD) is 8 months old and in 3 and a half weeks I have gone from a baby who was awake every 2 hours every night for 5 months (with me BF her back to sleep each time) to last night when she went down at 7:30 had a dream feed at 11 and woke again at 6. She is also taking much better daytime naps. I have gone from a sleep deprived zombie to a fully functioning human being again. It is fantastic.

I used BW with my DD1 and kind of with DS but when number 3 came along I was so busy (and slightly overwhelmed) every thing was very random.
I found Tracey's ideas struck a chord with me when I was reading books before my first dd was born and when I remembered them again (upon finding this website) I felt I was saved (I dug my book out again and re read it). I felt that I was finally in control and actually doing something to help DD2 learn to sleep.

I went cold trukey on the BF and didn't feed between 11 and 6 (although if she wakes at 5:30 I will feed her then).

It hasn't been easy!!!!! On the worst night it took 2 1/4 hours to get her back to sleep and other nights 1-2 hours but with help and advice from people on this site i have tweaked my technique and now feel we are there.
I also found that I would have one good night then a couple of not so good nights but the main positive thing was that the 2 hourly wakings were gone almost immediately.

I think another thing that really helped was looking at my daytime routines. We basically didn't leave the house for 2 weeks except to take DD1 to and from school and to get groceries when we were running out of food. During this time DD2 started taking much longer naps 2 hours in the morning and 1-2 hours in the afternoon. Prior to starting this I was lucky to get 1 hour out of her and usually it was 45 mins. We even managed to go away to my parents last weekend without to much disruption as I kept her to her routine and she is even sleeping now with a bad cold!!!

My only regret is that it took me so long to find BWing again. Sleep deprived brains can be a bit slow on the uptake. Good luck to all those who are struggling now and keep at it. It really is worth it. I can be a much better mother and wife now that I am not constantly craving sleep!!!! Our whole family is in a far better place. I felt like I was in a dark tunnel with no light at the end but now I am out of the tunnel and living again. Thank you Tracey for your ideas and thank you to the moderators and members for you support. RIP Tracey.
Title: Re: POST YOUR SUCCESS STORIES HERE!!!
Post by: FPT23 on January 27, 2012, 21:35:23 pm: I am super excited to post my recent success story (: ! On getting my son to nap past his 40min mark.

Those who contemplate CIO, don't! It is possible. I was just like tht until I found this wonderful site. I wannpt to thank Kara n Natalie for helping me thru the process. Here's my story:

My son is 5mths nxt week. He was a colicky/reflux bby who for 3mths depended solely on me to sleep. The only thing I was able to routine was a consistent bt so he's always been a well sleeper....however, he slept in a swing due to reflux. I tried several ways and nothing work until I stumbled upon this site and recently bought the BW book. Anyways, my sons daytime routine and sleep was all ovr the map. I could nvr routine him bc he was just a high maintenance baby! His naps were so ridiculous and and short and I was ready to lose it and cry it out. I also found out about the way babies chng at 4mths to 4hr etc. my son naturally fell into easy w.o me doing anything and b4 I knew about it. Like, his feed gave him energy to stay awake now, not sleep (: ...to make matters worse,I did not know about this 4mth issue and had planned to CIO, and put him n his crib out of the swing cold turkey (my son had been used to the crib forever now n napped in there occasionally...the cold turkey part was the rocking having to stop) ...he acutually didn't do bad and crib but sleep was bad during the day. I always had a nap routine, dark room, white noise...swaddle...I done it all. I started speaking to Kara n natalie who gave me knowledge on extending his A time a few mins at a time but wean myself as a prop (rocking to sleep) ...he's a big baby as well so it was getting very hard n no down time for me as well :(
I rocked to sleep as usual only this time I patted on back n shh'd (he liked Pat shh Since always bc it was all tht wormked during colicky days) after doing tht for a day or 2 , I then just pat shh in my arms ...yes he cried n fought it but all the while in mommys patient arms (: ...I put him down asleep. Then the nxt day, pat shh again till drowsy, lowered into his crin and finished shh pat till he was asleep...then to finish the weaning, I out down right away in crib at nap time, pat shh till drowsy only, and left. If he cried, I pat him but not to sleep. Yes he did cry n fight it and once or twice it took a whole nap of this and then tried again....but finally it wrkd. He now takes 2, 2hr naps....eats evry 4hrs and follows easy perfectly. He also extended his night sleep from 5-6hrs and 2 nite feeds, to, 8hrs straight and 1 night feed (: I want to thank Natalie for teaching me how to wean myself gradually w no CIO and Kara who has supported me through this the whole way and educated me a lot more on techniques and information on A times and age sap propriety schedules etc! (: it can be done and my life is so much more easy going and I can def enjoy the Y in easy (:

