Success stories?

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Just ONE WEEK to REAL SLEEP!

Our son had been a good little sleeper from birth until 4 months old.  Around 4 months old, his growth slowed.  Our pediatrician advised waking him every 3 hours for a night feeding to get his growth back on track.  This, along with the standard 4-month sleep regression, created a MONSTER.  For the next three months he woke every three hours, without fail.  We do side-lying nursing (even during the day), so this evolved into quasi-cosleeping.  Except I wouldn't sleep.  I would just doze.  Obviously it wasn't working for us.

Finally when he was 7.5 months old we realized that we were SO exhausted (and I was a crab box)!  I came here for help and katie80 (a moderator) assessed our situation and gave us some great advice.  That first night was rough, but every subsequent night we could see that we were making progress.  Just one week (!!!) after that first night the night waking situation is SO much better.  We've had several nights where he's slept through the night (with evidence that he found/adjusted a pacifier on his own at some point in the night).  When he does wake and fuss in the night, all he needs is help finding his pacifier--place it in his hand and he's out like a light.

I was absolutely not okay with "cry it out," but co-sleeping wasn't working for us.  This method was the compromise I needed.  There was some crying involved, but one of us was always there patting/shushing so he knew he wasn't alone. 

Here's my original thread for more specifics on our situation and what worked: http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=230804.0

[~Sara~]

Way to go!  I'm so glad your LO--and YOU!!--is getting the rest he needs

[melmac007]

I am VERY happy to report a BIG success story.  With advice from this forum and after reading "The Baby Whisperer Solves All Your Problems" I made some big changes which have paid off!  My seven month old was not sleeping more than 60 minutes at a time and seemingly had to sleep in bed with me.  I was ready to pitch myself out a window (I am barely joking!)  But within a week of changing her daytime schedule and practicing PU/PD properly she is sleeping up to 10 hours at a time!

First, the schedule. I had been trying to follow the Gina Ford schedule for quite a while but it was really stressing me out and I found very difficult to follow.  I would be constantly referring to the book and getting really worried.   After advice on the BW forum, I shifted my LO to being awake at more regular intervals (approximately three hours at a time) and then having more even naps (approx. one-to-two hours at at time) but usually no more than 2.5 hours daytime sleep.  I also stretched out her milk feeds as she had turned into a serial-snacker and wouldn't take more than 3/4oz at at time (now her record is 7.5oz).  Here is her rough schedule (but note, it does change somewhat day-to-day):
7am wake and milk-feed
8am solids breakfast, after which she has a vigorous play to burn off the energy
10am sleep (with a wind-down beforehand)
11/11.30am wake and milk-feed
12pm solids lunch, again another vigorous play.  Usually try and get outside before the next nap.
2.30pm sleep
3.30/4pm awake and milk-feed
5.30pm solids dinner, followed by a play and bath
6.30pm milk-feed
7/7.30pm bed (with a good 20min wind-down)
then she is usually waking early morning (anywhere between 1-5am) for a dreamfeed

I use the PU/PD method to put her to sleep.  Before reading the BW forum, I really thought I would have to resort to CIO, which was rather gut-wrenching to me; I really didn't think I had it in me.  But I read how to do PU/PD properly and I really thought it would work for us both. And it did.  So usually I will get her drowsy with some cuddles and patting.  Then I put her down in her crib. If she mantra-cries and yabbers I don't tend to touch her at all, just sit by the crib.  If she goes into crazy scream mode, I pick her up, sometimes shoosh-pat her but it is important I read her mood as sometimes this sends her more crazy.  If she starts to back-arch and scream harder I put her back down and let her get it out on her own in the crib; if after a minute she doesn't get it out of her system and shift to a mantra cry then I pick her up again and hit repeat.  Often I will just put my hand on her bum, or tummy, just so she knows I am there.  When I started the sleep training I would have to PU/PD lots but now I barely do it at all, sometimes I don't even need to; sometimes now she goes down within a minute.  And with this method she stays down....I hear her wake up through the night and she has a yabber/mantra cry and puts herself back to sleep without me needing to even go in there.  If she does a shrill cry I know she can't put herself back down and go in as she is probably hungry (she usually only shrill cries now after 3am and only once).  I should mention I am no longer sleeping in the same room with her; I feel that has made a big difference.  I should also mention she is also taking solids now which is also helping her sleep better through the night.  Another thing to mention; I had previously been using a pacifier and white noise, along with rocking her and "boobing" her to sleep (yes all the things you are not meant to do!)  I went cold-turkey on all of it!  I know they say to gradually phase out things, but I was kinda desperate and while it was a little painful those first few days, it was much better than spending 4-6am with her screaming.  I found that removing all the aides immediately was key.

