by Mama Fox
It is Fox3's nap time and my arms are free.
For the last few months, I have been holding Fox3 during his naps because if I put him down, he would wake up quickly. As a result, he was over-tired and clingy. Because he was over tired, he didn't sleep well at night. Because he didn't sleep well at night, he didn't sleep well during the day. It's a vicious cycle.
I finally got
No Cry Sleep Solution from the library, read it, and put ideas into play. It's been just under a week and he's sleeping SO much better, no crying needed. I'm very strongly against Crying It Out and will not do that to him. We are still co-sleeping part of the night because at about 3am, I don't have the ability to stay awake long enough to wait until he's finished eating, and then put him back on his bed.
I'm hoping that in a few weeks, we will be cutting out the night feedings. He doesn't eat much at all at night anyway, he uses me as a pacifier mostly.
That's what I was during the day too -- a pacifier. Since we started NCSS, he is learning that he doesn't have to be nursing to fall asleep. He's even been pulling himself off before he goes to sleep, and will often stir a little bit in his sleep. Before that meant he would wake up, but now he just gets more comfortable and goes right back to sleep. He's gone from taking two 20-30 minute naps a day to at least two hour-long naps, more often an hour and 1/2. He is a much happier baby now.
I am happy. I love this book! We are all sleeping a lot better.
I recommend it to EVERYONE with babies or toddlers.
What are some of the books you've read about crying? What do you do when your baby cries or can't fall asleep at night?
Comments (13)
Wow, I can't believe you've been holding Fox3 during his naps!! My daughter sweats like crazy, and even more so when she's sleeping. I sometimes hold her when she's sleeping if we're out, but never at home. I'm glad you found a solution for your baby. I hope it continues to work!
We personally used the cry it out method and although it was agonizing to hear my precious boy cry himself to sleep at night for a week, he has slept through the night since we started the cry it out (around 5 months). I finally got to the point where my sanity hinged on him sleeping because he just wouldn't sleep by himself. That's what drove me to try cry it out.
What methods are in the No Cry Sleep Solution that helped you?
@aaronandcass@xanga - The big one was nursing until he was drowsy, then pulling him off. The idea is that he had a sleep association with nursing and the way they go to sleep is the way they expect to wake up. It would be quite confusing to go to sleep nursing in one area of the house and wake up in another. Once we started doing that, his whole sleep pattern changed. He is so much more rested which makes everyone here happier.
It's nice being able to nurse and rock him until he's almost alseep, put him down, pat his back a few times until he's out and be able to go about my night. Before once he was asleep I had to be right there with him. My older boys were never that clingy and slept so much better so I was unsure of how to handle it. I had a friend recommend it to me a little while back when we were talking about nap times.
20-30 mins to 1-1/2 hours! that's great. my daughter sleeps pretty well (and i've never let her cry it out...my heart won't let me), but i'd like to read what the books says. i've read the happiest baby on the block. it's not only about sleeping, but there's a few helpful things in there.
@mamakoala - my daughter sweats a lot too.
Noted! I'm stopping off at the used bookstore in my mom's town tomorrow and will look for it and try Freecycle if I can't find it there (science-fiction and romance? They're stocked to the rafters -- literally. Parenting and babies? Those books share a shelf with "other health related" issues and there are, like, twn copies of "What to Expect...".).
I use the cry method more with my daughter then my son, I think your first child is the test child and you learn more with practice. We didn't start her to sleep in her own room till she was 5 months old, and not much did she start to cry. But now she goes to bed and we just started to give her the bottle at night to keep her to sleep through the night. At her naps she cries more then at night.
That's the book I used too, and it worked wonders within the first two nights. By the end of week 1, my daughter was a pro at sleeping. She has always slept in her crib, and we are so thankful that we have our bed to ourselves and she gets the sleep she needs.
Wow, that's great that it worked so fast. Usually the whole building-new-sleep-associations thing takes a bit longer to get established.
Ever since he got past the 3-4 month mark I often felt like I was getting in the way more than really helping when putting him to sleep. Then we started letting him cry it out, and if I time things out right (looking for drowsy cues... which
I looked into that book once as someone told me it had a great section on getting babies to sleep past the 45 minute mark. Basically what it said was to help soothe them back to sleep as soon as they start stirring (before they fully wake up). I tried that with D, except he doesn't "gently" wake up-- he'll be dead asleep, and then all of a sudden those peepers are WIDE open. So didn't really work....
The "nursing till drowsy but not yet asleep" thing also worked really well sometimes, and others not at all. I dunno, I guess our kiddo is just not very consistent.
some days is much harder than others) he'll go to sleep on his own much faster than he would have if I were helping him. And putting him down in his room and letting him fall asleep on his own is much much easier on my sanity than spending 30 minutes pacing the room with him at every nap time (since he takes about 5 naps in a day).
I guess I chalk it up to different babies (and mamas) needing different things.
we had jeremiah cry it out. It's heartbreaking at first but it works wonders. Only problem is now he's teething and waking up more at night again so we're back at the drawing board. and it doesn't help that we're dog sitting for my mom's dog and she's been waking him up
I'm going to get this book!! My baby sounds just like yours! I don't let him CIO and he wakes up if I lay him down, thus I hold him for all his naps. What a great book!
My baby nurses to sleep, sometimes pulling herself off, sometimes falling off once she's really out, but I can usually put her down without her waking up. I might check out the book because I know there are a few times that she's just nursing out of comfort...
i just ordered this book last week!! i am not a fan of CIO either! i think its mean, but i know ppl who totally believe in it though.
Well, I've been trying everything I can think of lately to get my daughter to sleep at night. I've tried reading to her, playing with her, soothers, music, night lights, lights on, rubbing her back, slightly rocking, toys, blankets, back, stomach, feeding her, talking about daddy, and then I've run out of ideas.
She slept perfect, for 12 hours straight, before her father left for deployment. I thought she was just missing her daddy telling her good night and covering her up, so I started playing with her like he did and talking about him and I ALWAYS tell her, no matter what, that her daddy loves her, but that doesn't even begin to help. She'll smile at me, even when I just say "daddy," but as soon as I walk away from the crib, she's screaming and crying like I just tossed her in there and left, which I would NEVER do.
I hate to be a burden, but do you have any suggestions?
My husband suggested letting her cry herself to sleep, but I can't do that to her. I can't stand hearing her upset the slightest bit. She's a perfect angel through the day, but at night, something changes dramatically :[