Giveaway: Two $150 Sleep Consultations with Pickles & Ice Cream
It's been three weeks since my Adventures in Sleep Training. If you'd like to follow my sleep training experience from the beginning, click here.
I am now out the other side and couldn't be happier. Truthfully, we were out the other side after only four days but then we went away on vacation for a week and I wanted to make sure it all stuck before I posted the results.
So now it's official. Harlow is sleep trained. Mazzy's sleep has improved drastically. The girls are sleeping in the same room. Mike and I have our evenings back. Believe it or not, I'm walking on air. I never thought I could feel so freeeeeeee! Flying away on a wing and a prayer, who could it beeeee??? Believe it or not it's just meeeeee…..
Sorry. I got a little carried away. This is what happens when you are able to go to bed at night and then SLEEP STRAIGHT THROUGH UNTIL MORNING.
You know who else is happy about sleep training?
Harlow.
Yep, the baby we tortured for almost a week now also realizes the benefits of NOT FREAKING THE F' OUT when her head rests on a mattress.
FYI- I think sleep training Harlow would have been over even sooner if it wasn't for Mazzy (aka The Three-year-old Who Couldn't Whisper If Her Life Depended On It).
Last weekend, a friend of mine came over who hasn't seen Harlow in over a month. She commented that Harlow was being super smiley. "She never used to smile!" Harlow also let my friend hold her. "Harlow never used to let me hold her!" And she didn't cry whenever she was on the ground. "Harlow is a changed baby!"
It's hard to look back and realize how exhausted Harlow must have been. I thought she was a happy baby who was just a little needy sometimes. But now I realize her constant need to be held and her resistance around bedtime (what we thought was her bedtime) were both byproducts of sleep deprivation.
I think I secretly liked that she would only go to me. I also kind of liked dragging Harlow into my bed at 3am because it was the only way to get her to go back to sleep. I loved snuggling with her in the wee hours of the morning. I loved her head conking down on my chest so hard it was almost audible. Those were hard things to give up.
But the great thing isโ now that Harlow understands "lying down" is an enjoyable experience, she does it voluntarily. She might take a second to rest her head on a soft pillow. Or cuddle with me at a random moment of the day. In fact, I owe the magnificent picture at the top of this post to my new best friend, Sleep Training. That never would have happened a month ago.
So here's the rundown.
Harlow goes to sleep between 6-6:30pm. I know that sounds early to some people but she is clearly tired at this point and wants to go to bed. She rubs her eyes to let me know. One night, she even rested her head on the side of her high chair during dinner to let me know she was ready.
Bedtime routine is two seconds.
I carry Harlow into the nursery, put a pacifier in her mouth and put her in the crib. There's a song I like to sing but usually Harlow hurls herself towards the crib before I've even finished the first line. Once down, she curls herself around one of her many blankies and closes her eyes. There is no crying whatsoever. I exit the room. We don't hear a peep from her until twelve hours later.
I was scared when we went on vacation the week after sleep training, but Harlow adjusted just fine to being in a Pack and Play away from home. It was a one night set back but we kept to the routine and she was over it the very next night. When we came back home, we had no problem transitioning back into her crib.
I've put her down for a nap at a friend's house. I put her to sleep at a relative's house during Rosh Hashanah dinner. Mike has put her to bed. Our nanny has put her to bed. My mother has put her to bed. She'll go to sleep for anyone anywhere as long as you put her down at the right time.
Mazzy has been a little trickier. But after working with Erin (our sleep training consultant), we adjusted the plan so it works for everybody.
Originally, Erin had me put Mazzy and Harlow to bed at the same time, which she maintains was the best way to get through the first week. But when we went away on vacation the next week, it felt too early to put Mazzy to bed at 6:30pm. Plus, Mazzy had a harder time sleeping in a strange environment.
We ended up putting Harlow down at 6:30pm and then starting Mazzy's bedtime routine as soon as Harlow was in her crib. I thought we would go back to putting them to bed at the same time once we got back home, but after talking it through with Erin, I realized this plan actually works better for us.
When Harlow is tired, she wants to be put in her crib immediately. Whereas, with Mazzy, the last thing she wants is for us to rush through her bedtime routine.
So, after Harlow is in bed, we change Mazzy into her pajamas and read her a bedtime book out in the living room. This gives her some much needed alone time with mom and dad, without her sister sucking up the attention.
It is my favorite part of the night too.
Mazzy is in bed before 7pm every night and usually falls asleep pretty quickly. She's been sleeping later too. Lately, she gets up around 6:45pm (about fifteen minutes after her sister) which is a big win around here.
I should note, that since we started putting the girls to bed earlier at night, they are both waking up later in the morning. Erin says "sleep begets sleep". It's a magical thing.
As for naptime, we stopped Mazzy's naps since her new preschool is in the afternoon.
Harlow's naps are going much better than before but have been harder to establish. She takes a nap at 8:30am, a nap at noon and a stroller nap at 3pm. The times don't change but the length of her nap is inconsistent. They are anywhere from a half hour to an hour and a half. Erin says that's ok since she is sleeping so solidly at night.
For those people who think sleep training is just for the parents, that couldn't be farther from the truth. Don't get me wrong, sleeping through the night is lifechanging for Mike and me.
But a super happy baby is even better.
Today, as promised, I am giving away two sleep consultations with Erin from Pickles and Ice Cream Sleep Consulting.
A sleep consultation includes a written sleep plan for your child, a 45 minute consult over FaceTime/Skype and two weeks of email support. It costs $150, which is less than most sleep consultants and well worth it. I consulted with Erin daily and having her support was invaluable to me.
I also want to stress that Erin designs a different plan for each family. She considers the needs of the kids and the lifestyles of the parents. The plan she designed for me took into account the age and personality of both girls, Mazzy's schedule, two working parents, siblings in the same room and several other components unique to us.
Erin is also offering $10 off a consultation to anybody that likes her facebook page before September 25th (the duration of this giveaway). If you sign up for a consultation and happen to win the giveaway, she will gladly refund your money.
As you can tell, I cannot recommend Erin highly enough!
Here are the rules.
GIVEAWAY
1) To enter, you must be a fan of both a Mommy Shorts fan and a Pickles and Ice Cream fan on facebook. Then give a brief description of your sleep issues in the comment section below.
That's it. I'm keeping it simple.
Winner will be announced Wednesday, September 25th.
Good luck!
Note: If you have any questions about the sleep training, please ask them on my facebook page. It's hard to reply to comments on a giveaway because it messes up picking a winner based on the number of entries. Thanks!
UPDATE: The winners are Loran (who has a 1yo that needs to be 'mom bounced' several times to go to sleep) and Kate (who has a 1yo that messed her 3yo's sleep). Congratulations! Look for an email from me!
Congrats on the sleep training!
My daughter is 9 months old and she doesn’t go to bed till 9, 10 or 11 pm. My husband doesn’t come home until 7:30 pm with her. We eat dinner, feed her, bathe her and try to put her to bed. There are days when she will knock out when she is breastfeeding and then there are days she will fed but pops off and wants to play. We let her play until she is tired. I have to get up at 5:30 am for work and she gets up 2-3 times a night for a night feeding. She refuses to sleep in the crib so we are co sleeping with her. I would love to get some tips for helping our little one sleep better and in her crib.
