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 is— 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!
We have a 3 year old who has never slept through the night and we are not sure what to do next to change this. We feel like we have tried so many different things. Most recently he is waking up because he has started feeling scared of the dark. Our 9 month old started sleeping through night a few weeks ago, so we thought it would help to have them in the same room. And instead, the 9 month old has made reverse progress and started waking up again :(. We are seeing the effects sleep deprivation is having on our 3 year old and it is scary so we want to try to fix this asap. Please help!
I have an 8 month old who will not sleep for longer than an hour or two at any given time. So at night I wake up every hour until I give up and bring him to bed with me. Usually around midnight. During the day baby is cranky and clingy.
It is taking a toll on our marriage.
I couldn’t find the Pickles and Ice cream FB page either! The one I found seems to be a clothing store. I’m on a desktop
We have a two & a half year old who is a fantastic sleeper. Which makes our 6 month old look a little like then devil in super cute baby form. I’m going back to work full time in five weeks and she is still up multiple times at night, refuses to nap during the day at all – it’s pretty much a battle to get her into bed at all, anytime. Pick meeeeeeeee! I dread starting a new job on this little sleep.
I have a 4month old son and he is a bear! He will not go to sleep without being rocked. He naps in the swing or rock n play. These naps last only 15 to 45 minutes. At night he sleeps in my bedroom in the rock n play. I need to move him to his crib and also sleep train him. He has reflux so I am scared about it all. I did sleep train my 2 year old so I know the benefits. For some reason I can’t bring myself to do it with my second child. I am so nervous about it! I agree with all the sleeps tips posted on Pickles and Ice Cream and reading your blog gave me motivation but I just can’t pull the trigger!!! Help!!!
I have a 3.5 year old and a 6 week old. The 3.5 year old has regressed and needs us to sit in her room till she falls asleep. Our newborn has reflux and though she seems like she will sleep longer I wake her up after 6 hours to feed because her reflux seems to be worse when she doesn’t feed as frequently.
Three year old son sleeps well. He gets up early but so do we. Six month old son hasn’t had any sleep training and goes to sleep fine but wakes up frequently during the night. He does the 3am fuss thing like Harlow and I take him into our bed (like you) or else I’m up every 10 minutes. If I don’t win will you tell me how you stopped the 3am in the bed routine? Or did it just come naturally with the bedtime training? Thanks!
I have a 15 month old that can’t fall asleep without the boob and co-sleeps. I am her human pacifier for 2 naps and bedtime. She has never taken to a bottle, pacifier, or lovey. She has never slept through the night or in her crib. Mama needs help!!
I am going on 4…yes 4 years of NEVER sleeping through the night! My 4 year old just started sleeping through the night last August ( at age 3) and thank goodness because I had my second daughter in November of last year and she just hit 10 months and still hasn’t slept through the night
Our 4 month old daughter wakes up between 10:45 and 11:30 pm every night, regardless of what time we put her down. Fortunately, after we get her back to sleep, she’s out until about 9 am.
I have a 15mth old and a 3yo that do not share a room but their walls are paper thin and shared. The 3yo sleeps thru the night but will NOT go to bed without a fight. I’m talking screaming, hitting, fighting and hours before she falls asleep. She is terrified of her room and will not fall asleep anywhere but the couch. But once asleep, she stays asleep. However, on average she’s sleeping 930pm-630a plus a 2 hour nap during the day. The 15mth old all but begs to go to bed but does not sleep thru the night. She used to, though. But hasn’t for months. She wakes up 4 hrs into sleeping screaming as though someone is stealing her and will fall back to asleep immediately upon being picked up. But then the damage is done and she cannot be laid back down without waking up screaming. So her and I sleep on the couch most nights after that wake up and she’s up for the day at 630am when my alarm goes off with a 2 hour nap after lunch.
I’m so tired. So worn. I barely remember what my bed feels like or what my husband looks like. I’ve tried following Ilana’s plan (I know it was custom made for you but I had to start somewhere) without success. It just resulted in super grumpy kids that seemed really mad at me.
