Southern Sayin' Of The Month

I live for the light of a full moon. -me

Sunday, March 28, 2010

Who's Being Sleep Trained Here?

I'm pretty sure we have this whole sleep training thing backwards. I thought the point was to train the child to sleep through the night, not to train the parents to function without sleeping through the night. Well, the Bug is 11 months old today and I'm sad to say that I can probably count on my two hands the number of times that she's slept through the night. She goes to bed around 8:30 and if she makes it to 5:30 then that's "sleeping through the night." I'm putting out a call for help because the RedHead and I are getting a little snippy about who has to get up with her...yes I'm a SAHM, but I didn't sign on for an 11 month sleep strike.

First, let me tell you what we have tried.

EVERYTHING!

No really, we have:
-put her to bed while she's still awake

-tried to let her cry it out (she can cry for 2 hours...without stopping...and mostly without actual tears.)

-tried soothing her back to sleep without picking her up (she will scream and cry and then poop, so I have to pick her up and change her.)

-tried giving her a paci (blah, no go)

-feeding her...or not feeding her in the middle of the night

-cluster feeding before bedtime

We are at a loss as to what we should try next. Please tell me you have some tips! Pretty Please?!


7 comments:

  1. We too did the whole sleep training thing back around month 5...Mama was tired of getting up hour after hour and needed to get some rest just to function. I'm sure this is what you've already tried, but this is what worked for our lil' one. The first time we allowed her to "cry it out" for five minutes. Then went in to comfort. We never picked her up or really talked to her. We just patted and shushed her. Then upon leaving, she'd start up again. And the cycle would repeat, except each time we'd add a little time to the amount we were staying away. First five minutes, then seven, then 10, and so on. Finally after about an hour and a half she put herself to sleep. I also tried this on a Friday night so the husband wouldn't have any excuses as to why he couldn't help.

    Now this topic is still fresh on my mind because we (and this time by we I mean I) did a retraining last Sunday night. After battling teething issues plus a growth spurt, GG was all out of whack with her sleep. We were back in the pattern of going in multiple times a night helping her to get to sleep. Finally I hit my limit and went back to basics. I did the same thing I'd done before...wait, comfort, wait longer, comfort, wait even longer, comfort...
    It worked! That night she cried for an hour before putting herself to sleep. Later that night when she woke up (I could see her on the monitor) she played a bit and even whined for some time then eventually put herself back to sleep without me having to go in. The next night, I didn't go in at all and she slept from seven thirty to seven.

    Now don't get me wrong, she does still wake several times each night. The BIG difference is she can lull herself to sleep and self-soothe. It's a blessing!

    What is you lil' eating for dinner? Could it be that something is upsetting her tummy? I only ask because one night we gave GG a veggie that didn't agree with her system. She slept awful and very fitful, even had a gigantic poop in the middle of the night. Now we feed her early, around 4:30 or 5ish to make sure it has time to settle before putting her down. Then shortly before bed, we give her a bottle to hold her over through the night.

    Hope you find a solution real soon. Know how rough it can be functioning with a lack of sleep. Best of luck to you!

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  2. My daughter doesn't get much sleep either. I feel your pain. She goes to bed around 9:30 and gets up at 5 each and every day! I know exactly how tired you are. She is now 17 months old, and nothing has changed. We have tried it all and finally my pediatrician said that some kids just don't require as much sleep as others. Big sigh.

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  3. well when you find out let me know...
    out of my 4 kids lily doesn't know the meaning of sleep.

    they slept through the night by 4 months...i nursed all of them too...they kept themselves asleep. lily has always been hard to keep that way....she would always wake for something and could never put herself to sleep.

    the big kids could be read to and put in their crib...you could walk out and boom asleep

    lily ...i've tried everything like you...cluster feeding...crying it out....nursing in night...she won't take a binky...
    now she sleeps in our bed..i nurse her laying down in the bed...she passes out and i sneak out...she stays there until the next morning but STILL nurses at night. i've tried weaning her too on that...but i'm lazy. i figure one day my hubby and i will have the bed to ourselves and that will be a sad day

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  4. i am not a mother (yet) except to one with fur, and i just put her in her kennel at night. she's still considered a puppy, so when she cries, i seriously consider giving her benadryl. i probably wouldn't recommend drugging your 11 month old though.

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  5. I hate to say this, but some kids just don't sleep well. My 2YO is a dream. My 5YO? Not so much. She still wakes up several times per night. Honestly, the only way I get through it without screaming at her is 1) tossing my expectations out the window and 2) knowing that if she remembers these years of poor sleep and nightmares, she'll also remember that when she woke up crying, I was there.

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  6. One good thing about Carlie she is a good sleeper and napper thank goodness, she may be a super fussy child while awake, but I am thankful for her sleeping. We have an air purifier in her room to and I think she loves the "white noise" from it, we actually took it out of our room and have yet to replace ours and I miss that noise! She will go to sleep around 8:30-9pm each night and wake around 9:30 each morning. Before bed each night I will give her some milk, then if I think her gums are hurting her I will give her some Motrin and also rub Orajel on her gums. We all then give her night night kisses and then I take her and lay her in her crib, I then start her mobile, she likes the music I think! LOL She will then get her little self comfortable and put herself to sleep, I lay her down awake but sleepy! I learned my lesson with Aiden, he still want go get in his bed and fall asleep, he has to lay beside me on the couch and fall asleep and I then take him to his bed after he has been asleep for a while. UGH! Good luck, I know it has to be frustrating. Keep telling your self "Your Gonna Miss This" LOL I have to tell myself that many day! ;)

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