I have three kids, 4,2 and 7 months. I’m trying to sleep train my 7 month old, and I know what I need to do, but question myself every step of the way. My husband is supportive, but I’m a mess. If she cries at 11pm, we look at each other and say “what do we do”. I either go in to feed her (breastfeeding) or he goes in to console her. I never know what is right and need guidance! We are on night 4 and last night she was back in my bed and my husband in the boys bed! Bad bad! If I knew what the “right” thing to do was, I’d have more confidence and actually stick to it. Right now I’m constantly fighting myself on what is best. Literally at th he moment I’m hiding in the basement in fear that she is still crying and I just can’t deal. ๐
My 13 month old son is finally sleeping on his own at night ( I put him down in his crib awake )and if he wakes up he usually soothes himself or I put him music from my room using the monitor and he goes back to sleep. His bedtime is 7 or 7:30 p.m. if he doesn’t nap in the afternoon which is happening more frequently he might be in bed by 6:45 p.m Usually wakes up at 7-7:30 a.m. Now, naps are a whole different story, we are still holding him and rocking/walking him to sleep, awful! We have to wait until he is fully asleep to put him down in his crib. Otherwise he will scream and cry so hard is terrible. I have no idea how to approach nap time. He naps in the morning around 10:30-11:00 or 11:30. In the afternoons he was napping at 3:00 ,4:00 or 4:30. but for the last 2 weeks it has been inconsistent almost no napping in the afternoon. I need help!!! By the way… Mommy shorts sleep training blog gave me the strength to put him awake in his crib at bed time, first night 20 mins,second night 30 seconds, third night 2 mins, fourth night 30 seconds, fifth night … Crickets! Nothing, no crying and it has bed pretty consistent since then. This however was about 2 months on the making, I would take longer and longer to pick him up if he would wake up at night but it wasn’t until the blog that I gain the strength to put him down wide awake. ๐
We have 2 boys, 3yo and 15months. My oldest had been sleeping well until a family vacation in January where he slept in the bed with us. After that trip, he hated his crib. We converted it to a toddler bed hoping it would help, but it didn’t solve the problem of him wanting one of us to sleep with him to fall asleep. Meanwhile, my younger son still has not slept through the night. In June, my father passed away suddenly. He was very close to my older son and perhaps I didn’t handle communicating with my son about my dad’s passing. Since, he has seemed much more clingy to me and my husband and refuses to sleep alone. Did I mention they are sharing a room? This has complicated implementing a good bedtime routine for my older soon as the 15 month old is already asleep in the room. Now, my 3 year old has started preschool and our toddler is in a nanny share arrangement. The nanny has already threatened to quit if I don’t sleep train my toddler, so we have commenced sleep training and I am somewhat hopeful. If it works, I am still very concerned about my older son’s increasing dependence on us throughout the night. In addition, the preschool is reporting that he becomes very sad at nap time and a teacher lays with him to comfort him. I am worried that we are too far down a bad path here and I don’t know how to reverse this.
It sounds like I’m having pretty similar issues to you…I have a newly 4 year old who just started preschool 3 days/week, as well as an 11 month old who is NOT a good sleeper. My preschooler has never had problem sleeping…in fact up until he started preschool recently, he would still take naps in the afternoon most days!!! My baby on the other hand STILL rarely sleeps through the night & the only way he’ll fall asleep is if I rock him…but then probably 1/2 the time he wakes up to start screaming as I’m laying him down in his bed, so we end up starting the bedtime routine all over again. It’s SO frustrating & EXHAUSTING!!! Then we also have the problem where he pretty much only wants Mommy to hold him…if someone else tries to take him while he can see or hear me, he’ll throw a fit ๐ Sometimes it seems like he’s permanently attached to me, which makes it SUPER hard to give my 4yo the attention he deserves, not to mention my husband, & house!!! PLEASE HELP ๐
I debated on commenting because to be honest I am a little scared of sleep training. My son is 6 months old and the longest he has EVER slept is 5 hours and that was 1 time. He is usually up anywhere for 5-10 times a night.
We resorted to bed-sharing because I was so exhausted and got so much more sleep with him in the bed. We have successfully transferred him to the crib for the first part of the night but he still winds up in bed at some point because I am just so tired.
I have a 2 year old and 7 month old. My 2 year old can stall bedtime but for the most part is a great sleeper and still naps twice a day. He has some medical issues so most of his night waking is related to that. We need him to consolidate to 1 nap but I’m not sure if that’s even possible. Our main problem is our 7 month old. She will only nap or go to bed if I (only me! screams for anyone else) babywears her until she passes out. She wakes to nurse about 4am and sometimes doesn’t go back to sleep. An added bonus would be if I could get them to nap at the same time so I’d have a few minutes of alone time during the day
My daughter is 15 months and before our last vacation she slept approx. 11 – 12 hours at night and 2-3 hours at noon in her own bed. I “sleep trained” her into it (after having her in our bedroom for 12 months), but it went really quickly and after one night of difficulties – all was good. We just got back from 3 weeks in the States (we live in Germany) during which we shared a room and now she refuses to take a nap in bed at all. The last two days she took a short stroller nap during our afternoon walk. She cried for an hour the past three days at nap time (with me going in every ten minutes). During vacation we didn’t have a real schedule and the six-hour time difference plus jetlag made things difficult, but she did sleep during the day for about an hour or two every day. When she took her normal 2-3 hour naps, she would be really difficult to be put down at night. Nights are difficult now to. She goes to sleep without too much fuss (no nap…) but wakes up after an hour or later and has trouble going back to sleep. I’m hoping things will get better with time, but am not reassured since she really doesn’t want to sleep. Whenever I go in during the crying she will lie down on her own and closes her eyes and settles into her pillow looking really tired. When I leave after a minute, she gets up again and the screaming starts. I cannot like you or the other sites on facebook, since I don’t have an account, but will happily like an instagram-post if it helps.
I have a 2.5 year-old son and am 5 months pregnant with twins. For the better part of the last 8 months my 2 year-old has stopped sleeping through the night and in his own bed. When we are lucky he only gets up once, but on average its 2-3x per night. Each time he wakes up he crawls out of his toddler bed (which he’s been in for almost a full year), opens the door to his room, runs to ours, and either wakes on of us to pick him up or simply crawls in to mom & dad’s bed. Getting him back to his own bed is always a fight, with screaming and kicking involved each time, and then one of us has to stay with him until he falls back asleep, which can sometimes take a up to an hour. Most nights we end up falling asleep on the floor next to him! Both my husband and I work full-time jobs and my son spends 8-9 hours of his day in daycare, so we all desperately need our sleep.
I’m at my wits end and don’t know what to do, all I know is this has to end before the twins arrive.
My 2 month old sleeps in the living room. I’d like to be able to sleep train him so him and his 4 year old brother could sleep in the same room. We only have a 2 bedroom house and our bedroom isn’t big enough to move either kid into our room so half of the living room is currently the nursery. It’s not such a bad deal until my husband wants to watch tv after I’ve already put the baby to bed. Please help! Thanks
So this morning our daughter decided 5:15 was the best time to wake up. She has been throwing tantrums left and right as a result. I’m not far behind her.
Sleep has been a challenge for us since day one, and any time she does actually sleep through the night (super rare) I wake up panicked that something terrible has happened. That just doesn’t seem right.
