7 p.m. to 7 a.m. - realistic ?

[ficusis]

Just want to share something with all

If you have succeeded on getting your baby on a sleeping schedule, that's great. If not, dun be too worry.

All humans are born with a instinctive schedule for rest and awake, called the circadian clock. Just like when they are born, they instinctively know to cry for attention/ look for your nipple for BF. As our little ones develop in a dark env inside our womb and feeds through the placenta every now and then, they are unable to tell between night and day or when to do what. As they grow in mths and years, they will learn abt day and night and this circadian clock takes over.

I did not do much to schedule my little one. She is now 3.5 mths old and she sleeps, eats and plays to her own schedule.

Like everyone, mine was asleep most of the time and feeds every 3-4hrs, incl. night.

From 2nd mth, i made it a point to teach her the differences between day and night. Noisier, brighter environment filled with more activities in the day while night is always peaceful, quiet and less play. She will sleep at 10pm and feeds 2x at night then the next is 8/9am. She will have short naps 30mins in the day (Necessary for rest after so much learning stimulus)

From 2.5mths onwards, she started slumbering into 5hrs sleep at 9.30pm and wakes up for 1 night feed at 4-5am, and wakes up at 7-8am.

The timing is good for us since we want to have some quality time with her after work and she will wake up to us before we leave for work.

 

[joia2804]

Hi,

My baby is now 9 weeks and I want to start her on a routine. Have read both GF and BW and they advocate babies sleeping on their own w/o patting, being carried, rocked. I have been slowly trying to wean her off but never had the heart to let her cry to sleep. Today I tried and after 15 mins her cries became incessant wailing that was shrill and loud.So I gave in and carried her. But it is common for babies to cry like that?
As it is, my baby's a little colicky so we are afraid it will aggravate it with all the crying.

Qn on waking up. I have a very sleepy baby too and have difficulty waking her up. I tried talking to her, singing to her, using a wet towel to wipe her face, stretching her arms but they don't work and baby will only wake up after 1/2 hours after the scheduled time. Should I just let her sleep or keep trying to wake her up? Any tips, how to wake her up?

 

[padi]

Hi Joia, it is common for babies to wail and shrill after not being put down to bed the same way they have experienced in the past weeks. I couldn't bear to let my baby cry like that too!

Maybe you want to try Tacy Hogg's shh pat? Its rhythmic patting on the back of the baby (when baby is sleeping on side or tummy). Then you can slowly wean her off by reducing intensity or slowing the rhythm as time pass.

If you don't wake your baby up when will she wake up? Maybe she has an internal rhythm that you might want to monitor first? Perhaps take 3 days to just observe what your baby will do without any form of intervention and then from there decide what to do next?

 

[angela_chua]

Hi mummies

I am a new mom, baby is 4mths now. Same as Joja, I tried the crying method today and my husband and I could not bear it so picked her up after 8 mins. I actually bought the book "Save Our Sleep" by Tizzie Hall from Australia because not sold in local bookstores here, anyone read/had that book? Only after reading this thread, then I realised got so many other books readily available in Singapore (GF, BW etc)... me so stupid.. My book recommended how to teach child to self-settle. After putting baby to bed, walk out of the room for a minimum time of 8 mins (time specified for my baby's age). When decided cannot listen to baby's protest cry any longer, go in and try to settle her for 22 mins (i.e. stay her baby's side ptting her) before taking a break. After that. start again with the minimum time of 8 mins. Can I ask those who read GF and BW, do they have the same direction guide of settling baby?

Because to me 8 mins can happen a lot of things, like my baby today cried loudly until no voice (so heartbreaking)... it is not the same as her giving up and crying lesser. I can hear her breathless as she cried. She wanted to cry more but hard to get sound out. When I picked her up, she was shivering and heaving for breath. I do not know when enough is enough if following those guide from those books. I am afraid I will lose her trust and parental bond with her, continuing this controlled crying. The book also asks parents to differentiate between protest cry and emotional cry (tears and sobbing becos needs not met), where we should not ignore an emotional cry and should comfort baby immediately. However, my baby always seems to portray emotional cry because she is tearing/sobbing. So does that mean I can't practice this self-settling guide? I really want to tried it because I have been waking up every 1-2 hrs most nights for her to latch on whenever she wakes up.

