Trying PU/PD without a strict routine

[ptcruiser]

Hi all,

This question has probably been done here before but I couldn't find it. Our baby is 5 and a half month old, doesn't swaddle anymore and now, and even before removing the swaddle, we are facing night awakings at around 1:30 am and around 5 am.

We've always had a calm routine to put him down for naps and for bedtime and never had any issue with it. Even before I ever heard about the EASY or Tracy Hogg, we were already doing two 2 hours naps (one morning, one afternoon), a cat nap and even cluster feeding (we didn't even know that was a thing, we just did it because it seemed a good idea at some point).

He has always gone to sleep on naps and bedtime, after being fed, mostly being nursed to sleep. We understand now that this is a problem and night awakings are getting a lot more frequent, so we thought it would be a good idea to start sleep training.

Ok, so this is our background, my doubt is, we have a hard time to stick to a strict or even slight flexible EASY schedule, nearly impossible actually but give or take intervals we do sort of do it, anyway, the question is, is it worth it to just do the PU/PD training? Will we get anything out of it like him learning to self-soothe or is it dependant on the rest of the "program"?

Thank you all

[ginger428]

hi ptcruiser and welcome to BW!

Personally, I think it is worth a try! To be honest, just the kind of baby and toddler my son was, our EASY was never textbook... it was all over the place if you can say it was even EASY. I did, however, use BW principles that I needed and worked... especially for sleep training. Having said that, oftentimes, routine does factor into sleep habits so it's something to consider.  For instance, if nap times vary significantly from day to day in terms of what the parents can control, it can: hinder baby to develop a sleep rhythm, can cause undertiredness and/or overtiredness which makes unpredictable behavior around sleep.

I believe he would learn to become an independent sleeper as long as you are consistent and stick with THIS thing-pu/pd... No matter which sleeping method you use, consistency is the key. 

Just a few notes if you don't mind... breaking nursing to sleep is so hard for some kiddos, it certainly was for my DS and me. Please remember to be patient with him (and yourself! give yourself plenty of breaks) and to be with him as he may protest quite a bit in the beginning. Here is an article with links to many different issues that may come up. Hope it helps!

https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=275699.0

[ptcruiser]

Hi, thanks for the welcome loving this forum.

In terms of routine we've got one, he sleeps about 1 and a half hour in the morning and a bit more than 2 hours in the afternoon plus a small nap at the end of the day.

Stopping nursing to sleep is going to be the last thing we will do but we will get there and will be patient. The only issue is with the last feed before bed, for the last over 5 month he has fallen asleep on that feed and that might be something we are not willing to give up...don't know how that will go in terms of impact on the lack of consistency.

For now I've done the PU/PD for the 3 daily naps and it's going sort of well with mixed results. Some use of the pacifier when crying becomes hysterical and while i'm patting his back and "shushing" i need to sort of touch/hold his arms so he settles, don't know if that is counterproductive or if it's ok and i'll just hold him less and less over the coming days..

Thank you all for any advice you might have.

[ginger428]

Yes, what you're doing to comfort him is great! "Less and less" is basically gradual withdrawal and it works for a lot of babes. Sounds like you have a good handle on it and know when to intervene. Best wishes!

[becj86]

Just wanted to add that you might want to read around the 3-2 nap transition as your baby is about the age that dropping the catnap is worthwhile for making night aleep better too.

[ptcruiser]

Our bedtime routine starts at 9pm and ends up in bed at around 9:30/9:35pm so not having the last catnap of the day makes him pretty overtired at around 7/8pm, that's why we are keeping it.