Good luck mommies. It's very very possible. The BW book is very useful as well (: I love it and wish I would've heard about it sooner. My son naturally did easy on his own so I got lucky but the book is great for other milestones and info along the way (: thanks and this is truely very worth the time and patience (: no CIO!
Title: Re: POST YOUR SUCCESS STORIES HERE!!!
Post by: erdebren on March 02, 2012, 00:01:23 am: last night our LO slept for 7 hours straight (he is almost 4 mos. old), ate (EBF), and then went straight back to sleep for 3 more hours. I had to wake him for daycare! On top of that, his naps are getting easier and easier, though we still have our hard ones every now and then. this was not easy for us. We struggled with getting him to fall asleep and stay asleep starting around 6 wks. I found the BW website after about a week of complete distress and started implementing EASY. The rest of my maternity leave was LOTS and LOTS of documenting our LOs schedule, TONS of sh/pat and staying nearby for the 30-45 "hurdle." But with time and lots of hard work (and often tears, screams, and APOP) things are getting better! hang in there mommas and papas! All of that and no CIO-- though at times it was tempting after frustration and fatigue were wearing on us. I am glad we have opted to stick with this instead.
Title: Re: POST YOUR SUCCESS STORIES HERE!!!
Post by: Ma,aBear87 on November 30, 2012, 16:23:53 pm: I have much a great success story i kept meaning to come on and share it and now i am finally making the time to do that because i know when i was desperate and in need of hope i read these stories now i am so glad to finally be posting mine on here!
My little one co-slept with us until 4.5 months..trying to get her to sleep in her crib was quite a process!
She would wake up every hour i was exhausted! Not only that but she has been teething non stop as soon as she gets one tooth she would be started on another so i had to just make her as comfortable as i could and continue with the BW plan..with the occasional APOP on the really rough nights..
The first time i did pu/pd with my daughter it took forever..i think it was somewhere around 3 hours! I even put ear plugs in to make it easier..she was almost 6 months old at this point and i had accidentally parented her into a few bad sleep habits..BUT she did go to sleep!
I also had to break the habitual waking habit too..so i took the great advice from the ladies on the board and got through that..
I had quite a struggle and each time i had a new problem i came onto the board posted my questions got some advice and tried it out with my girl.. to go into all the specific issues we ran into would take way to long but all im saying is stick with baby whisperer it will work i promise!
I am so thankful for all the help i received from this forum! I didn't ever let her cry it out i stuck with my plan and finally i have a little one who is 15 months old who will come and ask me for a nap! and she will tell me when she is sleepy.. she sleeps all night now no problem..i have a girl who has no anxiety when it comes to sleep..it is amazing!
Thank you so much!
Title: Re: POST YOUR SUCCESS STORIES HERE!!!
Post by: *Ali* on December 07, 2012, 19:56:46 pm: What a lovely update :)
Title: Re: POST YOUR SUCCESS STORIES HERE!!!
Post by: odd on August 30, 2013, 20:43:33 pm: Hello,

Thank you ladies for all those good advice and words of hope to help me get through the tough moments (difficult time with the first baby). I'm greatfull for that, but only few things worked for us.

My success story is: taking my time, all the time I had, and observing my baby. The 2h EASY and then 3h EASY were a gift, it really helped me to get through the day and the days were long. For the rest I followed the rythm of the baby, short naps, short activity time, 2x waking up at night, etc. If she napped 45min instead of 2h or 3h, so it was. I tried to force her to fall back asleep... only few times! It never worked and was frustrating. So I gave up. And it stayed like that (I agree, a bit chaotic when you looked at it from outside) till my DD turned 6m. It worked for us because I trusted my DD and I believed in her that she would change her habits when ready. I adjusted my habits to her new wonderfull life helping her to grow.

Then, suddenly, from one day to another, she slept through the night (Eureka!), from 8pm to 5am. I was so proud of her and euforic (because I slept well!)... And she still does, now till 6.30am. The nap-time still varies from 45min to 2,5h, just whatever she needs and I refuse to get frustrated by that. Her A-times also vary, from min 2h to 5h. I tought her to fall alseep on her own at the very beginning (2m old when I learned about this system here), so now I don't have to rock her to sleep. She knows what to do.

Of course, there are still few minor things I have to deal with but I also have preferences, so does she. It's the character. I'd like to help her grow and trust me whenever she needs me.

Is it a success story? I don't know but coming to a conclusion that despite all the invented systems I really don't have to force anything on my DD was a success for me. Good luck with your LO's :)
Title: Re: POST YOUR SUCCESS STORIES HERE!!!
Post by: mrsgalang on January 21, 2014, 13:31:05 pm: She did it!!!!!