Anyone can pls advise me? Many thanks!

 

[angela_chua]

Sorry, another question to check with GF or BW readers, does the book have routines from birth to introducing book, including for breastfeeding or bottle-feeding scenarios? I am considering borrowing those books from library as reference, if yes....

Also to correct my wrong spelling in previous posting "(i.e. stay her baby's side patting her)", in case you are wondering what "ptting" is... hahaha

 

[blactorn]

hi angela, i'm not a follower of GF or BW etc. i'm oso a new mum and my baby is 4 mths o too. i can emphathise your situation as sometimes my baby kept both my hubby n i up up to 4-5 times.

but when he is a good boy only 1or 2 times. there are several ways we try to soothe him but is definitely no CIO. we do use a pacifier, pat pat, give him water, chg his diaper, chk if he is too hot or too cold, put him on our bed + BF him (the last 2 are last resorts as sometimes i realise he jus wan to be close with us). For us and depending what time is his last feed, we know that our son wants to drink milk around a certain timing. so anything in between we try not to use the last 2 mtds cos i realise if his need is to chg diaper, even after u feed him, he will still fuss after settling down. u need to spend a few nites studying his needs.

jus to share my baby usually eats at 12am and 4am. if u wan to train him to sleep thru'out w/o waking up for a feed then y not try formula, last longer but will still wake up for 1 feed.

for me, instead of letting him CIO, i can only say he is not ready to sleep thru yet. our little baby still needs us.

P.S i did try once CIO, somehow he stops after 10 mins but when i looked at his face again, somehow i feel that he has the impression that mummy dun wan him ever again. so i do not dare to try again lest i lose his trust.

 

[padi]

Hi Angela,
I empathize with your situation cos I can't bear to let my daughter cry and cry also. Altho subsequently, I did decide to let her cry a bit more before I attend to her, and eventually she did realize that we don't go to her so easily at nights and she sleeps through the night.

BW have recommended routines for age groups. But because its more a routine than schedule, so you won't find specific timings or timeline. GF has schedules which I feel are more realistic for bottle fed babies.

Personally I prefer BW, so you may want to get your hand on a copy of this (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Whisperer-Solves-Problems-Teaching-Questions/dp/0091902517). She has a variety of books but I find this one the most comprehensive. After reading this, you may want to log onto their website http://www.babywhispererforums.com/ to see how mothers apply the principles.

Hope this helps!

 

[cactus_79]

Hi, I didn't use CIO either. My boy is now 15 months. He sleeps from 830am to 630am, with 2 day time naps. I usually pat pat him back to sleep. sometimes, give milk. Kids will be kids just once in their lifetimes. I don't want to regret if oneday, my boy loses trust in me, I will wonder if it's my fault. after all, I still have mnay years more to go.. it's okay if I lose some sleep now... but my boy will only be a baby once.. a toddler once.

 

[timminbuzz]

hi angela...
i found 'Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child' very very helpful. it's my baby sleep bible and helps with sleep from infancy to adolescent.

i personally tried GF and BW. what i like abt this bk is that it's not as rigid as the rest. it's abt finding a routine that suits ur child. my boy is 14mths and sleeps from 730pm-730am. i started sleep training @ 8weeks and he slept from 7pm-7am from 12weeks.

 

[angela_chua]

Thank you so so much (riveria, padi, cactus 79, timminbuzz) for your support/tips/guidance. Really appreciate it. Now I can safely reassure myself not to die die try out CIO. I will check out those recommended books soon.

How I wish I got to know these books before I gave birth, so that I can start the routine early and she can self-settle.

Haha so now I told my husband, my best gift to my new-mum friends when they have baby shower was such a book. This is what I wish that had happened to me... so I hope that helps them best prepared.