I was clueless to the idea that LittleBoy was overtired, since his disposition is pretty great even then — but I had fallen into the trap of nursing him back to sleep when he woke in the middle of the night. Now he’s sleeping longer before waking, and I’m not nursing him after bedtime anymore, but I think he’s a stubborn problem, or I’m not good enough at following directions. I’m not ready to let go of Erin! Thanks for introducing her to us, Mommy Shorts. You are SO RIGHT that she is waaaaaay more affordable than other sleep consultants.
I thought I knew it all when I just had one kid and things were okay with 2 kids, but now that #3 has arrived I confess I am at a loss with how to get #2 and #3 back on track so we can call sleep past 5 freaking 30 in the morning. Help!
Hello! I am envious of your success 🙂 congrats! I have a 2 1/2 year old son who has been a great sleeper and had no problem sleep training him as a child. Now that I’ve had my daughter who is now 7 months, he needs someone to lay with him at night in order to fall asleep. Now my daughter on the other hand will not sleep at all! She always needs me! All day! I can’t do anything! She doesn’t nap easily. When she does its anywhere between 20- 40 minutes. To extend the time, I have to rock her back to sleep. She wakes up 4+ times a night and sometimes will even start the day at 5AM. I have never been more exhausted. I try to get them both to sleep by 8:30 which is a task in itself! Please help!
Oh man…where to start?
I have three princesses, 4.5, almost 3 and 9 months.
My 4.5 year old is exhausted. We try to get her to bed between 7:30 and 8. She sleep walks. It’s hell. She does it 2-3 times a week. If I catch it early sometimes I can get her back to sleep after a quick pee. If not its 45 minutes of screaming and no one NO ONE else can touch her.
Oh ya, then right around the time she starts sleep walking I should mention that my 9 month old cannot, refuses, will not, be put down btwn 8:30 and 10:30 at night. She screams, like a banshee. What else? Well my 9 month old is good at sleeping in 20 minute intervals.
Did I mention I’m tired?
Oh ya, and my 2 year old is this awesome easy-going kid…she sleeps from like 7:30 to 6:45. It’s amazing. Except of course on the nights they all get up, and no one can do anything except me.
HELP!!!!!!!
And did I mention I’m crazy? I’d still like another kid. Indeed sleep training so I can sleep more than 1.5 hours in a row (b/c my 9 month old co-sleeps and eats ALL night too). And then once I have sleep I’ll know I shouldn’t have more kids!
We did CIO with my daughter when she was 10 months old and she went from sleeping in our bed, waking every two hours, to sleeping in her crib for 11 hours every night. Fast forward 4 months and she is fine in her crib to go to sleep but for the last month has been waking after an hour or so and wakes up for good between 4am and 6am. Her sleep at night is very unpredictable and now I am 4 months pregnant and worried how I will ever have her and the new baby in the same room. I would love to hear what Erin would have to say about this situation!
My 2.5 year old is an awful sleeper. Awful. Her 2.5 MONTH old sister sleeps more soundly. I don’t have it in me to cry it out but my toddler goes down no problem. It’s never been an issue getting her to sleep. I swear she will sleep through the night maybe once a week. She is such a light sleeper and wakes often. She’s fighting naps too and is exhausted. We have had a lot of change recently and her sleep has gotten so much worse waking multiple times a night most nights. We moved in with my parents, then had a new baby and then moved in to our new house from June until now. I feel bad for doing all of this to her and I’m feeling like such a sucker at night. I don’t want her to wake up the baby with her crying though so I get up and get her and put her in our bed to make the crying stop. My husband is gettin frustrated and I’m exhausted. Help?!
Shaina,
We have an EBF 5 month old daughter. She goes to bed between 7:30 and 8 every night and generally makes it to 6 to 6:30 every morning. She can make it 11 hours on milk alone, so I would say he is probably old enough to make it 12 hours…possibly longer if you’ve started solids as they take longer to digest. HTH!
I have an almost-four-year-old son and a nearly-18-month-old daughter. My daughter is still waking up at least twice a night to breastfeed. She is in a crib in our room because she loses her mind when she wakes up if I don’t immediately attach her to my boob and she’ll actually wake up her brother, who is two rooms away. Then we’re dealing with two awake kids in the middle of the night. My son used to be a good sleeper, but he’s also started getting up a couple of times at night. I think it’s because he has to go to the bathroom, but he’s not awake enough to realize why he woke up, he just gets pissed and starts screaming, which in turn wakes up his sister. I am so tired.