So I have gone from my LO not sleeping more than 60 minutes at a time, to sleeping up to 10-hour stretches.  All in one week!  Yes one week!!  I wouldn't believe it myself if it didn't happen to me. 

[Lollipop86]

Hey!

Well, I have to write about our success too
My DD is a tough nut to crack... she was having trouble with sleep from birth to about 6 months! It was a few times when I wanted to quit and just go but this forum helped me carry on and teach her how to do it. We went from a few short and broken naps during the day and waking up every 2 hours in the MOTN to 2 naps of about 1-2 hours and let's say 7.30-7.30 sleep and waking up 1-2 times. We went from not being able to self soothe to falling asleep on her own, usually after 5 minutes.
She is still very sensitive to every change in her day and we still don't have a steady schedule (so sometimes she is not ready to nap at all and we have problems) but it's a huge improvement. She is happier, I am happier and well rested to cope with her. At almost 9 months she is on her way to walking already!

So a thousand thanks to this forum, the book (which I lend to a friend who is having trouble too and to Katie80 and Erin M! (((hugs)))

[~Sara~]

Hooray!  So glad for you both

[tweetie]

It took me forever to write this post - started many times but never finished - in the meantime we have other issues you know how that goes  but I wanted to write this:
My LO is spirited baby with low needs sleep and it is complicated with sleeping - you can not put her sleep UT, if she is OT she can not fall asleep, she is always in the action etc etc... In addition to regular phases that were going on: napping problems, waking after 45 min, 3-2 transition we had CONSTANT long NW  2 hr in average since she was 4 months old - actually all "fun" started with developmental milestone In total we had 5 months long NW with I could say maybe 15 days without them - so it was 4.5 months of having coffee between 2-4 am or 3-5 am.

I spent 2 months and 7 days on this board - each day complaining, posting and with generous help of becj86 & Erin long NW were gone! They were answering EACH day looking for solution to help us and we made it  . Thank you very much ladies we appreciate it. Thank you to complete forum 

Who would like to know more or if it could be helpful here is the link: 7.5 mo long NW

Now we have EW and NW again but these are part of 2-1 transition and look completely different than solved one. With my LO it is always some phase 

[mom1980]

My daughter used to be a great sleeper and then... all of a sudden that changed. I had some major issues with night waking which inevitably had a knock on effect, she ended up waking up after 9am because she was awake so much during the night and then napped later and the snow ball just didnt stop. I couldn't figure out what was going on especially being a mom that follows a routine and structure. there was no teething, she wasnt sick... i was clueless!
until recently she ended up sleeping in our bed because i was really just too exhausted to deal with the constant night wakings... it was like having a newborn all over again, and i really couldnt manage. But the co sleeping created another problem, i became the prop and breastfeeding became her sleep association.
I tried various baby whisperers, one of which just let my child cry for hours with no result several hundred dollars later. Then i tried weaning thinking this may make it easier... all the drama and it didn't help.
Things have turned around...thank god! because i was really reaching a point where sleep was a distant memory, not because my DD was waking as much now that she was with us in the bed, but because i can't sleep through being constantly kicked, hit in the face or slowly edged off the bed.
I found a great app on the apple store called "the baby whisperer" that a friend of mine was using. It was only 99cents and really has really helped me so much! i would highly recommend this app!
my tot is back in her cot, napping and sleeping there at night. She does still wake up once at night but iv really only just started.... so consistency and spousal support is key..which is how i plan to continue to enjoy dreamy nights!