Hurray to wonderful mums out there, you have given me motivation/drive to live happier... I was almost prepared to have only one baby in life as this one is already driving me crazy and deprived of sleep. Now I will take the step in stride, start off the routine 7am-7pm first, wean off breastfeed and give her Yao Lan to sleep (then worry about weanning this slowly later). Thanks alot for the encouragement!!!

 

[padi]

Hi Angela: Most of us dread to think about having a 2nd kid when we are sleep deprived! When things settle down (and they WILL!) you'll start thinking otherwise. One of the best advice I got when I was struggling with my baby's sleep was to enjoy her! Somehow, when I enjoyed her more, she got less angsty and slept better too.

4 months is still ok! Don't beat yourself up for it! Most books also suggest that its hard to sleep train any baby before 4 months anyway!

Anyway you don't have to "force" your kid to sleep 7pm to 7am if she can't alright? Work with what her routine is like now and make small changes. Like if she sleeps at 10pm now, work on bringing it earlier by 30 mins or 1 hr. Keep repeating your sleep routine and she'll get it finally!

Press on!

 

[lenny_susanty]

sunglow,

i am also running Gina Ford's routine onmy daughter.. its really keeps me sane.. i am looking after her alone with no maid and no help .. especially when my hubby is outstationed every alternate months..

for her morning nap.. i can take my breakfast..

during her afternoon nap. i can have my lunch and clear up the home plus get ready for her dinner..

when she goes off to bed at 7.00pm.. i eat my dinner.. do laundry.. watch tv.. surf the net.. pretty have my own time to breathe..

My dinner is taken care of by tingkat dinner delivery and i have a part time maid who comes in once a week to vacumm, mop etc..

 

[fitti]

I just bought Tracy Hogg's Secrets of the baby whisperer BUT no time to read through! As i am typing this quickly, my husband is feeding the baby while I nurse a migraine from not sleeping in the night since the confinement lady left on thursday.

Sigh.

 

[timminbuzz]

fitti...
hang in there! it will get better.

 

[pumpkinseed]

7pm-7am YES it's realistic. I almost didn't believe it myself but my 1 yr girl now sleeps 8pm-8am, not exactly to the minute but close enough!

I tried Gina Ford at first and it worked to a certain extent. But my real breakthrough was with www.babysleepfairy.com
She does personal consults and talks. I went for just the talk but she gave general guidelines for healthy sleeping habits which I applied to my girl. Given that she is a generally good sleeper, these guidelines have helped me adjust her sleep times to a good timing and helped with her naps which I had such problems with in the beginning.

I'm not going to post the tips here because they're very very long. Also because I have not finished compiling them.

If you really need help, I do recommend doing a phone or skype consult with her.

 

[fatfat]

hi everyone.
im so happy to stumble across this thread. im also a follower of gina ford and tracy hogg and i try to use both method in combination. cos sometime it quite hard to strictly follow one but i guess have to be a bit flexible depending on your child temperament too.

like my baby he is about 8mths old. when he is younger , he is very spritired too. he doenst sleep alot and nap as little as about 20min each time and it really stress me out cos i think he sleep so little. and tracy hogg advocate EASY - eat, activity and sleep and then when he wake up its time to eat. so meaning each sleep /nap time is about 2 hrs. but my baby never fail to sleep more than 20min, so when he wake up, its still too far away from his meal time. and when its time to feed him he already tired out from his short nap and he will doze off immediately from his meal without any activity. so its a struggle for me to follow strictly tracy hogg method.

so i just modify a bit with gina ford. and it working well now for me.
but my concern now is that my baby is waking and waking up earlier then before. not sure any of u have such experience.