I have a 5 year old and a 20 month old that share a room. The 5 year old always looks tired and is super emotional and confrontational most of the time. I am sure she is tired because her younger brother wakes up 2-3 times a night screaming and I know it wakes her up. She will usually wake up herself from anywhere between 4-6am. If it is before 6 I will usually send her back to bed. Their bed time is 7pm but things are not usually quiet in their room until between 9 and 10pm. I don’t think either of them are getting enough sleep. The 20mo takes a nap during the day but it is usually followed by a 10 minute screaming fest. Since neither of them are getting enough sleep there is a lot of crying and crankiness all around all day (including me!) and I need some help before I lose my mind!
We’re trying to sleep train our six month old, but figuring out the right schedule is really hard. I stay home, but we also have an 8 year old and a 10 year old. They need to be at school at 8:45, which is right during the time when the baby seems ready for her first nap. I’d prefer to walk/jog the kids to school, but the baby falls asleep in the stroller and wakes up as soon as we get home, ruining the nap. Afternoon nap is easy to schedule, right after lunch, but things get tricky again at bedtime. My kids have soccer practice in the evenings and we don’t get home until 7 pm. My husband makes dinner while we’re gone, and when we get home we eat. I’ve been putting my baby down around 8:30, when the big kids go to bed. I figure this is probably too late at night. She still nurses at night, too. She will sleep until somewhere between 3 and 5 am, but then she wakes up to nurse and can be difficult to get back down. I’m not sure how to get everyone’s schedules to mesh, and I don’t know how well sleep training will work if we can’t be consistent and get the baby down at the right time, before she is overtired.
Omg, I haven’t slept since June. E is three and although his sleeping started out as the worst ever…he shares a room with the new record holder! His sister, e (or Little E), came home from the hospital sleeping through the night. She was amazing…WAS. She’s two now and in a toddler bed and doesn’t stay in it from more then 45 minutes at night. We were confused at first…she would walk into our bedroom…10 feet away, climb into bed with us and fall back asleep. That was fun and cute for one night. Because of her pension for sleeping perpendicular to the rest of the population this meant one adult had to leave. 🙁 Since that was doing wonders for our family life we decided it needed to NOT happen. We try to walk her back to bed as seen in every Super Nanny but then she screams and disrupts E….startling him, making him wake and cry and all that. After a million different ideas AND awesome new bedding (which was my idea…who doesn’t love new bedding?) we are now taking turns sleeping on couch cushions next to her bed. We are currently trying to sell our place and buy more room but until then, three of us sleep in the kids room (two people reluctantly) and one adult has the bed to them self. This affecting the whole family…sleeplessness has resulted in germs being stronger, bad moods, impatience, and lots of tired tears at school and home..by all. Calgon take me away. Please help me!!!!
Your posts have inspired me and made me realize that I really do need to sleep train my baby. I’m a first time mom with a 9 month old daughter, who has never slept through the night. Our circumstances are challenging though. My husband and I both work full time. My mom graciously volunteered to watch our baby during the day while we are at work for my daughter’s first year, but that means she left my dad and her house in a city, 5 hours away, and lives with us in our 2 bedroom house. Which also means, my mom sleeps in the nursery and the baby sleeps with us in our bedroom. So, the baby doesn’t have her own room yet, (but she will in January). The other wrinkle is that she sometimes has sobbing spasms after intense cries. What happens is she holds her breathe for a few seconds with a panic look on her face (almost like a spasm) and then would exhale. When it occurs she will continue to do this every few minutes even after she’d calmed down. This ‘episode’ continues for about 6-7 hours, even during her sleep. Then the next morning she’s 100% fine. We’re told she’ll most likely outgrow it, but we have no idea if there are other babies out there with the same issue and who have been successfully sleep trained. Any help would be greatly appreciated!!
I have a 2 year old and 5 month old and NO ONE naps!!
I personally would KILL for a nap!
2 year old hasn’t napped in over a week, and before that was hit or miss.
