self-sooth and napping

[Ossi]

My baby is almost 6 months and  up to a week ago he would fall asleep mostly on the breast, sleeping with us in our bed and pacifying trough the night.

10 days ago, before we read the book, we started together with a sleep consultant to train him to self sooth, using the “Ferber” method and to wean him off the night feeds.
This method involves a lot of crying, but it did work for the night sleep, and so far he goes to sleep quietly, holding his “Lovey” and sleeps through the night in his crib in his own room.

We’ve been still struggling with the daily naps. I don’t want him to cry anymore – it’s too stressfull.

He wakes up between 6:00 -6:30
1st nap is usually at 8:30
2nd nap is at 12:00
3rd nap is at 3:30

I would like to find a way to put him down to nap during the day without having to lie down next to him and be a “Human Pacifier” or driving him around in the car.

Another thing is that he rarely takes the pacifier.

Any suggestion?

Thank you in advance,

Osnat

[Jaime]

hello & welcome!

i agree - Ferber is far too stressful.  here's a post about stopping the association between feeding & eating.  Lots of good stuff here:
https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=52857.0

good luck & HTH 

[Ossi]

Thank you for the info., Jamie,

But, I think i need to explain myself again,

He falls asleep on the breast, I'm trying to disconnect him, he wakes up, we start over, he falls asleep again, I wait, I'm trying to move and put him in his crib, he wakes up, cries and then I give up and hold him for an hour or lying next to him.

We broke the BF association for the night sleep.
How can we that with the naps without crying and do you think it's possible  to start from the crib?



Thank you

Osnat

[Jaime]

oooooooooooooh... i understand now.

i think pu/pd (pick up/put down) will be your best bet.  he's waking when you put him down because then he feels his full weight when he hits the mattress.  then, he wakes & wonders where nice warm mommy is.

here's a link to the board - it's much easier to read all the particulars than to retype them here 
https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?board=31.0

and this is a link to a sleep interview with tracy, where she also goes into very detailed descriptions on how to do it:
https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=3189.0

HTH 

[Harvey and Theos Mam]

We started with the naps for Harvey @ 4 1/2 months old and we started with the pu/pd and stayed in his room but moved closer to the door bit by bit.

[rileys_mom2005]

Hi, I had the same problem with my boy who just turned 6 months.  He would only breastfeed to sleep or sleep with me lying next to him.  I was also a human pacifier.  I bought one of Tracy's books on saturday past "the baby whisperer solves all your problems".  We just skimmed through it that day and tried out what we had read that night and it worked like a charm.  At the first sign of Riley being tired like rubbing his eyes or yawning, I take him to his bedroom.  I make sure the blinds are closed and I just sit in a rocking chair with him for about 5 minutes.  I do not rock, just sit in silence.  This is to help him wind himself down.  Then I put him on my shoulder and pat the middle of his back and if he is fussy I shhh loud.  Just like a faucet that is on full blast.  Within minutes he falls asleep.  Then I lay him down in his crib, if he stirs or cries a little, I keep him on his side, pat and shh again.  Usually seconds and he is off to sleep again.  He never used to stay in his crib or nap during the day.  Now I get on average 2 naps a day that last 1hour and a half to two hours.  It's so good to have time to myself again and he isn't crying so much.  He is a happier baby now.
I hope I helped some.

[Ossi]

Thank u all for your support.

We've started pu/pd yesterday, and it's getting easier and easier,
The only thing is that he naps no more than 40 min (!), usually 30 min...for 3 times a day. I know this is not restorative and not enough. During the night he sleeps for 10.5-11 hrs.

How should I extend the naps? He looks so alert when i walk into his room!

Sometimes he falls asleep at 11:30am, wakes up at noon when it is his feed time. What should I do?

He eats every 3 hrs.

Thank u again,

Osnat

[Jaime]

glad to hear things are improving!  it's such a wonderful feeling when they finally get it, isn't it? 

if he's waking happy from his naps... you might have a short napper on your hands.  but if he wakes cranky or grouchy, he needs more sleep.  here's some tips on that:
https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=34567.0