during my ML, my boy can sleep like 8pm-8am routnie but of course he still wake to drink at 11pm, 5am as i total BF when he about 4/5mths old. when he about 6 mth old, he only feed at 11pm and drop the 5am feed and still manage to sleep till 7am. which i think i quite thankful for.
and now he is about 8mth old, he drop the 11pm and refuse to drink even when i try to feed him. and he able to sleep thru the night but he will wake uplike 530am or 6am . but i dont wish to let him get up so early else the whole 7am- 7/8pm rountine is upset.
so i have to pat and coach him to sleep which easily take me another 1 hr. so if he wake up at 530am, he wil manage to go back to sleep at 630am and i will let him sleep about 715-730am max and wake up him and. but the issue is if he wake up like 6am, by the time i pat him to bed it will almost 7am and i really see no pt then i just let him be but he be dead tired cos effectively he wakeup at 6am.

my boy rountine is as below:

8pm: feed
830pm:sleep
6am-7am: wake up. but usually its before 6am.
9930: nap (1hr)
1130am: lunch
1/130pm : nap (1hr)
3pm: milk feed
5pm-530pm: nap (30min)
8pm: feed
830pm: sleep

persnally i think if he goes to sleep earlier leave me more time with my hubby and household chores to done.

im struggling now with his early waking and i tried tracy hogg and gina ford method to check what casuing him to wake up early. but none le.
he not hungry, not wet, room dim, not hot or cold. but i notice he always fart in the wee morning loudly and it wake me up, so maybe that wake him out too

any mummies have babies waking up so early, im so tired that i also wake up 5am plus wit him...
???

 

[padi]

Hi fatfat: I remember my LO waking up at 6am for a period of time when she was below 11 months old (I can't remember when she started doing that!) but I usually jst let her be, and leave her in her cot till 7am. I keep the room very dark so she has nothing to do but to babble to herself. sometimes she falls back asleep.

After 11 months she somehow adjusted and started waking up later, sometimes I have to wake her at 730am. I notice though that when I leave her door open, and some light gets into her room in the morning, she'll wake up at 7am, which is fine by me.

My LO is very sensitive to light tho,and is a lightsleeper. Not sure about your LO.

Hope that helps!

 

[fatfat]

hi padi.

for my baby, if he can simply stay and babble himself in the cot then its still ok. the moment he wake up say like 530am or 6am, he will babble for a while and nobody come to him, he start to cry. i think he has been used to me patting him to sleep, whether is nap or night sleep he alwys been patted. not sure becos of it, he cant go back to sleep after waking up so early and need me to pat him to sleep.

im just so tired that literally every day, even for weekends i got to wake up so early before 6am and what there to do with him. if i let him wake so early, the whole rountine is all upset.

what i can do? i try even moving his bedtime to 830pm. also din really help to get him wake up later.
gina ford rountine is 7pm- 7am. mine is used to 8pm-8am which is quite ideal when he younger. now he is 830pm-6am. its like the hours of sleeping is lesser?? very strange.

any mummies got such expeirnce?

 

[diddle]

Hi fatfat: Must be so tiring for you. :S Maybe if you post his routine we can try giving some suggestions here and there? Alternatively have you visited the babywhispererforums.com to ask those practising BWs about it? They're a helpful bunch!

 

[fatfat]

hello Chilli

below is my baby routine. i read from gina ford book if baby having night sleeping prob such as early waking or not sleeping thru the nit, its prob due to the day sleep not structure properly. but i already try to structurs as close as what gina ford book is. but still not getting any result.

530/6am/630am : wake up
7am: feed milk
830am: bath
9am: nap
10am: wake up
1130am: lunch
1pm: nap
2pm: wake up
330pm: feed
530pm: nap
6pm: dinner
8pm: feed
830pm: sleep

 

[diddle]

hey fatfat, I am more influenced by BW than GF. so hope what I suggest helps! You take whatever that is relevant!

At 8 months the child's awake time is about 3 hrs to 4 hrs. Does he tire at 3hrs? And his naps seem rather short. Can he nap longer? Or does he wake up naturally? Is his room dark where he is sleeping?

I also suspect he is transiting from 3 naps to 2 naps! I remember my LO's naps got messy when she was transiting too.