5 mo old ‘naps’ anywhere from 20-50 mins.
Help!!!
I have 2 kids, 2 1/2 & 7 months, I did a round of sleep training with the baby–night weaning and crying combo, in stages, but now she’s waking up crazy early–this morning she was up at 3:45! I checked in on her after 10 minutes, but she never went back to sleep, so I finally got her around 5:30–her bedtime is already 6:30, should it be even earlier than that?
I am a fan of Mommy Shorts and Pickles and Ice Cream! I would love to get my sleep back at night with no interuptions! The issue we have is co-sleeping. I said I would never do it and guess what, it’s happened in my house!! I have a 6 year old that mostly sleeps through the night except for potty breaks and a drink here and there. Then I have our two year old who since taking her nuk away now sleeps with us after about 3 hrs of putting her down. We lay with her to get her to sleep but she doesn’t sleep soundly. I am a full time working mother and my husband gets home late at night and I’m exhausted! I could use some guidance please!
We have a 5 year old boy, a 2 year old boy and a 6 week old baby girl. Our 5 year old, Wilkes goes to sleep around 8 every night. However, he is up before midnight and moves onto the couch in our living room ( adjacent to the master bedroom). This will typically wake our 2 year old, Chapman up, who runs into our room and takes about an hour to put back down. Our 6 week old, Clara, usually gets woken up with the commotion from one of the two boys ( in addition to waking up on her own throughout the night like a regular newborn). Our 2 year old is usually awake by 5 and back in our room. At this point we just let him stay in our room in order to get a little sleep. Oh, and my husband is a second year medical resident at MUSC, so he is up very early anyway and usually sleep deprived bc of our eventful night. If he is on a busy service that month at work, he leave before 5am, thus waking up one of the three kids and causing a ripple effect. Please help!!!! A Wheeler
My children also share a room like yours and we live in a small apartment! My husband and I would like our nights back too even though he is not home from work until 6:30 and would like to see the kids. Tough!
I’ve been waiting for this giveaway. I’ve been trying to convince my husband we need this for months, to no avail. anyway, we have been attempting it on our own, with advice from our doctor, and I just feel like it’s wrong, or I’m doing something wrong. Last night was the first time. We laid her down at 10 (which seems too late to begin with) and she absolutely screamed for one hour, which I think totally exhausted her, then she was up again, screaming from 3-3:45, until I gave her a bottle (with water only). Before last night we were waking up and feeding her every 3 hours or so (she turned one on Aug 27th). Which was ridiculous and I was/am constantly exhausted, especially on days I work.
I’ve just been at a loss. No idea how to go about this.
My son is 3, takes a nap at daycare on weekdays but refuses to nap on weekends. Is this inconsistency hurting his sleep patterns? Also we have a 6 week old who sleeps in a crib in her own room. But help is moving in soon since I’m going back to work. Can we make it work with the 3 yr old and 2 month old in same room?? Tks for the giveaway!
I have a 3 year old and a 10 month old. The baby is easy, but the toddler has been a challenge for a while. We have trouble getting her to calm down in the evening and she’s not usually asleep until 9pm. She gets out of bed shortly after we leave the room, usually saying she has to go to the bathroom. Most of this trouble developed after getting rid of her bedtime pacifier about 6 months ago, and she just hasn’t developed a replacement calming method.
I have an almost 8 month old. We’re still doing a dreamfeed and putting her down between 10 and 11, which I know is too late, but I’m not sure how to break it without her being up at 5 the next morning. Naptime is rarely good and I have no idea how to set a schedule that is consistent, especially when her waking time varies wildly between 6:30am and 9:00 am. I would LOVE some help!
My 3 month old refuses to nap anywhere but the swing or in my arms. He is still waking 1 – 2 times a night as well, but the nap routine is what’s really my issue lately. Would love some help transitioning him to napping in his crib! Fan of both!