Last week we started night weaned, and the process was difficult. If she woke up any time after 1:45, she would cry for at least 2 hours each night. (We used the Ferber method building up to 30 minutes between waits.) In the process we learned that my husband had more success getting her back to bed than I did, because apparently I am the closest thing she has to a transitional item. Womp. Also, She will usually take a nap for 1 1/2 to 2 hours on the couch between 12 and 1.
Here’s our set up and routine: She was transitioned to a twin sized mattress on the floor when she turned one. She did a good job staying in the bed for a while, but not she gets up crying when she wakes up and walks across the room to the gate we have set up. She sleeps with My Pal Scout in her bed, and occasionally falls asleep to the “10 minutes of bedtime music” but otherwise she could care less that he’s there. We also have a small flannel receiving blanket in there, but again, mostly indifferent.
Bedtime routine consists of a bath, story and nurse (or nurse and story) and then lights out. Most of the time she will fall asleep within 20 minutes. It’s the middle of the night that seems to be our challenge. :\
Please, please, PLEASE help!!!! I just can’t take it anymore. I cannot function. I haven’t had a full night’s sleep in years. I’m at my wit’s end.
I have two kids – a 4 1/2 year old girl and 2 year old boy. NEITHER ONE OF THEM SLEEP THROUGH THE NIGHT! They go to bed between 8:15 and 8:45. Some nights they go down fine, some nights they are up screaming for this or that for hours (they sleep in separate rooms but can hear each other through the wall).
Around midnight, the wake-ups start and they last through the night. Someone wants to go potty. Someone wants milk. Someone doesn’t want to sleep by themselves. Etc, etc. It’s getting worse instead of better. It used to be an occasional wake-up at night now each child wakes up at least two times (separately, so I’m up at least FOUR).
The two year old is up for the day around 6:00 a.m. It’s waaaaay too early for him but it’s impossible to get him to sleep later. By 9:00, he’s exhausted and needs a short morning nap to even make it until lunch. I’ve tried putting him down for bed earlier and he just screams and ends up going to bed even later than he would have if he’d been in bed on time.
The 4 1/2 year old wakes around 6:30 and if she hasn’t had enough sleep, she is a cranky mess all day. She used to be an amazing sleeper – 12 hours at night, plus a nap. But it’s gotten worse and worse and I don’t know how to fix it.
PLEASE HELP! PLEASE! I just don’t know what to do anymore. This is not working for anyone!
(Fan of both, of course.)
I just ran across this on Pinterest, I was researching sleep training for my 2.5 year daughter. She co-slept with us until she was 2 and has been in her own bed/room ever since. Our bedtime routine is 8pm bath time, 8:30-8:45 reading, lights off, then she wants an off the hip “story” in which she is always the princess, pirate, etc. Sometimes falls asleep right away, but most nights she doesn’t fall asleep until 9:30-10pm, wakes up screaming most nights, until one of us lays down with her (this could happen 2-4 times a night). Then wake her up about 6:30-6:45am, goes to daycare naps for a couple of hours there.
I will definitely try to get her to bed earlier, I think that’s the key!!
Good luck to you all, hope everyone gets a well deserved good night sleep!!
I screwed up from the start. I was so scared of my newborn (she’s now 2) that I had her co sleep with my husband and I. She “has” to sleep with us to go to sleep. When we switched her to a big girl bed we suffered through 2 weeks of screaming and crying until 11pm then she would wake up between 3-4 am and get in bed with us. We resorted to letting her fall asleep in our bed then move her to her bed normally around 1030. I read your blog and cant even conprehend having a child asleep before 8……now I am due to have our second one in 2 months and they will be sharing a room. I had never heard of sleep training until tonight when I saw your blog on pintrest. If we werent pinching pennies for the new baby I would invest in the training, thats why I am excited about your contest!
I can’t tell you how excited I am to hear how successful your sleep training has gone! We have 10-1/2 month old boy/girl twins, while they are fabulous little human beings, my husband and I are both beyond exhausted due to our current sleep situation! Typical bedtime routine for us starts between 6-6:30 with bath time, followed by tandem breastfeed while Dad reads a story. Often they are tired and go to sleep right away, but sometimes it takes A LOT of snuggles and soothing on our bed before everyone is ready for sleep.
Where we really run into problems is after everyone’s in bed. They sleep in the same room (and the same crib for the moment, but that will change as they outgrow the space), so anytime someone stirs we rush to make sure they don’t wake the other baby. As of now, neither of our babies really knows how to self-sooth so any little upset means we have to be available to rock them, or snuggle with them. Inevitably one or both babies end up in our bed at some point during the night (last night was especially rough and I slept in our bed with babies, while my husband slept downstairs on the couch!)
We would love to get some insight from Erin on how to sleep train twins. I know this would be a lifesaver for all four of us!
Going back to work with a baby that won’t sleep at home! Thanks for talking about your experience! Would love some help sleep training when the time is right.
A late submission here. We have a 2.5 year old and 4 months old fraternal twins. The 2.5 year old goes to sleep well for naps and at night and it is fantastic that he sleeps through his siblings crying in the room next door, in the middle of the night. He seems to be waking up earlier and earlier in the morning though. I thought it was because the sun was up but even now, he wakes up when it is dark out at 6-6:30am whether he goes to bed at 7pm or 6:30pm. We were extremely lucky to have a few weeks when the twins slept a full night (7-8pm to 6am!) however they did not nap too well, rarely going back to sleep unaided past their half hour waking. They also had a hard time just falling asleep, crying a lot. Now the going to sleep is going much smoother as I am learning to “time it right” but they decided to start waking up at night again and it’s killing me! Since then, although they are napping better, their natural schedule is all over the place ๐ At a loss on what to do…
My 14 month old boy has never slept through the night ๐
I’m so lost as to what to do. He is low on the weight scale so he still gets bottles at night and I don’t know if I should stop or not. If I try to get him to sleep without a bottle he loses his mind. Starts crying and hyperventilating. I don’t know if I can do it. But I have health issues that require me to get a good night rest. Sleep is something the whole family needs. Unfortunately I have been off work for a while due to health issues and not getting paid so I can’t afford to hire a sleep consultant right now. Which I’m sure is the case with a lot of people! Oh if only sleep came naturally to everybody!
Side note: I can’t get on the Pickles and IceCream Facebook page!? Is it a U.S. only page? I can’t think of why else it wouldn’t work….
My sweet baby, Leonora, is 10 & 1/2 months old. She does not like going to sleep by herself. It takes a lot of rocking and cuddling and trying many times to lay her down without waking her. Each time, her crying gets more intense and desperate. I fear we are making the problem so much worse by scooping her up again, but neither her father or I have the guts to let her cry. We are suckers. Also, at daycare (she is enrolled full-time because we work full-time), she naps just fine in her crib. At home, she will not nap unless she is on one of us. I’d be lying if I said we don’t love cuddling with her….but we both know how much trouble we’re in now. Our evenings are horrible. My husband and I don’t have any down time together. I can’t get anything done around the house. I start bedtime, but always end up calling my husband up because I get upset that she is upset and anxious because I know the issue is snowballing out of control. Pretty please help us out!
