Wake to Sleep question

[The Vern]

Could someone explain the wake to sleep idea? Maybe some success stories on this would be helpful to see how it works in practice. My lo is 9.5 weeks old and is df at 11, usually stirs to get soothed at 1:30, wakes to feed at 2:30, stirs to get soothed at 4:30, wakes to feed at 5:30/6-ish. I'd like to do away with the wakings when she just needs to be soothed; the other two wakings are definitely still hunger, so I'm not too worried about them at this point.Is this something that I should use the wake to sleep for? Thanks.

[brightside]

My DS was waking at 3 and 5.30 for several night-and a couple of other times! I tried w2s last night at 2am and he slept ALL night! The best I'd hoped for was him not waking at 3 but ALL night was a bonus! Hoping it works again tonight. Basically you need to go and stir them out of a sleep 1 hour before the usual time so they enter a new sleep cycle. You need to do it for 3 nights even if it works the first night so that the habit is broken. Are your lo's wakenings always at the same time? Good luck! I was amazed last night. Really hoping it wasn't a fluke!

[The Vern]

Wow that's great with your ds - let me know how it goes the next couple of nights. Good luck.  Actually last night my dd went from df at 10:30 to 3:30 and then to 7am, which was absolutely excellent. I too hope that was not a fluke and might be a new routine for her.

[brightside]

Didn't get chance to do it last night because DS woke at 1.30 for 1.5 hours!!!  Dont' know what was up with him. I ended up feeding him which I haven't needed to do for weeks! I suppose the fact that he woke before 3 am though meant that he had in effect done w2s. Will try again tonight. That's 2 nights now when he hasn't woken at 3 so we'll see.

[carmkaylasmom]

when you wake them do you feed them?

[brightside]

No, you don't actually wake them. You just make them stir so they come into a light sleep and then enter a new cycle.

[asher and noël's mama]

here is a quote from tracy in bw on wake-to-sleep.

"nine times out of ten a child who wakes habitually doesn't need more food (unless she's going through a growth spurt).  instead reswaddle, if necessary, give her a pacifier to calm her, and comfort her with the shush-pat.  (note: unless a baby is pacifier-dependent, i recommend pacifiers for babies under three months old because most don't become dependent on them.)  keep stimulation a minimum.  not rocking or jostling.  don't change her unless her diaper is soiled or soaking wet.  do the fours s routine and stay with her until she's settled into a deep sleep.  you also need to take steps to break the waking habit.  so, let's say you've ruled out other causes such as pain or discomfort.  you've also eliminated hunger by both upping her food during the day and taking her up at night (dream feed and cluster feeds).  this is what i call my "wake-to-sleep" technique:  instead of lying there waiting for her to wake up, set yourclock an hour earlier than her habitual waking time and you wake her.  she probably won't wake up completely, but her little eyes may dark back and forth under her lids, she'll murmurs and move a bit, just as an adult would if you interrupted his deep sleep.  do this for three nights in a row.  i can just hear your response: "you must be out of your mind!"  i realize that wake-to-sleep is a shockingly counterintuitive suggestion, but it does work.  sometimes, in fact, in only takes on night to break the habit, but i recommend that you keep i up for three nights nonetheless.  if it doesn't work, you have to reevaluate whether her habitual waking is due to antihero cause.  if you've ruled everything else out, do this wake-to-sleep technique for at least another three days."

i did this on my lo, she was waking around 3:30 every morning, or within 20 minutes of that.  i thought i might as well give it a try.  well i woke her up too much and then had to shush her back to sleep.  i thought i ruined it and was going to wait a few more nights to try again.  guess what?  ever since then she has been waking up at her normal 5-5:30.  and now i know if she wakes up before that she must be hungry, unless it occurs habitually again.

~kellie

[*Natasha*]

Check out the Naps forum their are some sucess strories their on W2S including my own 

[brightside]

Success again last night. Set the alarm for 2am and he slept ALL night.  He was tired from previous night though and short naps yesterday. Big test will be tonight when I don't do it. Will let u know! 

[The Vern]

Brigthside - I'm so excited about your success to date. Please keep updating me and I might try this myself if need be. Last night wasn't too bad; she just woke at 1:30 and 5 am to eat so can't complain there.

[brightside]

Well, this was the big test. I'd done it for 3 nights (well 2 and 1 by default!) and he slept right through again! I'm so pleased!  Still tired though even after 2 full nights sleep! LOL! I've no doubt that once we get used to this, he will go and change the rules again! Good luck!

[htoews]

Hi,
I really want to try w2s but when I tried it last he woke up and wouldn't go back to sleep for 2 hrs.  So I had 2 hrs of him trying to get to sleep and then crying from frustration.  Can you please suggest a few ways to stir my 5mth boy without waking him up?
Extremely Tired

[asher and noël's mama]

i would suggest to just lightly press on his body, all you want to do is see him move, or his eyes move a bit under his eye lids, and then get the heck out of there.  in BW, tracy says, just do it just enough that they stir, just enough to pull out of deep sleep, but not out of sleep completely.  maybe just stroke his head softly once and wait for a response, if there is none, do it again, or twice, but not too much.  also don't turn on the light, maybe a dim light, but i would even suggest just take a small flash light, so you can just see him move, turn it off immediately, and leave.  if you are breast feeding, maybe have someone else do it, so that you lo doesn't smell you.  hope that helps.

~kellie