Maybe you can try this routine to see if it will work:

630am: Wake up
930am: Nap
11am: Wake up
2pm: Nap
3.30pm: Wake up
6.30pm/7pm: Bedtime

See if this pattern works?
See if it will help him sleep longer?

 

[fatfat]

hi chilli.
my baby hard to take long nap. the 1 hr nap is consider very long as far as i rem

in the past he will sleep 20min and wake up and i had to take another 1 hr just for him to go back to take a further 30min nap. its always a struggle for me to get my boy to nap.

not sure if a baby like him at 8mth really need to little sleep??
but is it possible to let baby sleep at 7pm. normally i only got home at 7pm and then i take over the duty from my mum in law. my mil is even worst in letting my boy sleep. she will want to rock him and give him pacifer to sleep cos she think that way he fall asleep faster but personally i feel that its not a long term solution so normally i only can put him to bed by 8pm after taking dinner and shower when i home by 7pm.

 

[diddle]

Icic. Sounds like a struggle! If he wakes up after 20 mins he could be too awake to sleep! I am not sure but maybe you can try keeping him away for longer period of time, and then keeping to 2 naps to see if it will work?

Will your MIL help to monitor this change and progress?

 

[blactorn]

hi fat fat, at about 8 mths, baby only need about 3 hrs sleep in the day but mine sometimes will sleep for 3.5-4 hrs in the day. And i think this affect his sleep at nite cos he sleeps betw 830-9pm and wakes up betw 530-645am. fyi mine is 11 months o.

my suggestion is don't go to ur baby immediately when he cry. observe for a few mins. they might just be trying their luck to see if they will get attention that early in the morn. just sharing with u what my boy is like n u can try if urs show the same behaviour. my boy will wake up early n then cry (he doesn't even babble for goodness sake). I try ignoring him for a few mins, to my surprise, he stop crying n started to busy himself with other things. then 10-15 mins later, he does exactly the same ting again. so me and my hubby will try to hide underneath our blanket or pretend to sleep, in good days i can get away with it for an hour before he really starts "crying". so my conclusion: he is just trying his luck to see if someone will attend to him lor.

i thk this is something similar to what padi does just that hers doesnt cry (so lucky!!)

baby r smart, they learned very quickly and by being consistent in your actions, they will also understd ur message.

one trick u might also want to learn: learn to differentiate his fake crying vs real crying.

 

[padi]

Oh no no..She does cry. Just that I do what riveria did last time, and I have her in another room. So its easier for me.

 

[fatfat]

ya my boy he will start to use his hand and pull himself out of the cot and peep over the cot and he will see me. i pretend to sleep and he start to cryfor me. even at a distance i assure him telling him im just beside him, he will cry.i dont know if it separation anxiety.

hiaz.. i really don know. i carry him over to my bed and try to pat pat him. this way at least i can lie down on my bed to pat pat him to go back to sleep rather than i have to stand beside his cot to pat him for 1 hr for him to go back to sleep but he also cry the moment when i bring him onto my bed. think he is very comfortable in his bed than my bed

really headache for me. i got to wake up so early every morning and i feel so tired .

any sugggestion what i can do to kick his bad habit.

 

[star_bright]

My baby is 15 mos soon and sleeps 8pm-7.30am.

Started when he was 4 mos, no more mid night feed. Last bottle at 9pm, next bottle at 5am. Then slpt till 9am. had 3 naps in the day, total 4-5 hrs.

By 6 mos, his nap time was moved to 8pm-5am, aft milk slpt again till 8-9pm. This went on till 11 mos, until we felt he did not need the 5am feed anymore coz aft he drank milk he would stay awake. Had 2 naps in the day, total 2.5 hrs.

Come 1 year old, slpt at 8pm, woke up at 7.30am for milk and can play le. Only 1 nap in the day 12-2pm.

We know despite having a good schedule, he does "act up" every now and then. I let him lead us whether he needed to sleep or needed to wake up to practice walking or even to wake up and say daddy daddy for 15 mins before going back to sleep. The first 12 mos was tough, coz even if there's no milk, he will need hugs or he needs reassurance or poo poo at night. Just let the baby be. You know overtime he will be able to adapt.