I am a mother of 3 girls and a soldier. My girls are 6, 4, and 20 months. I am about to redeploy to the states after being in Afghanistan for the last 9 months. My parents have had all 3 of my girls while I have been away. My two oldest are very stubborn when it comes to bedtime and take a while to fall asleep, sometimes they pretend to be sleeping then get out of bed to play with toys after my mom or dad leave the room. My almost 2 yr old is having the worst trouble. She was sleeping 8-11 hours at the beginning but now she wakes up every couple or few hours and my mom gives in and takes my daughter to her own bed to get her back to sleep. I co-slept with her before she went to my parents’ because I was breastfeeding. I am afraid when I bring my girls home they will have trouble adjusting to a new schedule. My oldest will be in school and my two youngest will be at daycare while I am work. Any ideas and suggestions would be amazing!
I have a 2 and 4 year old who share a room and take turns stalling bedtime. The 4 year old wants a cup of water, a cuddle, or whatever last minute thing she can think of while the 2 year old just wants me to be there. I’m a working mom who doesn’t want bedtime to be a negative time. I don’t get as much time with my girls as I want, so I want the time I do have to be high quality and not bickering over bedtime.
My baby boy is 8 months old. Naps are inconsistent, one day will be great with napping at appropriate times and lasting a good length but then the next day we are lucky to get in 2 naps that are longer than 15-30 minutes. The most frustrating part is bed time. Once he falls asleep between 7:30 – 8:30 rarely does he stay asleep. He treats it s a nap and is awake until 11:00 some nights. He falls asleep in my arms, and stays there until we go to bed. If I put him in my bed we can get some sleep but forget about the crib. Basically I am a prisoner from 7:30 on, holding a sleeping baby, hoping he doesn’t wake up and we can go to bed before midnight.
Hi, I have 4 kids, 22, 16, 11 and 2 yrs. The 2 yr old shares a room with his 11 yr old brother. We put him down about 8:30-9:00. We started doing that mainly because he is so cute at night and no one wanted him to go to bed except me. The 2 yr old has never been a good sleeper. Since he was born he usually only napped about 45 min a day.He never wakes up happy. He always wakes up screaming, heart pounding and slightly shaking.Like each time he wakes up he is startled awake. He has some sensory issues and is still non verbal. He is in 4 therapies a week. I put him to sleep at night and he cries for about 10-15 min, turns on the light and falls asleep in front of the door. Sometimes he sleeps until 5:30 and other times he wakes up during the night. Monday night he woke up 4 times and stayed awake after 5:30am. The sad thing is that he is tired. He is not sleeping enough at night and not napping enough during the day. I want him to wake up happy. I want him to sleep through the night, not have meltdowns and be ready to play and have fun. Thanks for the opportunity. Dayna
We have a boy who just turned three and a four month old girl. We put my three year old to bed at 7:30, but he comes out of his room a dozen times before finally giving up sometime around 9. He wakes up around 6AM. He also takes a 2 hour nap in the afternoon. He goes right to sleep for nap time, but fights bedtime with all his might. The baby goes down around 10 with no problem (She actually sleeps from 8-10 in my arms which I know is terrible, but I just love that time so much!) She wakes up around 2 or 3 and doesn’t want to go back to sleep without rocking, music, pacifier or nursing. Usually a random combo of those things. Both my kids need help with a sleep schedule!
I am a fan of both Facebook pages.
My 9 month old has several sleep issues: 1) he is nursed to sleep at bedtime. He is slowly weaning himself during the day and now mainly only nurses before bed, in the middle of the night and sometimes first thing in the morning. I know eventually he will completely wean himself, so I know this cannot continue. He has to learn to fall asleep on his own. 2) He wakes at least twice a night and never at the same time. He used to let my husband go in and get him back to sleep, but now he only wants me and I usually end up nursing him back to sleep. 3) He never wakes up for the day at the same time and it’s always too early. He’s been up for the day at 4:00 a.m., 4:30, 5:00, 5:30 (mosy commonly), and 6:00 (please GOD make it til 6:00!).
He already recognizes the start of the bedtime routine and starts to fuss. I know that if we don’t get tough with him, the fights will get worse with age. I don’t want bedtime to be a fight forever!
Max is almost 5 months old now. He starts out sleeping in his crib, but when he wakes up in the middle of the night, i usually feed him and he ends up falling asleep in bed with me. He ususally wakes up twice a night. the only way he will sleep in general is if we lay with him/rock him and he sleeps on our bed. If we lay him in his crib, he sleeps for maybe 30 min – 1hr.