We were able to wean our 3 month old (14 weeks) out of her swaddle cold turkey!!!!! It took some time for her to settle at bedtime. Her body would jolt and jump but she did it. She was able to self soothe with the swaddle so when i knew she no longer had moro reflex we decided she was able to soothe herself without. We were prepared to basically sleep train her again and we used the sh..shh..shhh/pat method. When she finally went down she slept from 7:46 - 7am with one dreamfeed at 11. We are still working on her naps since she only takes 30 min naps but at least we got her out of the swaddle before she got too used to it.
Title: Re: POST YOUR SUCCESS STORIES HERE!!!
Post by: epting57 on February 14, 2014, 22:27:13 pm: okay so dd just fell asleep on her own with out me holding her. granted she is on hoppy, has a paci, and my hand is on her stomach as she lays next to me. but i feel like there is some progress.
Title: Re: POST YOUR SUCCESS STORIES HERE!!!
Post by: *Ali* on February 15, 2014, 20:59:51 pm: Small successes lead to big ones ;)
Title: Re: POST YOUR SUCCESS STORIES HERE!!!
Post by: ButterflyLily on March 27, 2015, 08:37:51 am: Quote from: odd on August 30, 2013, 20:43:33 pm
Then, suddenly, from one day to another, she slept through the night (Eureka!), from 8pm to 5am. I was so proud of her and euforic (because I slept well!)... And she still does, now till 6.30am. The nap-time still varies from 45min to 2,5h, just whatever she needs and I refuse to get frustrated by that. Her A-times also vary, from min 2h to 5h. I tought her to fall alseep on her own at the very beginning (2m old when I learned about this system here), so now I don't have to rock her to sleep. She knows what to do.

Congratulations! How are you doing now?
Title: How pat/shush worked
Post by: Marielle on September 16, 2015, 07:43:41 am: Hi everyone, I am a mother of two and have gone through hard times with my oldest. He was not falling asleep on his own, waking up all the time, sometimes needed 45 minutes to go back to sleep (torturing my hand while doing so) - and then would be awake again as soon as I had tiptoed out of the room... So then baby number two came - and I tried pat/shush when from when he was 1 1/2 months. It worked! My most important insights:
- It takes time. It took me around 2 or 3 months to get to a point where he wouldn't cry anymore when being put into bed. Then several weeks more until I felt like I could stop making sound and patting. Then several weeks more until I felt like I could leave the room before he was asleep. All in all it probably took 5 or 6 months!! There was a point when I thought: Isnt the patting a prop? Am I ever going to be able to stop patting? That was when I still had to pat as long as he needed to go to sleep. But over time naturally the patting got shorter and shorter. I just realized he needed less of it. And then I could stop altogether. Then again: We are not talking about days, but about months.
- It is hard. I spent so many hours patting in a dark room. My back hurt badly. I was fed up. I cried, because he woke up after only 30 min of sleeping and I had to rock him back to sleep (only thing that would work). Oh, it was all a pain! But I realized quite soon that in the mornings it tended to be a lot easier, and that gave me hope that in the end it would all work out. So when things were bad for an afternoon nap or he was crying a lot at night-bedtime, I needed lots of patience and believing.
- Modifications are good I tried shushing, but it didn't impress my LO much. For him a sound that was sort of like "uuiuuuiuuiuiiii" worked. Winding down while sitting was simply impossible because he would start to complain a lot. So winding down consisted pretty much of rocking him until he was drowsy.
- Tips from the board work At one point I figured after checking typical A-times of other babies that my LO was awake for too long for his age. When I shortened the A-time putting him to bed became easier. Looking for help in the forum usually gave me useful ideas!!
- It is so rewarding!!! Oh, how I love putting my LO to bed now! It takes barely three minutes, I put him down, sing, leave the room, it's quiet. Amazing.
The nights are still not good, he needs the pacifier and right now is teething like crazy. So lots of waking up. But just for the sake of uncomplicated bringing-to-bed-times was all worth it! We started with him needing to be rocked to sleep (which would have led to years of trouble, as it did with my 3-years-old who still until today doesnt go to sleep independently), and look at us now! :D
So if you are in doubt: Don't give up on pat-shush. Having to deal with the consequences of accidental parenting for YEARS is so much worse than some weeks of increased effort introducing independent sleep!!!!
Title: Re: POST YOUR SUCCESS STORIES HERE!!!
Post by: *Ali* on September 16, 2015, 20:35:26 pm: Wise words. Thanks for sharing.
Title: Re: POST YOUR SUCCESS STORIES HERE!!!
Post by: ireneasheard on October 04, 2016, 12:48:35 pm: Pick up / put down. I was doubtful it would work. Even more doubtful I could simply comfort my child in cot by reassurance after doing pu/pd... but it works. Only took implement of it and now at 6 months a rub on the belly and sitting until calm and babe puts himself back to sleep.
Title: Re: POST YOUR SUCCESS STORIES HERE!!!
Post by: ireneasheard on October 13, 2016, 11:34:27 am: More PU/PD success - my son struggled to get to sleep tonight and cried badly. In I went and he settled with 2 pick ups and then my hand on him and he went off to sleep. Also he had a soiled diaper the other night and woke fully.... took a few goes but back to sleep he went after a full change. Amazing technique. Never would have believed it would work prior to trying it, I feel so much better for trying it. My son is really trusting and I can see how secure he feels when I am there reassuring him about going back to sleep.
Title: Re: POST YOUR SUCCESS STORIES HERE!!!
Post by: creations on October 13, 2016, 11:41:20 am: That is so wonderful to hear :)
Thanks for sharing.