Tips, Advice and Success Stories

[leahjoy]

Do you have any tips, advice, or success stories to share?  Please do so here!

[leahjoy]

I don't have a succes story to share yet, but if there is one tip I would like to share with other moms, that I have had some success with, it is that naps are super important!  A well-rested baby sleeps better at night.  Keeping your baby up until they are exhausted is never the answer if you want them to sleep better at night.  Good luck ladies!

[ERBoyd143]

Well You are absolutley right about the well rested baby thing.  For the past two nights my baby girl has sleep all night with out waking up to take a bottle.  I asked one of my friends for advice on what to do.  She has 5 kids including two sets of twins.  She told me to feed her ceral from a bowl cuz she would get more full that way and let her drink as much of a bottle as she wanted then give her a really good bath.  I did that around 7 the first night and it worked.  She did woke up 1 or 2 times to get her passy but went right back to sleep.  Then the next night she slept all night long from about 8:30 to 6:30am.  I am so excited!!!!

[.Amanda.Dawn.]

I actually joined this group because I hear about lots of frustrated moms who are just tired and stressed because their baby isn't sleeping through the night yet and I just feel so bad for them.

My baby is 12 weeks old and sleeps 10.5 hours every night.  He started sleeping 7 hours a night at 8 weeks and he is breastfed. 

I'm certainly no expert, but I've taken a lot of advice from the experts (mostly other parents :-)  ever since I got pregnant.  So here is what I've pieced together (most of this comes from the Babywise book and Secrets of the Baby Whisperer).

•  Follow a mealtime, waketime, naptime routine from day one.  This would be a 2.5 hour routine for a newborn and a 3 hour routine for a 3 month old, 4 hour routine for a 6 month old though some babies are different.  You count the amount of time from the beginning of one feeding to the beginning of the next.
  

• Plan for afternoon feedings to be closer together (many nursing moms have lower milk quality in the afternoons)

• Make your baby eat a full meal each time so there's no snacking every 1-2 hours, if they're hungry that often it's a sign of not eating enough unless they're in a growth spurt for a couple days then its purpose is to naturally increase your milk supply
  

• Be as consistent as possible with feedtimes, naptimes, and your method for getting your baby to sleep
• If your baby isn't napping well, they probably need to be put down earlier (look for sleep cues like yawning, fussiness, or inability to do new skills- all of these signs mean it is bed time asap).  Try reducing their waketime by 15 minutes and see if that helps
• Do not nurse or rock your baby to sleep or allow them to sleep in the bed with you on a normal basis.  Now, if they are sick they may need that extra comfort but healthy infants shouldn't rely on those things to get to sleep

Okay, here is my tempered down version of CIO.  I've been doing this for naptime since Tobias was 9 weeks old and I actually wish I'd done it sooner.

Rule 1)  After putting your baby down, wait 10 minutes to go in the first time.  After that, go in at 5 minute intervals to soothe them/check on them

Rule 2) Never pick your baby up.  Your goal as a parent is to help them learn how to self-soothe so if they wake up in the middle of the night they can fall back asleep.  So, give them their pacifier, rub their back, belly, or head, and put on soothing music. 

*the exception to rule 2 is if your baby needs a diaper change or has a high-pitched cry.  This can often be gas and you should burp them.

Rule 3) Don't talk to your baby when you go in.  Remember, mommy's voice is too stimulating for infants and that kind of interaction is best left for waketime.  Gentle shush shush noises or humming is fine though.

Rule 4)  If you know your baby has a full tummy, a clean diaper, and is comfortable and safe in their crib, then the thing they need the most at that point is sleep!

* Again, I am far from an expert at this, but I have been a nanny for 4 years and I have had personal success with getting my son on a schedule that keeps him happy, growing quickly, and sleeping soundly.  If anyone wants help or has questions I would love to help so feel free to message me or join theBabywise babies group and the ladies there are very helpful.