We have a 2-year old daughter and a 5-month old son. The 2-year old is the issue (the 5-month old, so far, has no issues going to sleep and staying asleep…except when his sister’s tantrums wake him up). She always went to bed and slept great, until the day she realized she was VERY capable of getting of the crib on her own. After about a week of her screaming, crying and climbing out of her crib every 30 seconds (I am not exaggerating) until she fell asleep, we switched her to a regular bed, and the madness continued. This was in July, and since then not a single night (or naptime) has gone by that someone hasn’t had to sit next to her bed until she is asleep (sometimes for an hour or more). We tried leaving the room and putting her back in bed every time she got back out (no eye contact, no talking, expressionless), but her tantrums were so out-of-control that we were actually afraid she was going to hurt herself and/or break her bedroom door, or bed, or who-knows-what. We’ve always had a consistent bedtime and bedtime routine (we did move it up from 8pm to 7pm a few weeks ago, which is working well, but we still have to sit there until she’s asleep). We’re just at a total loss, we hate having to sit there until she falls asleep, we know it’s not the correct way to handle this, but we have no idea what else to do at this point to avoid extreme-tantrum-time. I’ve been following all the sleep stuff on Mommy Shorts and reading Erin’s blog and facebook page for tips, but really don’t know what to do for our daughter. We are truly at our wit’s end, and 100% clueless as to how to correct the situation.
I also have 2 girls (4yo and almost 2yo) who share a room. They think bedtime=party time. To avoid the jumping, squealing, climbing out of crib/bed, and coming out of the bedroom, we’ve resorted to putting one to bed in our room and transferring her after they are both asleep. Unfortunately, the 4yo still takes nearly 2 hours to calm down and fall asleep. Then 2yo wakes up early and wakes her sissy up too. The 4yo is definitely sleep deprived. I NEED to win this!
I have a 3 year old that is between napping and no napping and it’s really starting to affect her nighttime sleep and her behavior. On days she doesn’t nap, she goes to bed at 7:30 and used to sleep until 7. On days she naps, she is a monster to wake up if she hasn’t had a 2 hour plus nap but then isn’t sleepy until 9:30pm and maybe sleeps 9 hours. It’s all over the place and its frustrating to keep up with. I tried pushing her to stay awake with no nap (and it worked for about two months). She was sleeping 11.5 hours at night. Then all of a sudden she couldn’t be kept awake past 2pm and if you pushed her she would literally pass out at 4pm. What a mess. I just don’t know what to do with her right now. She’s in some weird phase! She will go a day without napping and then only sleep 9 hours and be a total mess the next day. Falling asleep in her lunch:)
I have a 21 month old that can not fall asleep in her own ( has to be rocked on stroller but lately hasn’t even liked this) she also frrquently wakes up during the night and is hard to put back down. She vomits when crying too hard which makes things do much harder. I need help!!!
(like both pages on FB)
just wondering how early one can start sleep training? our younger son is 10 weeks old and nothing like is older brother (5 years old- who was an ‘easy baby’).
on a good night, he sleeps 5-7 hours the first stretch (starting at 7:30pm) and 1.5 hour stretches after that til about 6:30 am. on a bad night it’s 3 hours sleep, and 2 hour stretches after that. if he’s awake around 4 am, he has trouble going back to sleep and I don’t go back to sleep at all.
can’t tell whether or not he likes swaddling. it helps him sleep, but when he’s first swaddled, he writhes around like Houdini in a straight jacket.
he’s a light sleeper and sometimes sleeps with his eyes open (ped sent him to NICU for EEG at 1 day old cause she saw his eyes darting around- turned out it was REM with his eyes open)
he does sleep better at night if it was a horrible nap day, which goes against the ‘sleep begets sleep’ concept I’ve read and always agreed with. some days he only takes (4) half hour naps, and that is even with scheduling the day around getting him to nap. help! (I hope this doesn’t post twice, my first one disappeared on me! sorry )
My 5 month old went from getting up every hour to STTN twice with the Merlin Magic Sleepsuit. Now? She goes to sleep around 730/8, then gets up every hour until 3am or so, then gets up for the day around 6. My husband and I are not happy. She goes down drowsy but awake, we have a routine, she’s in the crib, etc.