 

[fatfat]

hi, i just had a consultation with sleep fairy -tammy as some of the mummies recommend me to her and seriously i think it doesnt work for me even when i consulted her.

she advice me to use sleep control for my baby - 9mth old either using teh crying out method or the controlled crying method. I alrady knew this method long time ago and i read alot of paretning books from GF, baby whisperer, sear and etc and i can simply memorise each author method by heart. BUt i dont favour crying out method or the controled method and i din use that method with my boy cos in many books many authors dont advocate such method cos they think why babies evenutally learn to stop crying and go to bed. nt becos they actually learn to sleep but they are condition to know that their needs are being ignored despite their crying. they learn to become insecure and eventually they stop asking and crying for their mummies anymore. i feel its really very sad that i have to do this to my baby.

so what she told me, seriously i already know the theory. and i explain why my baby is early waker, and she suggest i move my baby sleep time to later. which seriously im also already know that theorecticall and i have try it but it doesnt work.

then again, that what i say, each author each have their own opinion and just like sleep fairy she is entitle to her opinion. she doesnt believe in GF way of training baby and some extend i agree cos babies arent robot and they dont fall into the 12 hr sleep category and some days they are good sleeper and some days they arent just like we adult some days we have a good sleep and some nit we dont.

and i dont undertstand why she still think my baby not sleeping good and think he has bad sleep association. he slept from 830pm to 6am but at times he wake up and cry and i go to him and turn him to the side and pat him short while. cos at time he roll over and get stuck in the corner of the cot and it wake him up. but i was told to let him cry. i dont really agree her way.

nontheless, i think it still a blesisng for me cos alot of collegues say that when kids go to school, they need to wake up by 6am anyway to get ready for sch by 630am. so if my kid has such a habit, its good so he will alway be on time for school and i dont need to keep nagging him to wake up for school

so i just count my blessing and be thankful.

 

[glt1]

Dear mummies, my boy still needs the yao lan to sleep at nite, then sometimes, I will carry him from the yao lan to mattress on floor after he is sound asleep. Day time, he needs the yao lan to sleep for 2 -3 hrs nap else he will wake up after 45 - 1 hr if I carry him out, anyone has any idea to wean off yao lan? I need to send him to childcare soon but scared he cannot adapt without yao lan there. Will be heartpain if he cries in vain for yao lan.

 

[skinneybeenie]

it is possible for a baby to sleep throught from 7pm to 7 am. i dun really have any speciifc methods to share, buyt my baby has been sleeping by himself in the playpen since birth. of course in the early weeks (abt 6 weeks) we tried rocking/patting, etc, afterwards we stopped, and put him down when it's bedtime. he fussed and cried but we go to him without picking him up (unless we sense something wrong with his cries, maybe not full enough, wet, sick, etc) and pat him to reassure him.

but nowadays since he turned about 6 mth old to now he's 7.5 m,th old, he's been going to bed at 6-ish pm to about 6 am in the morning with one dreamfeed between 10-11pm and that's it. He occassionally will still protest at bedtime, more often at nap time, but mostly he will play by himself, get tired and rock himself in the tummy position, to sleep

n the weekend me and hubby tend to wake up later, and though my boy wakes early (can hear him bable close to 7am) he will usually be able to entertain himself for 1 hr and sometimes he'd go back to sleep after 1.2 hr playing by himself in the early morning

he takes 2-3 naps in the day, averaging 2.5 hr to 4 hr in total.

i'm not sure if he is considered active, but i guess he is, since his physical milestones had been reached all slightly ahead of time. at 7.5 mths now, he's crawling and can stnad up for quite a few mins holding onto a support by himself..

i try to tire him out in the day but as naptime/bedtime approaches, i try to give him less stimulating activity, like reading.

my boy is breastfed exclsuviely till intro of solids and has been sleeping in his own room for abt a month now.. surprisingly he actually sleeps better alone. i think both DH, me and my baby are extremely light sleepers, so we end up disturbing each other when we were in the same room.

i;m happy with my situation because my baby has been difficult to put to sleep since abt 3 weeks old, but about 3 mths old he was able to sleep by himself (but not through the nite). then things worsened when he started being able to rock himself at about 5.5 months and improved again when we moved him to his own room..

one thing we always do is to hum him the same bedtime song everytime it's bedtime/nap time.. that's the only "bedtime routine" we use.. my hubby also will say SHHHH SHHHH when my boy cries or jus keep quiet and pat him ...