[rachelsmommy78]

the past three nights, i have been putting johnson's bedtime lotion on my baby (instead of the regular johnson's baby lotion) after her bath.  and the past three nights, she has actually slept!  is it a coincidence?  i don't know, but i thought i'd share the tip!  :)   

[LeslieGD]

My DS is 7.5 months and we recently tried sleep  training. Our pediatrician said my husband needed to do it and it has been great. For the last 7 nights DH has put DS to bed and got up with him if he wakes. Before he was sleeping with me and nursing every 2 hours. Now he is sleeping from about 7pm to 6:30am and waking maybe once. He isn't needing to eat at all either. The 2nd night was the worst but DH stuck with it and since it has been sooooo much better.

Here is what we did:

first night put to bed, if cried went in at 3 min, 5 min, 10 min 15 min etc...

2nd night same thing but let him go up to 20 min

3rd and 4th night he slept through the night

5th and 6th night up only once

7th night through the night but up at 6am. 

I can't believe the difference in one week!

[ns61817]

Just curious if anyone had any advice for an older child not sleeping through the night.  My 2 year old has been waking up every 2 hours since we relocated to the Bay area... which has really been tough on me as I have a 7 month old and am working full time..

Any advice would be appreciated

[Princesa769]

I GUESS MY SUCCES STORY IS THAT MY BABY SLEEPS 12 HRS NOW!!  SHE ONLY TAKES ONE NAP AND THAT LAST BETWEEN  A HALF HOUR TO 45 MIN. FOR SOME REASON SHE DOESN'T WANT TO TAKE LONG NAPS. NOW SHE STARTS GETTING TIRED AROUND 7:30. SO WE GIVE HER A BATH AND BOTTLE AND SHE'S OUT BY 8-830. AND SLEEPS THROUGHT THE NIGHT.

[twinbliss]

My twins are 6 1/2 months old and I had been rocking them every time it was time to sleep.  Whether it was naps or bedtime for the night.  It was really stressful for me because they got so they only wanted me.  So reluctantly I had to try the CIO method.  I started back at Christmas time and with the holidays, it was too hard.  So I decided to try it again yesterday.  My son cried really hard for about 30 min. when I put him down for his nap. The last time I went in to reassure him, he fell asleep.  Today during naps, he cried for a few seconds and I checked on him twice.  He was fast asleep.  He always goes to bed for the night easily.  I did rock him for a short while.  We will see how the night goes.  My daughter had a rough 45 min the first time I tried this.  She did go to sleep.  Today with her naps, she didn't really cry, just made noises.  I went in and rubbed her back and she fell asleep.  Tonight  I decided not to rock her before bed and give her a bottle.  I gave it to her in the living room and then laid her down awake and she fell asleep without a peep. AHHHHH!!!    We will see how the night goes with her.  I cross my fingers this works, cuz grandma and grandpa will be spending the weekend with them in a few weeks.  Yes i will be getting a whole night of un-interrupted sleep.  YEAH!!!

[elizabee]

My almost 4 month old baby wont nap during the day unless i either rock him to sleep or breast feed him. Once he does drift off, if i put him down on the bed/crib he will wake up in about 10 minutes..he sleeps longer if he is in my arms ..is there some way i can get him to sleep longer on his own ? Are there any books which can give me advice on how to handle this?

[leahjoy]

This is very common with young babies - they fall asleep contentedly nursing, and then as soon as you put them down (or they realize they were put down), they are up again.  It might help to try to get him used to napping at the same times every day, starting with a first nap at about 1.5-2 hours after he wakes, by taking him for a stroller walk, or putting him in the swing, etc, and soon his body will just get so used to napping at that time, that hopefully you will be able to put him down and get the same result.  Eventually you will want to try nursing him only until he is sleep (not asleep) and then put him down, but I know how hard that can be with a young baby!  As for as book reccomendations - check out our sticky post about sleep book recommendations.

Quoting elizabee:

My almost 4 month old baby wont nap during the day unless i either rock him to sleep or breast feed him. Once he does drift off, if i put him down on the bed/crib he will wake up in about 10 minutes..he sleeps longer if he is in my arms ..is there some way i can get him to sleep longer on his own ? Are there any books which can give me advice on how to handle this?