I have a 5 year old and a 20 month old. They share a room. Bedtime is always filled with frustration as they feed off of each other when going to bed, and stay up until 9 or 10. Then my son (20 mo) wakes up between 2-3 times per night, from 10 pm until 6. My daughter frequently wakes up and stays up between 4:30 and 6am. She has to get up at 6:30 to go to school. My son is inconsistent with when he wakes, so his nap is inconsistent. Sometimes he will wake up several times during “nap time” and I have to lay him back down because he won’t do anything but cry.
I feel like I am loosing my mind.
My 2 1/2 year old doesn’t like to sleep alone & comes in to get daddy at least once a night. My 8 month won’t sleep in her crib. She wants to be cuddled. She wakes up every 2 hours. We haven’t had a good night sleep in 8 months!!
My kids, 5 and almost 2, won’t sleep in their beds all night long. My almost 2yo has to be held until he goes to sleep. The 5yo gets scared in the middle of the night and wants to cuddle. I need sleep!!!!
Our almost three year old wakes up multiple times at night and either cries hysterically or expects to sit up and chat for awhile before going back to sleep! Also, we cut back his nap to get him to bed earlier (asleep by 8:30-9:00), but that can mean cranky evenings and our having to lay down with him to get him to fall asleep.
I have a 3 yr old that goes down ok, but wakes more often than my 4 month old twins! Usually something minor is desired such as a drink refill which we recently told her no more refills. Or she will throw her doll out of bed and scream that she wants her baby.
This could not come at a more perfect time! My son recently turned two and with his birthday came sleep problems! He will go to sleep by himself at preschool for nap time, but when I want him to nap at home or go to bed at night, he must have us in his room or by his side. We have tried putting him into his bed (he has a toddler bed) each time he gets out of it and goes to the door. Some nights, this works. Others, not so much. I think he has bad separation anxiety, and other times it feels like he is just testing us! We are going to try to push bedtime earlier, but this hasn’t worked in the past. For now, we take one hour to get him to go to sleep, and this is after bath and stories.
HELP!!
We have a 3 1/2 year old and a 17 month old. We currently live in a 1 bedroom apartment in New York. We had no sleep issues until we moved here and started sharing a bedroom. The main 2 issues are 1) 3 yo won’t stay in her bedroom when we put her to bed and often wakes her brother up. 2) 17 month old wakes up around 5:30 and usually wakes his sister up. We are desperately missing our sleep!!!! Help!
My son turns one this week and he has not slept through the night since he turned 3 months old! He used to be a wonderful sleeper but now wakes every 2 hours to nurse. We co-sleep or, sometimes, he sleeps in the pack n play by my bedside. The longest stretch of sleep he has now is 4 hours without fail. Please help!
My 7 month old son is still waking up every 3 hours at night and fights naps. We are all exhausted. My 3 year old daughter has always been a great sleeper, but has recently been waking up at night crying, and will crawl into our bed. Help!
I would love to have this consultation. I am the mother of a 2 3/4 year old, and a 7 month old. My son, who is the older of the two, doesn’t understand that my daughter needs some peace and quiet during the day to sleep, and my poor daughter doesn’t seem to be getting the rest that she needs. I try to put my daughter down to sleep in her bed, but unless she can see me, or is being held, she screams, which upsets my son more and escalates the situation into pure insanity. Most of the time, we go out and take a walk, or I wear her in the ergobaby so that I can entertain my son while my daughter sleeps. Nap time for my daughter is also chaotic. When my son is asleep in the afternoon, my daughter passes out from exhaustion but will only sleep in the swing. If she sleeps in her bed, she wakes up every 15 minutes and cries. I could really benefit from a sleep consultation from a professional. There are many days that I feel like joining my screaming / crying children out of pure frustration and just feeling hopeless.
I forgot to mention that my daughter still wakes up crying in the middle of the night and has to be fed, so I’m a little sleep deprived. Did I mention that I would really love this consultation??? Please!!!!
We have a 2 year old and a 14 year old. No sleeping problems with the 14 year old, only that she’ll sleep most of the day away on weekends..haha! Our 2 year old is sleeping in the same bed as my husband and I (isn’t that enough said?!). I will admit, that I do love the cuddles however, the 3 of us are so sleep deprived. Our little man thrashes all over the bed, doesn’t like blankets on, etc. I’m beginning to think that his “momma only” and whinneiness is a result of his lack of sleep.
Help!
I feel like a zombie. My almost 4 year old sleeps well and still naps too! But our 5 month old doesn’t know what sleep is. First I chalked it up to acid reflux, then teething, then a cold. I need the girls to share a room but can’t figure how to get 5 month old to sleep without waking up every 2-3 hours. I told myself I wouldn’t bedshare, but alas she’s ended up in bed with us every night for the last couple weeks. Going backward not forward. Eek! Help!
I have a 2 year old who’s never been a good napper, but until recently we had no problems putting her to bed at night. Now she throws a tantrum every night, arching her body and freaking out, she cut several hours out of her night time routine and won’t nap at all. I’ve tried everything to get naps, cuz she clearly still needs them…but I have no idea what to do! I’m pregnant and exhausted. Please help!
We have a 2.5 yr old and a 7 mo old. We have a nightly bedtime battle with the 2 y/o. The 7 mo old goes down fairly easily but wakes up at 3x/night. He is EBF, so it’s all mama and I’m tired of being tired and not able to be at my best.
I have a 10-month old. He fights going to bed at night, usually taking 30-40 minutes to actually go down. He likes to fall asleep holding my hand, which is adorable but completely inconvenient…
Oh I would love some help from a consultant! My almost 9 month old sleeps in our room while our 2.5 year old sleeps in our only other bedroom (eventually to be both girls’ room). The 2.5 year old has always been an amazing sleeper, but her sister hardly sleeps more than 2 hours at a time. She doesn’t nap well and she is up ALL. NIGHT. LONG. just to nurse for a few minute to get back to sleep. After reading your blog we tried letting her CIO 10 minutes at a time, but after 2 nights we couldn’t do it in the same room since she could see/smell us right there… We have decided to try again by sleeping out in the hallway the last couple of nights, and as of now she has been sleeping over 4 hours without a peep in our room! (since 745pm ET) and she only cries occasionally for 2 minutes at the most, fairly bearable now being out of the same room as her. Now I am hopeful, but worried about transitioning the girls to the same room! Would love some expert help!
Our story is not dissimilar to Mazzy&Harlow. Kid 1 is 2.5 yrs. She’s been a crappy sleeper her whole life, in part because her parents didn’t realize they were being manipulated and totally failed in setting sleeping habits. She *occasionally* sleeps through the night. Kid 2 is 6 months. He’s been a champion sleeper since 10 weeks old (like his dad), BUT the kids share a room. 2 bedroom floor of a 2-flat and all. Since Kid 1 is so LOUD we try to get her down first, but it takes forever, and someone is stuck holding the baby for an hour. I’m training my GOOD sleeper into all manner of bad habits! His naps were solid but are getting worse and worse. Also, both of us parents work. Starting next week I’m going to 2 days per week and hoping to implement an early bedtime 5/7 days – maybe that will help?! I was already a fan of MommyShorts but also Liked Erin’s fb page.
We recently moved into a two bedroom apartment with our four year old daughter and 9 month old son. Our biggest issue is that the baby continues to wake up at least once a night waking up his sister and the neighbors no doubt. We tried sleep training ourselves and were successful getting our son to fall asleep on his own for nap and bedtime. We just can’t get him to stay asleep or fall back asleep on his own in the middle of the night. Thanks !!
