Let me SLEEP!
Apr. 26th, 2006 09:53 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lls_mutantHey Moms....
Here's the situation. Toby is 5 months old (just about). Until Easter, he was an excellent sleeper at night. He would go to sleep about 9:30 (I'd feed him, and he'd fall asleep after eating in my arms extremely quickly), and he'd either sleep straight through the night or wake up once for a feeding, then immediately go back to sleep.
Well, over Easter, we started solids. We gave him way too much, and that led to some very painful night wakings. We had several nights where he was up for 3-4 hours. He'd fall asleep just fine, but at about 1 or 2... ugh. At the beginning, we assumed it was because he had too much cereal.
Now we've cut his cereal way back, and I'm hoping it's out of his system. (It may not be.) But last night we had a late night waking, and it was very, very clear that Toby just wanted to be cuddled. Which was fine, except he'd doze off in your arms, you'd put him in the crib, and he'd wake up and start crying. Argh.
I think we're going to have to learn to soothe ourselves to sleep here, because this isn't working for me or Howard. What I'm thinking of doing is trying the Ferber method once Toby hits six months. I'm planning on waiting until Howard is out of town, because I have a lot more tolerance for Toby crying for long periods of time than Howard does. (For those not in the know, the Ferber method involves letting them cry, but going in to pat and vocally soothe the baby to reassure them that you're there. It's supposed to work in 3-7 nights.)
Has anyone tried the Ferber method? How long was your baby capable of crying? Do you do it right when you put them down, even if they normally go to sleep well? I'm kind of thinking what I'm supposed to do is move his feeding up a little so he doesn't fall asleep immediately, and then put him in his crib awake? Or do I start the Ferber method when he's awake in the middle of the night? I know I should wait until he's six months to start it, but I kind of want to start bracing myself for it now. Like I said, I'm going to have to do it when Howard is out of town, for two reasons. 1.) he has a definite time when he must get up, and it sounds like he won't get much sleep until we get this to work. I can sleep as long as Toby sleeps, so it makes sense. and 2.) Howard is a big softie that is convinced that if Toby is crying for a half-hour, something is wrong, when the truth is our child has amazing willpower in keeping himself awake by crying. (Or normal, but neither of us are sure what is normal.)
He's very happy and active during the day usually (until he gets tired and cranky), and he's not much of a napper, so I don't think that he's getting too much sleep during the day. We have a pretty good bedtime routine, and he usually gets plenty of food during the day. We try to skip diaper changes unless we know the diaper is pretty bad, and we don't play with him or talk much to him when he wakes up, which was working great.
I'm kind of hoping the problem will just right itself in a few days as Toby's system readjusts from the solid attack, and I won't even have to worry about this. But I'd rather prepare now, and plus, just hearing sleeping-through-the-night stories will help my current sanity.
Thanks!
Here's the situation. Toby is 5 months old (just about). Until Easter, he was an excellent sleeper at night. He would go to sleep about 9:30 (I'd feed him, and he'd fall asleep after eating in my arms extremely quickly), and he'd either sleep straight through the night or wake up once for a feeding, then immediately go back to sleep.
Well, over Easter, we started solids. We gave him way too much, and that led to some very painful night wakings. We had several nights where he was up for 3-4 hours. He'd fall asleep just fine, but at about 1 or 2... ugh. At the beginning, we assumed it was because he had too much cereal.
Now we've cut his cereal way back, and I'm hoping it's out of his system. (It may not be.) But last night we had a late night waking, and it was very, very clear that Toby just wanted to be cuddled. Which was fine, except he'd doze off in your arms, you'd put him in the crib, and he'd wake up and start crying. Argh.
I think we're going to have to learn to soothe ourselves to sleep here, because this isn't working for me or Howard. What I'm thinking of doing is trying the Ferber method once Toby hits six months. I'm planning on waiting until Howard is out of town, because I have a lot more tolerance for Toby crying for long periods of time than Howard does. (For those not in the know, the Ferber method involves letting them cry, but going in to pat and vocally soothe the baby to reassure them that you're there. It's supposed to work in 3-7 nights.)
Has anyone tried the Ferber method? How long was your baby capable of crying? Do you do it right when you put them down, even if they normally go to sleep well? I'm kind of thinking what I'm supposed to do is move his feeding up a little so he doesn't fall asleep immediately, and then put him in his crib awake? Or do I start the Ferber method when he's awake in the middle of the night? I know I should wait until he's six months to start it, but I kind of want to start bracing myself for it now. Like I said, I'm going to have to do it when Howard is out of town, for two reasons. 1.) he has a definite time when he must get up, and it sounds like he won't get much sleep until we get this to work. I can sleep as long as Toby sleeps, so it makes sense. and 2.) Howard is a big softie that is convinced that if Toby is crying for a half-hour, something is wrong, when the truth is our child has amazing willpower in keeping himself awake by crying. (Or normal, but neither of us are sure what is normal.)
He's very happy and active during the day usually (until he gets tired and cranky), and he's not much of a napper, so I don't think that he's getting too much sleep during the day. We have a pretty good bedtime routine, and he usually gets plenty of food during the day. We try to skip diaper changes unless we know the diaper is pretty bad, and we don't play with him or talk much to him when he wakes up, which was working great.
I'm kind of hoping the problem will just right itself in a few days as Toby's system readjusts from the solid attack, and I won't even have to worry about this. But I'd rather prepare now, and plus, just hearing sleeping-through-the-night stories will help my current sanity.
Thanks!