My 5 year old sleeps like a champ! My 3 year old, however, her sleep patterns are deplorable and our entire family is suffering! She refuses to sleep at night, when she does go to sleep she insists on doing so with the light on, and then I wake up with her sucked to my side in the middle of the night! Nap times at home are very difficult as well. She doesn’t nap for long. The lack of sleep makes her irritable and she often screams and beats up on her brother. I know it’s her sleep and not being three b/c the rare night or nap that she DOES sleep well, she is like an entirely different child (sound familiar. *ahem*) help!! Pick me!
Okay, I don’t have baby nor a toddler….I have a 9 year old!! I would love nothing more than to get her to sleep on her own. Having her limbs all over us at night leaves for a tired momma and daughter. Please help.
I’ve been following these posts closely as it seems our three year olds have some things in common. So, for the giveaway, here’s the short version of our latest experiences: My three year old son cannot be convinced to take a nap, but he really seems to need one. We moved his bedtime back and now he wakes up at 5 am and jumps in our bed where he quietly wriggles and kicks me and my husband for an hour. He also wakes most nights and needs to be walked back to his room. Oh, and lately he insists on sleeping with his lights on.
The one year old sleeps well, he goes in by seven and sleeps until six, with one to two naps, usually no more than an hour. He cries when we put him down, but usually not for long.
Here is my issue: 10 month old baby wakes every three hours <-- and that actually doesn't sound so bad right now because last night was EVERY HOUR. Sometimes I'll try and rock her to sleep instead of nursing, but that will only get her back to sleep for another 30 minutes. She begs for booby. She gets regular naps throughout the day (every 2-3 hours). I breastfeed on demand throughout the day. I put her to bed between 7 and 8 every night. Please help! I'm running on fumes and I've lost myself.
My daughters, 2 and 3.5, share bunkbeds in a bedroom. Despite our adherence to a bedtime routine, they REFUSE to make bedtimes easy, and often take up to 2 or more hours of arguing to get them both to sleep. We occasionally luck out and the 3.5yo will fall right to sleep, but ends up getting woken up by the 2yo climbing into her top bunk and causing a commotion to “play” (both frustrating and slightly dangerous). We generally put them in the tub together around 6-6:30 (depending on how rough nap time was), and then read 2 stories together, put them in their beds, sing 2 songs and say good night around 7:00-7:15. We try not to stay with them until they fall asleep (as that generally takes at least an hour), but if we leave the room, they get out of their beds and into each others (or a chair, or the floor, or anywhere that isn’t the bed). We are at a loss for the best thing to do, and usually so worn out from the argument that we don’t even get to enjoy the post-bedtime time together. HELP!
Three year old wakes up to poop at 2 am. Every night. It takes until 3:30 or 4 to get her back to sleep.
(10 month old sleeps pretty well – not as good as Harlow but a solid 11.5 at night with 2-3 naps a day.
My son just turned 2 in August. He was always tough to get to sleep. At one point, I was able to get him into a routine of napping in the afternoon and going to sleep between 8:30 and 9:30 at night but it took a lot of work. I’d have to give him a bath, bottle, then rock him and sing to him. Some nights were better than others. Now that he’s done w/ bottles the routine really doesn’t work anymore. Naps are about impossible unless I drive him somewhere and he falls asleep in the car. On my days off from work, I can usually get him to sleep but he’s sleeping in our bed. When I’m working, I usually don’t get home from work until midnight. Some nights he’s still up (w/ no nap!). I really want to get him on a good nap/sleep schedule but I just don’t know how. HELP!!
My little one just turned 10 months. She does NOT sleep through the night. Notceven close. She’s up every 2/3 hours just looking for a boob. I’m exhausted.
Naps are a crapshoot. 30 minutes twice a day. She won’t sleep in her crib. My older one is about to turn 5 and he’s an early riser.