 

[delonix]

My girl is about 17 months old and sleeps from 8.30pm - 6.30 am. We started her to sleep by herself (in a cot) from day 1 at home. She woke up in the nights for diaper change and/or milk feeds until she turned 5 weeks. From then on, she slept through the night. Many told me this is a blessing and encouraged us to go for a no. 2. Well...

Anyway, while my girl has little trouble falling asleep at night, the daytime naps were a constant struggle for me. We tried the 'let the baby cry out until she's exhausted' method. It was very heart wrenching to hear her wail from one octave to the next until her throat sounded sore. Using trial and error method, I discovered a 15-mins rule which worked for my girl. I'd let her ventilate for 15 mins max, if she didn't fall asleep by then, I'd pick her up to soothe her and doing some simple activity and then try to put her down after about 15-20 mins.

These days, she'd protest to napping when I put her down in the afternoons. But becos' I know that she was already showing signs of tiredness, she would usually knock out within 5 mins of crying. She naps for 2-4 hours in the daytime. Longer when the weather is cool and comfortable

Occasionally, my girl cries at night after we put her down to bed. I would pick her up immediately to calm her down. I know, it seemed like I was giving in to her demand. However so, I have come to learn that she wasn't demanding attention as much as the need to be comforted due to one reason or the other. I'd hum the lulleby tune as it calms her and once the sobbing stops, I'd put her back to her cot again and I'm still amazed to this day that she would slip into slumber after that. Rather than letting her 'cry it out' which would always build into a hysteria for her case, addressing the issue immediately puts a halt to the distress. And daddy and mommy could sleep well.

 

[genial]

Hi Ling,

the 15 mins rule that you used sound good, l see whether can implement on my girl. l tried the cry--it-out method, but it doesn't work.

 

[delonix]

Hi genial,

Hope that you will find a solution soon

 

[genial]

Thanks Ling.

My girl protests sleep since Day 1, she refuse to sleep when tired & if sleep, she will wake up after 30/45 mins (As accurate as an alarm) in the day and wake up around 3 times in the night. Everytime we want to try new method to improve her sleep, my in-laws will intervene.

 

[tempo4me]

Hi Genial,

If your in-laws intervene, locked the door when you are trying to get your girl to sleep. I can only give credit to my hubby's strong stand in letting my girl cry it out.

We did tried controlled cry it out and total cry it out. Controlled cry it out is as Ling did, 15mins and we give her some attention and then rinse and repeat. It worked at first, but slowly my girl's crying will last longer. Meaning need to rinse and repeat for more and more times before she sleeps.

Then my hubby decide to put his foot down and go for the total cry it out method. But as a mother, you will feel really brokenhearted to see your girl going to sleep still sniffling in her sleep. So we agreed on trying it out for 2 weeks, and if it doesn't, he will do it my way.

Well, my girl improved within the first 3 days of total cry it out. We let her cry herself to sleep without comforting. Now she cries lesser and she knows that whenever we were to put her lying on her bed, we expect her to sleep and we will not entertain her cries. So she will go to sleep by herself.

 

[genial]

Hi Grace,

Thanks for your advise. :>

 

[antzapple]

Hi, not sure if you all have read the book - On becoming babywise by Garo Ezzo. My friends and I used the methods of ntroducing a routine mentioned in the book and it has worked for our babies.

They are able to sleep through after 3 months of age with the exception of periods of illnesses etc..

 

[mehui]

Can u share more about this method, Antzapple?