I have a 3 1/2 and 1 1/2 yr old daughter that co-sleep w me while my husband sleeps in the kids room in the fresh beat band bed. My yd is teething and has gotten 10 teeth in the last 2 mos. 4 more to go but she has been waking me every hr for at least 4 n/wk and wants to sleep w my boobie in her mouth. the other 2 n/wk she wants to party from 1-3am.She enjoys partying w her older sister so quite frequently wakes her up. Her sister didnt start sttn until I was 8 months pregnant and too uncomfortable to sttn. There r still nights where she wants to party while her lil sister ia sleeping. Yup thats usually the 1 night the lo sleeps through. I tried to sleep train her once but she cried for over 2 hrs, crapped her diaper and was drenched in sweat. Oh ya and did I mention I teach kindergarten?! And my hubby wakes up at 2am to be at work by 4! Its been almost 4 yrs since I have sttn. Please help. I dont know where to start! Thanks for letting me vent. Zzzzz
I forgot to mention they wake up between 430 and 6 every morning ready for the rest of the day!!!
My son is just over a year old. So far, rocking him to sleep has been working for us but as he gets older and heavier, I can see that this won’t work forever. He’s currently teething which is making bedtime more difficult, and he has been waking at least twice a night, taking at least an hour to get back down. He’s happy to sleep in my arms but the second I put him down in his crib, he freaks out. Last night I was up with him from 11:30 to 1:30. This Pickles and Ice Cream sleep consultation would really help an exhausted mom, frustrated dad, and an overtired baby get some much needed rest. ๐
Sorry forgot details the 1st time i submitted (lack of sleep). I have a 3 1/2 and 1 1/2 yr old daughter that co-sleep w me while my husband sleeps in the kids room in the fresh beat band bed. My yd is teething and has gotten 10 teeth in the last 2 mos. 4 more to go but she has been waking me every hr for at least 4 n/wk and wants to sleep w my boobie in her mouth. the other 2 n/wk she wants to party from 1-3am.She enjoys partying w her older sister so quite frequently wakes her up. Her sister didnt start sttn until I was 8 months pregnant and too uncomfortable to sttn. There r still nights where she wants to party while her lil sister ia sleeping. Yup thats usually the 1 night the lo sleeps through. I tried to sleep train her once but she cried for over 2 hrs, crapped her diaper and was drenched in sweat. She plucks my eyebrows everytime she is falling asleep or wakes up and to put herself back o sleep or to check it im still there. they both wake up between 430-6am every morning ready for the day. Oh ya and did I mention I teach kindergarten?! And my hubby wakes up at 2am to be at work by 4! Its been almost 4 yrs since I have sttn. Please help. I dont know where to start! Thanks for letting me vent. Zzzzz
Currently listening to my 1 1/2 year old scream at 1am while my husband tries to calm him down and get him back to sleep. I can count on 2 hands the number of nights we have slept through. Just when it starts to get better or there are a couple nights he does well, he ends up sick or teething or in laws visiting for 3 weeks. I know we need to be more consistent, I’m just not sure with what.
Since I was a young woman, I envisioned having a big family – maybe three kids. Fast forward to many years later and two broken off engagements (to the same man), I found myself looking into sperm doners while in my mid 30s. It was then that I met my boyfriend , and within 2 years we had moved in together and I was pregnant. Pregnant at 39, so the chances of having my 3 kid family are pretty much over. Since I knew this was probably my very last shot at motherhood, I prepared and prepared an prepared. I read all the books. Took all the prenatal vitamins. Did the pregnancy Pilates and yoga everyone recommended. And I knew two things for sure – I wanted a vaginal birth and I wanted to breastfeed. Living on Italy , breastfeeding is the norm. No one tells you to cover up, or to not do it in the mall or in front of small children. It’s no big deal. I had a great delivery and my son was perfect !!! He latched on right away and sucked. And sucked. And sucked. My milk never really came in. Nurses and lactation consultants were at a loss. I pumpe for hours to get one ounce. I cried every time I had to give him formula. I cried as I pumped. And to make up for my lack of milk, I held him. Lots. All the time. Especially to help him sleep. Now my little one is 10 months and sleeps well, but it takes me up to 30 min of rocking and singing and soothing to have him sleep. An onlyy mother and I know how I do it. She lives in NY so I only get that support when she visits. He also weights 9 kilos so it’s becoming impossible. I also honk he’s overtired, as was Harlow, so I’ve been putting him to bed earlier, but always rocking!! Help!
I have 3 boys (8, 5, & 3) and they are sleeping pretty well right now, but we have another baby due in about 7 weeks and with the new room sharing that will be involved I would love advice on how to manage the different ages and bedtimes and night waking etc.
My work schedule is making a happy sleep situation impossible! I have to get my little guy up at 5:30 to get to the babysitter before work. Sometimes he falls back asleep on the 45 min drive there. Sometimes he naps at daycare, other times he refuses. I pick him up at 12:30 pm, and he almost always falls asleep the last 20 minutes of the drive home. He won’t transfer to finish his nap in his crib, but he usually won’t take an afternoon nap either. This means he is grouchy until bed time! I need help figuring out how to make his naps work so I can have a happy well rested little boy again! Please help!
Just trying to establish a better sleep schedule for our 9 month old breastfeeding baby. Right now, she goes to bed between 9:30 and 11:30 pm, might sleep thru til 5 am or so, is pulled into bed for nursing (when I’m home) or is up for a bottle with Dad if Mom’s at work.
I have a 10 month old. She will not sleep in her crib. Every night she is hyper till about 8ish,then starts to get cranky. We know she is tired then. We make her a btl. She lies up on couch drinks it and falls asleep. We then have to carry her to our bedroom and put her down. We have tried putting her in her crib but she always seems to wake up. She does sleep during the night usually till 7ish. She has taking over my bed it’s like she is kicking me out of my own bed. Please help
We have a two year old and a two month old. I am currently on maternity leave but will be returning to work (as a high school teacher) on October 4th. Both of our girls are in the same room as us. Our youngest is still breastfeeding and sleeps in a rock and play sleeper next to the bed. She still wakes up around 3:30 to eat but typically sleeps until around 8. Our two year old, however, had taken up residence in our king sized bed and does not seem to want to go anywhere. She used to be sn excellent sleeper, we could put her in her crib wide awake and she’d go to sleep. This lasted until about 8 months and she has been in our bed ever since. While I love cuddling with her, I hate that she doesn’t get a peaceful rest. We typically put her to bed around 7 but she almost always wakes up around 10 crying for me. I do have to lay with her in order for her to fall asleep. When she gets up in the morning she has bags under her eyes and everyone we encounter always asks if it’s nap time or if she just woke up because she looks sleepy all the time! We have tried to get her to sleep in her own room by talking to her about it but have had no luck. She rarely takes a nap anymore simply because I cannot lay down with her to put her to sleep because of the baby. I would love nothing more than to have our bed back for just us and hope to not fall into the same habits with our new little bundle of joy!
Help! I’m reading this at 1:30 am as I rock my 9 month old son. I’ve recently weaned him from 2 bottles a night to 1 but he still wakes frequently. My husband and I decided we would sleep train this week but I have no clue what to do. He goes to bed fairly easily at night but the night waking is terrible and I never sleep more than 4 hours a night.
