Need help/advice with GW sleep training for 20 month old

[rayan2012]

Hi

We are on Day 6 of GW  sleep training. It was really good in the beginning but for the past 3 nights we have had NW for 2hrs between 4:30-6:30am! First two nights DS just stayed in crib talked, cried a little I gave him some milk. But last night was a full out cryfest where he got too worked up to even fall back asleep I had to take him out for about 30min. After that at 6:30pm DS went to sleep in his crib.

I was breastfeeding during the night/cosleeping before sleeping training and I just stopped cold turkey I dont know if that is affecting him. I thought maybe he was UT because he was getting 2hr naps so yesterday I gave him a 1.5hr nap and he still woke up. I thought maybe he was teething so I gave him advil before bed and when he had NW but it didnt seem to make a difference.

since sleep training started

WU - 9am
Nap 2pm
WU 4pm
BT 10pm (but with the crying or fussing some nights ends up 10:30pm, or 11pm)

I really dont know what to do, he has 3 NW a night but the first two he goes back to sleep with some singing. The last one is the hardest

[*Becky*]

bumping up x

[*Becky*]

Could he be a bit OT at BT do you think? Have you tried doing BT 30 mins earlier?
How longs has it been since you stopped the night feeding etc?

[rayan2012]

Hi *Becky*

Well it has been about 8 days since I last breastfed DS, however the beginning of ST was going good because I think he was overtired he would just knock out. Now that I am easing him back into a routine of

WU 8am
Nap 1pm
WU 2:30
Bedtime routine starts around 8pm (diaper, pjs, milk, books, bed)
BT 8:30pm (but after all the fussing and whining he falls asleep at 9pm)

I am finding it harder for him to fall asleep alone. We have 3 props he is using, he sips his sippy cup with milk. Fidgets, while I sing a lullaby to him. After 30min of that if he doesnt fall asleep I rub his back.

The night before I wrote this post it was day 3 of NW that lasted 2hours long. That night he didnt have a long NW he had 4 NW that he settled back with a lullaby. The night after that (last night) he had another NW where he was screaming and couldn't settle back, this was from 2am-4:45am. He was up for 2.45min (45min to get him to go back to sleep with singing and rubbing of the back).

The thing I did differently which I might try again tonight is giving him Advil right before bed (the night I did that he had 4 small NW).

I think he might be teething but I can't be sure if he is just showing signs of weaning. He has some drooling, often times bites his finger, fist, random objects.

What I am really confused about is, how to make the NW less and less. How do I GW out of his room? I am sleeping on a mattress in the bedroom that he knows I am there because when he wakes up I'm there. *sigh* Just too much going on.

[rayan2012]

I also, I should add that he is not napping the full 1.5hr. Today he woke up after 45min screaming just like he does during the NW. I didn't give him Advil before the nap. And he has a cough but it is not too bad.

[*Becky*]

It does sound like discomfort to me...do you give meds when he wakes at night?

[rayan2012]

I dont think its discomfort anymore, last night I gave him medication but he woke up 3hrs after sleeping with the same temper tantrum. We stayed up for 2hrs he said he was hungry, I gave him something to eat and he went to sleep normally.

[rayan2012]

Hi,

If anyone could give me some insight on what may be going on. I moved DS BT earlier, which resulted in early NW, and early WU (6:30am)...another 45min nap where he wakes up screaming again as opposed to his normal quiet wake up. I stopped rubbing his back and singing to him, he just falls asleep with me in the room on the chair. When he has his NW I'm in the room, sshing him back to sleep, I even tried singing but nothing works. He has a cold and I give him a pain reliever before BT as a precaution in case his cold is causing him discomfort. I feel we went totally backwards on the progress front. Almost 2 weeks ST.

[Shiv52]

So at the minute he is going down fully awake and you are not helping in the slightest other than sitting in the room? Is that right?  And that is for naps,bedtime and NWs?

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

If he has a cold (& teething?) then sleep training may not be the best idea atm...illness/teething were always times when all bets were off even after my kids were sleeping independently.

Its great that he will go to sleep with just you sitting in the room! Is the sippy of milk still a part of that? I would look to try and replace that with water if so.

How much earlier of a bedtime resulted in the 6:30 wake up? 7:00/7:30 was always the ideal wake up and bedtime for us.

[rayan2012]

Hi!! Thank you so much for replying!

Shiv52..I am not helping at all. I thought the NW was because I was patting him and singing so I completely stopped. I just sit on a chair and within 30min (pretty long) he goes to sleep, naps, bedtime and after NW

MasynSpencerElliotte...He does have a cold, teething I am not too sure. However even with medication he is still waking up. I really can't go back now to rocking or nursing to sleep so I have no choice but to continue. I just don't understand the reluctance of getting the schedule to be consistent.

Tonight I am going to put water in the sippy cup, he doesnt drink it a lot only when he stirs in the night.

 That day he had a short nap, so I put him to bed 8:30pm on the dot. He had a NW at 12:30-2:30am. Then he woke up 6:30. He then took a 45min nap, and I kept him  up till 8:30 again because I didnt want the schedule to go back and back. He slept 12hours with only 3 stirs in the night. However he then took a 30min nap at daycare, then fell asleep in the car ride home. from 5-6pm. Now I am up with him until midnight.

Its like a sad mix of OT/UT. I just thought he would be able to take a longer nap and ultimately have less NW. And for the record, he was doing very similar things when I was bf/rocking him to sleep. This is a weird pattern that has been going on for like 2 months almost. I thought ST would fix things but it doesn't look like it.

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

If he had a good night after a 45 min day nap perhaps he is just low sleep needs?? My almost 7 month old maxes out at 2 hrs per dayover 2 naps so I imagine by 20 months we will be down to a short nap too .

[*Ali*]

Maybe he just needs time to really accept the new sleeping and feeding arrangements. 20 months is a long time to co sleep and feed to sleep so a few weeks on the new routine is very short in comparison.

I would just keep doing what you are doing and I think eventually he will settle into it. Being sick with a cold can't be helping of courses so when that is over things may suddenly improve too. I often found with teething that it didn't stop the NWs from discomfort but it did make it easier and quicker to resettle at times.

Also if you weaned the BF completely cold turkey then he may be feeling a little insecure and needs to rebuild his confidence that he can get comfort from you in other ways.

[rayan2012]

Thank you *Ali* and MasynSpencerElliotte for the responses,

I think *Ali* you are right about the taking time, because we haven't been consistent for more than 2 days in a row and its disheartening but I think he does miss breastfeeding although hes taking it pretty well. I will continue what I'm doing and hopefully have some progress in the next couple of months