Hi All,
My name is Monique and I'm new to the boards. I read the Baby Whisperer book about 1.5 months ago and the hubby and I ceded to implement the pu/pd method when we started sleep training our son. Here's a little back ground info: Our son (Brady) will be 5 months old on Friday (he is actually 21 weeks old right now); he is fed by combination of breast milk and formula (sometimes breast milk is directly from breast and sometimes from bottle) and he drinks 8 oz from bottle or feeds for approx 25 to 30 minutes total from both breasts when breast fed; he has been on a 4 hour routine since he was about 8 weeks old at the direction of his pediatrician where is eats every 4 hours. Prior to January 2012, Brady's routine was:
Wake - 6:30
Eat - 6:30
Activity (Swing and Diaper Change and Dressed) - 7- 7:45
Then to Day care at about 8
Nap - about 2-3.5 hours between 8:30 and Noon
Eat - Between 12 and 1
Activity - playtime at daycare
nap - 2-3 hours between 2 and 4:30 (all naps at daycare were taken in the swing and swaddled)
Eat - 4:30/5
activity -- playtime at daycare
Nap - 30-45 min between 5 and 5:45 pm -- then I picked him up
Eat -- 7:30/8 -- then bedtime routine (sometimes bath, story, pi's)
Bed - 8/8:30; he'd sleep (in his own room) anywhere from 4 to 6 hours during the first stretch the wake between 1 and 2 a.m. for a night time feeding and stay up for total of 1.5 hours (from start of feed) then sleep till 4:30 when he'd toss turn and break out of the swaddle, I'd reswaddle then he's sleep till about 5:20 when I'd go in a bring him into our room and he'd seep till 6:30 on my chest. NOTE: all naps taken at home on the weekends were either in my arms unswaddled or in the swing swaddled but those were the ONLY ways he would nap, at night he slept in his crib swaddled but we had to rock/bounce/hug him into a deep sleep before putting him down. he also uses a pacifier but before sleep training he didn't rely on it so heavily.
At his 4 month doctor's appointment on January 5 his pediatrician instructed us to wean him off of the night time feed because he is 15 lbs 6 oz and doesn't "need" to eat at night. So the hubby and I started sleep training using the baby whisperer method. We have been doing the method since January 7, 2012. At the same time I lost my job so Brady began staying at home with me full time. His routine since 1/7/12 has been:
Awake -- 6:15 a.m. (he stirs at 5:30ish but I try to make him go back to sleep till 6:15/6:30) - sleeps in his crib
Eat -- 6:30
Activity -- 7-7:45 watch tv with me, bounce around, etc.
Nap #1 -- I watch his cues, so i put him down for his naps when he starts yawning or rubbing his eyes, which is usually 1 hr and 15 min after eating and he naps 2 - 2.5 hours -- he usually doesn't wake during this nap
Eat -- 10:15
Activity
Nap #2 -- 11:15/11:30 and he sleep about 2 o 2.5 hours - wakes once to be reswaddled
Eat -- 3:15/3:30
Nap #3 - 4:30/5:00 -- sleeps for 30 min to and hour then wakes and plays till we start bedtime routine
He's supposed to eat at 7:30 or so so we start his bedtime routine of bath (every other night), pjs, feed then story at 6:45 then put him down in his crib swaddled and awake but really tired. I sing to him and sit with my hand on his chest and he generally falls asleep within 15 minutes with paci in mouth which he spits out when he falls into deep sleep but if it comes out before he's all the way sleep he will wake and I have to put it back in sometime several times till he's deep sleep. he then sleeps till about 11 p.m. when he's broken the swaddle and I go in and reswaddle, put paci in and he goes back to sleep right away, up again at 12:30/1 a.m. broken out of swaddle -- go in and reswaddle and put paci in and he's back down within 5-10 mins; up again about 2 wide awake though droopy eyes and obviously sleepy but up talking and kicking his legs and arching his back -- one of us goes in and reswaddles (he's broken the swaddle) and puts paci back in and sings to him and puts hand on chest but he stays awake for AT LEAST an hour -- no crying usually, just staring and fighting sleep if we are in the room, if he doesn't see us anymore he starts to cry; I usually sleep on his floor during this time till he goes back to sleep around 3:30 (deep sleep) and I stay on his floor reswaddling him when I see him breaking the swaddle or putting the paci back in his mouth when he wakes and starts to cry and I stay in there till about 5 sometimes. He doesn't require a feed anymore during the night -- at least he's not acting hungry when he wakes, just playful.
I am at my wits end!!! He's waking more now since we started sleep training then before we started it! He still has a very strong startle reflex so I think we have to continue swaddling him but he wakes up EVERY SINGLE TIME he breaks the swaddle!!! I don't know where to go from here? Maybe he's not ready to sleep through the night or be sleep trained but now we can't go back to the way things were. Am I doomed to have no sleep forever?
On the plus side, he does sleep in his own crib for all naps and at night and we can put him down awake without rocking him to sleep and we don't have to feed him during the night anymore. The bad side: he wakes way more often, we still have to sing to him or put a firm hand on the chest for him to go to sleep and he's staying awake for way too long during the night.
Please help!!! I've re-read the book over and over and find no help for my situation. What do I do? I tried to put him down yesterday for all naps and at night with just one arm swaddled and it was a total disaster for which I paid for at night because he woke every hour after the first 3 hour stretch and this time he was screaming crying each time. Usually when he wakes from naps or for the day he talks to himself and coos and doesn't start crying unless take too long coming in.