We have a 3 1/2 yo daughter who we let CIO when she was about 10 months. As hard as it was it worked really well for all of us. She was a great sleeper, never waking at night. At least until about 3 months ago. She wakes 1-3 times when we lay her down and 1-3 times throughout the night for various requests. Even though we had great success with CIO for the first one, I know this is not the approach we can take with our son. Our house is very small and I’m afraid of the effect on our daughter’s sleep. But more importantly letting our son cry only amps him up and he’s very difficult to console afterward.
The hardest part is that I work part time night shift as a nurse. The little ones are usually worse for my husband. I often receive phone calls at work because he is stressed to the max and sleep deprived. This has put a strain on our marriage, made for a tired and whiny 3 yo and a sleep deprived baby. Please help!
We have a 7 month old daughter, so far our only child. Before I read the first post about sleep training, we always would get her to sleep first before we put her in her crib, usually by feeding her. Our routine mostly consisted of letting her fall asleep on me while breastfeeding while I watched television. She’s never napped well, usually no more than 40 minutes at a time, and generally after falling asleep eating or in the stroller or car. I’ve started putting her to bed earlier but she still puts up a fight, and trying to put her down for a nap is even worse, and she still is only taking short naps.
Not sure if I missed the deadline…. When I read your story, I couldn’t believe how similar it was to ours. The difference is that my girls don’t share a room, but they’re next to each other so you can hear everything through the walls and my first was a super napper (2-2 hour naps/day) and sleeper as a baby- 2 nights of 5 minute “crying it out” and she was sleep trained- @ 7 months. That lasted until she went into a big girl bed ( which was sooner then planned b/c she climbed out of the crib.) My 2 nd is more challenging. Naps-45 min to an hour after 25 minutes of putting her down. Bedtime takes even longer and you’d think I’m laying her on a crib of nails. That or I have ” Princess and Pea” over here. She wakes after 1-1.5 hours then a longer stretch but wakes 2-3 more times. I nurse sometimes but always rock her back to sleep- she’ ll be out cold in my arms, I’ll lay her down, sneak out of the room and literally 2 minutes later- wailing. This goes on a few times. I’m working and exhausted and it’s not fair to my 3 year old, 10 month old, my husband or me! I’m ready to sell my soul for even 4 hours of continuous sleep.
We have a 4 year old and 13 month old. Our 13 month old suffers with GERD/ milk protein allergy. He is still fed right before bed and wakes up most nights (once, rarely twice) and he eats then we put him back down. I think we feel guilty about his low weight percentile & tummy issues so we let this continue. He also is an eaaarly riser. ๐ We also are in need of sleep training that could work for my dad as well, since he is the caretaker when we work. I am ready for some solid sleep again!
PS Sorry this is a late entry… I tried last night but don’t see that my comment went through.
We have two boys. 14 months and almost 3, and they are MONSTERS when it comes to bedtime! The 1 yr old still nurses to sleep every night. So, that means I’m stuck going to bed between 8 and 8:30 with him (in our bed) he has to snuggle me for a good hour before he will even consider staying asleep while I lay him in his crib. Once in his crib, he’s up 2-3 hrs later and the process starts over (back I my bed to nurse, snuggle, etc..) meanwhile, the almost 3 yr old is still up! He usually falls asleep laying in our bed watching a movie (we finally turn the movie off around 10:15 and listen to a tantrum). Lately he want to be carries up and down the hallway for about 30 minutes before he finally falls asleep.
We need help!
We have a just-turned-five year old who has her own room, and a 4 1/2 month old who we share a room with (she has a crib). She is breastfed, so is used to falling asleep on Mama, and sometimes sleeping in bed with us. She does not like being alone. We are trying to sleep train right now, and finding it very difficult since we share a room. It’s not getting better with each night, and it’s starting to feel cruel. I feel awful. But it must be done! Help!
My daughter is 5 months. She is still sleeping with me and the hubs sleeps in another room. We both work fulltime.
She only naps for 40 mins at a time, and is not sleeping thru the night. I would like to get her in her crib, even though i love her sleeping with me.
But i think its time for me and the hubs to get back to “normal” and me to not being sleep deprived! Yawn… Did i mention i can’t do coffee because baby gets the effects of the caffeine.
๐
2 year old who will not go to sleep in his crib and 5 year old who stays up playing in need for at least an hour after we lay her down. HELP!
Need = bed
I have a 2 year old and a 9 month old. Our 2 year old Jackson has been a great sleeper since he was 8 weeks old but my 9 month old Miles, has not slept through the night since he was born!!! As of right now Jackson is in his own room and Miles sleeps in our room. We just finished renovating and are getting ready to put the boys in a bedroom together…I’m starting to stress over doing this when Miles still isn’t sleeping through the night, I assume we will be up in the middle of the night with two very tired little guys!!! We desperately need your help!!!
Hi – We have a similar situation in that our 7 month old baby girl shares a room with our 6-year old daughter. It’s made sleep training really difficult. Right now the baby (and I) are sleeping in the living room, me on the couch and her in a bassinet. It’s handy for breastfeeding during the night but that’s about it. She’s about to outgrow the bassinet so it’s time for this situation to get fixed! Plus, I miss sleeping with my hubby!
I have a four month old that is just starting to get into a groove of sleeping. We have a nighttime routine sort of worked out. He gets a bath at 7, eats, plays and is in bed by 8. He sleeps until 2 or 3, gets up to eat and then goes back until 4:30 or 5a, which is awful for us. His daytime naps are all over the place, a whole other issue, I think. My problem is that, as an older (41) first time mom with no real child experience, I’m not sure where to go from here or even what my expectations should be of a child so young. The first part of the night seems good (although, he seems tired earlier lately, last night he went down at 7 but was up at 12:30. I’m hoping that is an anomaly) but it’s getting through the second part that has become a source of dismay for us. I know he is capable of sleeping through the night but he just isn’t. I also know all babies are different and I’d be OK with a night feeding if he would sleep until at least 6a.
If you can give any advice that would be great. We will make it either way but a little help from people who actually know what they are doing with children would be awesome. Thanks!
We like to say that my five month old has FOMO (fear of missing out). She stays up well past 11 pm every night and occasionally wakes up to nurse. BUt she is awake by 6 am and sometimes (not always) nurses and goes back to sleep until 10 or 11 am. She hardly sleeps in her crib. Most nights it is me and her asleep on the couch. I don’t really know how to change this. I feel like I cave a little socialite who stays up all night to party.
2 kids- a nearly 5 year old who has always slept like a champ and a 3 year old who, frankly, sucks at sleeping. FOr the first 18 months of his life he was awake at 4 am. Gradually he has gotten to 5:30….daily….like every day of the week including the weekends! He will also go to sleep quickly with little fuss but wake up at least 3-4 times in the first 2-3 hours of sleeping screaming like he is being lit on fire, disoriented and has trouble getting back to sleep. He goes in spurts of waking during the night and being up for at least an hour “playing” and singing and talking to himself, it will go on for about a week and then stop only to resume again in another few weeks. Very disruptive. He naps once per day (he would like it to be 2x) for about 1 1/2 -2 hours. I have not had an uninterrupted night of sleep since he was born. I work full time as does my husband and besides the absolute bone-crushing fatigue, we have zero time together as a couple. We can’t travel with him as he would seriously wake up a whole hotel. SO frustrated. We have tried a zillion different things…nothing has made any difference.
