Sleep-training... ha!
I wax eloquent (read: ranty) on the subject of parenting books over here. Please, please chime in with your thoughts and sage advice. Help!
posted by Tammy @ 8:55 AM
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4 Comments:
At 11:15 AM,
Melissa said…
I commented on your other post, but there was no wisdom or sage advice, so I'll try again here.
A used to only sleep on or near me, until about 4 months. When we were trying to get her to sleep in her crib, we set up all kinds of routines to indicate that it was sleep time: blackout curtains, white noise, lullaby CD, swaddle (we eventually transitioned to a sleep sack because she grew out of the swaddle blanket). At first we had to stay in there with her and rock her until she was asleep, then CAREFULLY place her in the crib and tiptoe out. Over time, we were able to get to the point where we can just put her down and let her wiggle around by herself until she falls asleep. There was no CIO involved because I am a big wuss and I can't stand to hear her cry, plus all our relatives said we would HAVE to resort to CIO so it was a matter of pride that we didn't.
It really can be done. I always thought babies just learned how to sleep on their own, and then I realized that SOME babies do, but many babies don't. I thought I had the worst sleeper in the world, but it turns out she just had to be shown how to fall asleep on her own. Nowadays she has a somewhat regular nap schedule and sleeps through the night at least half the time (the other times she wakes up once and goes back down without a peep after being fed).
The routines really, really helped get her in the crib, and getting her in the crib helped her (and me) sleep more. I also turn the monitor waaaay down at night because she has a habit of yelling while sound asleep. If the monitor is low, I often sleep through these yells and only wake up when she calls more than once.
Does that help at all? I've totally been there (as you can see if you read my old blog entries). I was sad to see her go from the bed but so happy to get the sleep.
At 9:39 PM,
Anne-Marie said…
Holy crap! People have a lot to day about sleep 'issues' on your other blog... This afternoon, as I was 'wearing' Sam to sleep for his nap (because the trusted boob failed me), I was trying to think of some advice/kind words to offer. Sorry to say, my mind's gone blank. (My) Sam's a pretty good sleeper, most days, and ok napper, some days. However, I too have had the nights of screaming from 2am til 5am with hubby waking up to go to work at 5:30am feeling oh-so-rested! It just freakin' sux. And I'm a woman who LOVES her sleep!
At 5:47 PM,
Tallis Ford said…
Thought i'd leave my comment here that i left directly on your blog-- didn't seem kosher to make it it's own post.
T
Ahh, sleep. We went through something similar at around 3.5 months. I wrote about it here. Healthy Sleep Habits really helped me too because i felt like i understood how sleep works and how it affects babies in particular. That said it's hard to get through-- especially the first time, and as all these comments attest, all babies are not created the same with the same "sleep solutions."
I'm reminded of an excellent book titled Raising America : Experts, Parents, and a Century of Advice About Children by Ann Hulbert. I read this before i was even pregnant and it helped me always keep in mind what a fickle genre parenting advice is. The book really underscores how *anyone* can write a parenting book and turn themselves into a parenting "expert." It's shocking how biased the "scientific research" was that much of the parenting advice of the last century was based on and i think it helps me keep a wary eye on anyone citing scientific studies to back up their current advice. Of course i loved the Weissbluth book too and who knows, much of it could be wracked with bias as well.
Anyhoo, clearly sleep is a hot-button issue because it consumes so much of the little ones days when they're small and seems to correlate to how well they fare when they're actually awake.
Keep us posted.
At 10:30 AM,
White Trasherati said…
My boys are 7 and 5 now; the oldest was a great sleeper, the youngest - let's just say not so great. Colic. The only things that helped either of them through infancy and sleep issues were swaddling (the oldest; youngest would have none of it); CIO (the oldest; youngest would have none of it); co-sleeping (youngest; oldest would have none of it.)
I think my point is that it's highly dependent on the baby and the parents. Parenting books are helpful, but I think you have to trust your own instincts about what works with your baby. Books give you options to try, but never discount your own intuitive response to how they are working for your baby.
And there's hope! They both trot off to bed with a (minimum) of fuss and sleep soundly through the night.
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