We could really use the help of Erin! Our life was really turned upside down this Spring when after the birth of our second daughter I was diagnosed with aggressive rheumatoid arthritis, an autoimmune disease that causes inflammation, muscle stiffness and massive joint pain. Especially in the morning. Especially after being up in the middle of the night to nurse, once, twice, three times. I’ve been working really hard to get the baby to sleep in her crib on her own at naps and at bedtime, but the middle of the night nothing is giving. I really need a good nights sleep. Additionally, our 2.5 year old has decided to stop napping altogether, despite being desperately tired by lunchtime. We’ve started putting her to sleep by 6:30pm, but she’s still up at 5:45m and is clearly not getting enough sleep. We had always planned on having the girls share a room, but without everyone sleeping through the night it seems like a long shot. Please please please send Erin to help us! (We’re just north of Chicago).
I wrote a post in the middle of the night while up with a screaming 1 1/2 year old but I don’t see it. See, I’m so sleep deprived I didn’t even post! I know my son is too and we have tried so many ways to get him to sleep through the night. Some have worked but then teething or in-laws staying with us for 3 weeks messes it up. We need some consistency but I don’t know with what…
My son will turn one in about a month and I have been thinking of sleep training him forever, but since he is heavily dependant on breastfeeding, it is how he sleeps at night and nap times. We also had to travel when he was 3 months outside the country so he got used to three different beds which made it even harder to sleep train. Now, he ia biting so hard and waking me 4 or 5 times at night so I am DESPERATE to sleep train him.
I NEED HELP figure this out
Here’s the summary. Seven month old baby goes down every night at 7. Wakes at 11 or 12, and then every two hours until 4:30 or 5. Won’t go back down without nursing. Was working on sleep training, but I’m sure I was doing it wrong, and then baby got sick, and now things are worse than before we started. Naps don’t last more than thirty minutes without waking and wanting to nurse. I’d love some help.
I’ve got a beautiful 28 month old boy, Charlie, who sleeps with my hubby and myself at night in our king-sized bed. We have a small condo, so we don’t even have room for a single bed or cot in the bedroom. The only place we could fit another bed is in our living room. We love co-sleeping with him. My husband works nights and I work days, so I’m with Charlie at night. The only way I can get Charlie to sleep is by breastfeeding, which he loves. Truth is, I love it too, but we’re about to start weaning as I just feel like it’s time. I have to be up for work at 5AM, so I try to take Charlie into bed with me around 9pm, but he doesn’t want to fall asleep until 11pm, so I’m only getting about six hours of sleep a night. The hubby comes in at 5am and sleeps with him in the bed until we wake him up at 8:30 am. We chose this time, just to TRY to get him on some sort of “decent schedule” but he’s still very tired at 8:30 am and wants to sleep more. I get home at 2:30 and give Charlie a nap until 3:30 or 4 pm, via breast-feeding, and then we start the process all over again at 9PM. I appreciate any helpful, positive feedback ๐ thanks much!
Congratulations, Nikole!! I have a 28 month old and we still comfort nurse. Our sleeping stories are similar, too ๐ you’re awesome!
Our nearly 2 year old tends to wake multiple times a night. He usually falls asleep at bedtimes no problem. But a lot of the time he is waking 3 or more times a night for drinks etc. I know it’s a no no to put them down with a bottle, but it’s a habit I am having a hard time breaking.
I have 5 sons. Yes, 5 boys in 1 house. My youngest 2 sons are 2.5 years and 7.5 months. I cannot get these kids to sleep to save my life. I have tried sleep training them, and my 2 year old will stay up all.night.long. He will get out of bed 100 times, and find every excuse not to go to sleep. We have tried to do CIO with the baby, and he will stand up in his crib, and scream. He will make himself throw up, mess his diaper, and sweats bullets. I do not sleep, ever. Please, please help me!!
My 7 month old is slowly killing us! Up until last week he had never slept through the night. After some sleep training he is getting better – will be up once or twice – but one of those wakeups is at least an hour long and involved a lot of screaming (whether we’re in there or not). We share a room with him (not by choice) and have been sleeping on a broken air mattress while we sleep train. The goal is to eventually have him share a room with our 3 year old, but the only thing that sounds worse than one kid up all night is two kids up all night. We need help!!
I’ll keep it simple. 5, 2 1/2, 13 month old. All ending up in our bed by 5 in the morning. Not fun. Hubby and I have given up trying to keep them in their own beds. Well…more so him than me. We need this
I hope this is not too late. It’s been a rough couple years without sleep. My brain doesn’t function so much anymore ๐
I have a 2-year old that has never been a good sleeper. It is a constant battle to get him to sleep. I have gotten it to the point where I no longer have to rock him or be in physical contact with him for him to fall asleep, but he still insists that I be in the room with him. It was only recently that he started sleeping through the night somewhat reliably, but when he does wake up in the middle of the night (as he did last night) it usually takes me an hour to get him back down. Nap time is also an issue. He fights it tooth and nail (literally).
When we became parents, we didn’t think that it was possible for a beautiful, smiling, loving, personable little boy who lights up a crowd could become the a terrifying, screeching, soul crushing alien after dark. Thankfully, he has proved us wrong and showed us such a transformation could exist!
The good news is that this screeching is no longer happening every hour on the hour. It’s only starting after midnight. We’ve tried to adhere to the Gremlin Rule (don’t feed him after midnight). We’ve tried to let him cry it out. We’ve even, at times, relied on binge eating Pirate’s booty to make the pain go away. And while that last one was more to help mom and dad, none of them work. Help us Obi-Wan, you’re only hope.
We need help, and fast. Our apartment is small. We have a single breadwinner. And I’m running out of secret places to take a nap at work.
I have a 3.5 year old and a 15 month old that will not go to sleep (naps or nighttime) without laying down with me or my husband. Due to this, we now sleep in separate beds – one parent with one child. I miss my husband, but they just refuse to fall asleep by themselves. Sometimes we let them fall asleep and move them to crib, but typically it ends up he will be back in bed with us by midnight. Also, my 3.5 year old has begun to stutter and seems to have an eye twitch. The pediatrician seems to think it might be sleep related. My husband and I both work full time and get home after 6 so dinner typically isn’t until 7 or later. I just don’t know what to do.
I have a 2 1/2 year old and an almost 10 month old who we put into the same room a couple of months ago. Prior to this my younger daughter was mostly co-sleeping or in her crib in our room. My 2 1/2 year old was sleeping through the night just fine in her own room without any issues going to sleep or sleeping through the night. Since putting them together, I put the 2 yr old to bed first, around 7 pm, (because she is noisy and wakes up the little one if she is not asleep first) and then I nurse the younger one and put her to bed, sometimes she refuses to sleep until nearly 10 pm! She will wake a time or two during the night, typically the second time I give up and take her to bed with me, where she toss and turns and keeps me awake fearing she will fall off the bed! My two year old no longer sleeps all night, she wakes up 1-3 times per night and will sometimes come into our room to “nap with us” as well. Between the two of them I am exhausted. My husband is active duty military and gone for work a lot, so it is up to me alone most nights to get them back to sleep. Our older two children have to get up by 545 for school, so lack of sleep is making me one cranky mommy! I have tried not to let them “cry it out”, but its getting to the point where I just want them to learn how to sleep so I can stop being tired and cranky. My older two are a girl and a boy, so they never shared a room. I am not sure what I am doing wrong with the second two other than they are sharing a room.
Baby is 6 months old and waking many many times at night to nurse. He is tiny and probably still needs the extra milk but I am exhausted. Still likes to sleep swaddled. He usually takes 3 30 minute naps per day but sometimes it is two 45-60 min naps instead. Bedtime is 6 or 6:30 and he is usually up for the day around 6am.
My 4 1/2 yr old goes to bed without issue. A couple of stories, tuck him in, and he’s off to sleep without any fuss.
Then there’s my 2 1/2 yr old. He’s a different story altogether. Despite an earlier bedtime, a strict pre-bed routine and a shorter daytime nap, it takes him FOREVER to go down. He won’t lie still. He won’t shut up. He fusses and figets and chats away and fights sleep as hard as he can. We often end up falling asleep in bed with him due to sheer exhaustion. You can read him a dozen stories, sing to him, rock him or leave him to cry it out – doesn’t matter. He’s a stubborn little guy. If Erin could help us “fix” this – I’d be forever grateful. I want my evenings back! And my alone time with my husband… it too has become a casuality of this nonsense.
My son almost 17mo used to be a great sleeper but lately it feels like I got a newborn again. he still nurses and now he is waking up every two to three hours to nurse all night long!! teething maybe? He is getting all 4 molars at the same time. nightmares? Or he just misses Mommy?
I sleep trained both my girls, 9&11 now and as I’m reading this my brand new middle schooler just walked in room and said Mom, you know you were supposed to tuck me in 40 minutes ago!!!
I just re-read all of these posts while in the midst of sleep training HELL. The baby has now stopped crying (for now)! Thanks for these posts, they are super encouraging!
OMG! I just read all your posts on your sleep training adventures and you have instilled a glimmer of hope for me and my sucky sleeper 9 month old, Logan.
My husband is off work for 2 weeks over the Holidays and I’m on Maternity Leave (Canada) and we were going to have a go at sleep training during that time. I too have been co-sleeping since he was born and the whole sleep training thing has been giving me nightmares for the last 6 months. BUT after reading your posts, I am determined and sooooo ready for this. Thank you for writing this and wish me luck! #letsdothis
Came across this post at exactly the right time as will be sleep training our 7 month old as soon as she gets over her cold. Been mulling it over for ages, but think we are both ready and exhausted! So good to read a success story to keep me going. Thanks for sharing. Xx.
I wanted to say thank you for these sleep training blog posts. I have a three year old and a ten month old and have been putting off moving the 10 month old into the same room as her sister for fear of messing up her sister’s sleep. After reading your posts I have been inspired to give it a try. She currently rooms with us which hasn’t been going ideally to get her to sleep through the night. We’re almost there but I think the fact that she can wake up and cry directly at me is holding us back. It’s easy to give-in to a nighttime nursing when she’s screaming in my ear.
I found your blog through a desperate Google search after months of trying to get my 1 year old daughter (who shares a room with my 3 year old son) to sleep through the night. To say the least, your sleep training blog posts changed my life. I couldn’t find suggestions for room sharing in any of the sleep training books I had read, and after months of no sleep for the whole family I used the method you posted about. Both children are now sleeping 10+ hours per night, and if they wake up they’re back asleep within minutes. Thank you, thank you, thank you for sharing your story!!!
Ilana just curious what your bedtime routine looks like now now that Harlow is older? Are you still putting them down before 7? We have a 19 month old and a 3.5 year old and are desperate for a solution to the sleep deprivation our girls suffer (and us to be honest). I’d love to know. Thanks!
Just what I needed to read! I need to sleep train my daughter who’s 14 months again after falling back into bad habits for varying reasons…..need to find the strength ๐
Well written blog!!!
Thank you
Hey I’m doin sleepy raining right now for my 9month old as well. And I have an older child too 2.5 I would have lived to win the sleep trainer session. I hope I could get past this first week successfully tonight is day 2. Thanks for the tips. And Shana tova!!
They should be relatively challenging, but you should ensure that
you can meet them, with a minimum of pain, every time.
Most of them are full of sugar and processed flour.
It helps increase immunity to aid in fighting colds.
‘This week, I will only drink one beer on Friday night, saving myself thousands of calories’.
Peter Ragnar’s ‘How To Build Muscle On A Raw Food Diet’. The program
is based on nutrition that helps you burn fat and keep
lean muscle, boosts your metabolism and helps control hunger.
Thought you might be interested in this essay I wrote about what happens when you give a 3yo a camera and let her document life after the birth of her baby brother.
This one is for all the mamas out there in the sleep struggle.
Enjoy!
http://tellusastoryblog.com/2015/02/04/after-the-second-one-comes/
I want to thank you – so much – for posting all the details of your sleeping plan. It’s made a big difference to the way in which I sleep trained my sons over the last couple of days (one nearly two and one 7 months), and now BOTH are sleeping through the night. I’m a different person! xx
I totally agree that sleep training helps the little ones as much as it helps us! My daughter was trained to sleep from 8pm–6am by 6 weeks old! It was a life saver! I was going crazy before we got her to sleep through the night. And you know what, she is sooo happy, and she loves to sleep. She tells us when she is tired, and she snuggles in with her teddy and closes her eyes and she’s off to lala land. Sometimes she turns on her music box by herself and drifts off to sleep while listening to it. It is amazing how much a good nights sleep benefits the little ones ๐ Sofie is almost two years old now and still a great little sleeper ๐
I’m coming across this blog post a couple years late but it was exactly the kind of support and encouragement I needed to sleep train my almost 9 month old daughter. The crying fits in her crib before bedtime made me realize how crucial sleep training is. Tonight is night one. We shall see how it goes! Thanks for sharing your experience!
Our little guy was sleeping great right from the start but the weather changed and so did everything else. Our doctor recommended sleep training him at 4 months but it was hot and we had to suddenly get him used to sleeping without the swaddle. Needless to say it was always something because then came teething and I just felt bad. Now at 7 months he hardly sleeps – he’s up at least every hour and we are all exhausted. I’ve been nursing him to sleep from the start and in the past months most of my sleep has been sitting up.
I really tried to try sleep training but only lasted 15 minutes or so before giving in. After reading through your sleep training blog I forced myself to be ok with letting him cry. Last night he spent 35 minutes crying himself to sleep. He woke up once in the night and it took another 20-30 minutes to get back to sleep. I was proud of myself for getting through it. Tonight was harder and I started crying when he did but thankfully it only lasted 15 minutes before he was out. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it continues to get better but so far I think it’s going well – I just have to keep reminding myself that it is for the best.
To make my both kids sleep all night long without waking up every hour to eat i used the hwl method. It also helped me to teach my girls to fall asleep on their own and to make them nap longer. Easy method without CC or CIO. It took me 3 or 4 days to deal with sleeping problems. All you need to do to make the hwl method works is to follow very precisely instruction step by step and that is it. I’ve found the instructions in Susan Urban’s guide. It was quite some time ago but I can see the guide is still available on parental-love.com site.