I. Am. So. Damn. Tired.
I think we have screwed up our 15 month old! 😉 Even though she gave up her middle of the night bottle months ago, she still wakes up most nights around 3 or 4 a.m. Daddy likes to hold her and rock her back to sleep, against my advice, so we have created this vicious cycle that we can’t seem to get out of. She also does not want to seem to go down earlier than 9:30 or 10 p.m., which I am fine with if she truly is getting enough sleep, but she is up at least once in the middle of the night and then again around 6:30 a.m. to nurse, so I am not sure that is the case. I have not slept more than five hours straight for months now and it’s starting to catch up with me (and when I am sleeping I feel like I am constantly listening for her to wake up, which doesn’t make for great sleep, you know?). I need some sleep! Please pick me. Pretty please?
Hi! I live in NYC and jut started going back to work after over a year being at home with my 2.5 year old boy.
He was born with Tetralogy of Fallot, and required two open heart surgeries. One at ten days old, the second one at six months.
When he had his second surgery (6mo) we were in the middle of sleep training, during his week stay at the children’s hospital, he was being monitored for vitals every two hours. This meant, being woken up every two hours even if he was asleep.
Although, he is a normal two and a half year old boy in every way, he still wakes up at least once during the night. I blame the whole hospital ordeal….
It was “fine” while I was a SAHM, but now that I’m back at work, it makes a huge difference whether or not I have a decent day at work (I’m a teacher).
So that’s our story in a nutshell…
Even if we don’t get picked, it was good to vent.
Much love and patience to everyone out there:)
Best,
Alba
I’m a fan of both of course! We have a 4 year old, a 2 year old and a 3rd boy on the way in December. I don’t think I have slept a full night in 5 years. 🙂 Both of our boys get into bed at 8pm, my oldest is in Kindergarten so I am adamant about the 8pm. Vincent(4) will usually fall asleep on his own, but wants someone to lay on the bedroom floor or cuddle him. Our 2 year old is a whole other story! He will lay down (with a bottle, I know I know BAD BAD Mommy,) and then either fall asleep and then wake by midnight or 1, and then up to 3-5 times after that, or we take him straight in our bed and he either sleeps through the night or only wakes once or twice. I am at my wits end and I NEED to sleep before the sleep deprived nights of having a newborn come into play! HELP!
I have an 18 month old. We recently decided to give up his pacifier and have had some sleep issues since.
I’m so glad Harlow’s sleep training worked! My 15 month old will only fall asleep with one of us holding him. He loves to get up for hours and hours in the middle of the night.
We are first time parents to 5 month old twins that have acted very similar to Harlow at bedtime and during the day. We know it’s sleep training, but our attempts have failed. Maybe we haven’t stuck with it long enough. We tried to get them to sleep through the night all the way, but were chided by family and friends for not feeding them enough, they were “too young” to go that long without food. Maybe they were. We are SO needing our sleep and our alone time back!!
Hey Sal-
Please enter as I think that you can never be too prepared! Also, if you win you can wait until you are ready to sleep train.
Warmly,
Erin
We are crying out for help (quite literally at this point!) I have two wonderful boys, a 3 1/2 year old and a 9 month old. Both go to bed well: my 9 month prefers us to put him down and walk away, and my 3 year old wants us to lay with him, and he’s out pretty quickly. However, the middle of the night is like a small circus. My 9 month old has always struggled with the early morning hours. He sits up at 4 in his crib and cries. I lay him back down and he tosses and turns. Then he sits up and cries again. Just when I think we are making progress (like sleeping until 5:30), he’s up again at 4:30 the next day. I have checked my diet, checked his calories, rocked him, let him cry it out, night-weaned him, thought he was hungry so started feeding him at night again, then realized that wasn’t it so re-weaned him. And I’ve stuck with each thing long enough to see it work briefly, only to end up back here again. I really don’t know what else to try. While I am working on him, my husband is getting up most nights with our 3-year-old who will wake up in the middle of the night crying and want someone in there until he goes back to sleep–usually a solid hour and a half later. He also tosses and turns like he just can’t settle. Then, he too, is up early. It is so frustrating to try everything I can think of and see them still both struggle to sleep through the night. I just want them to be able to rest and find that elusive full night’s rest!!
Nikole-
Congrats on two years of BF! What a commitment!
Warmly,
Erin
We have an almost 3 year old little girl who has slept through the night a total of 3 times. A few months ago we instituted a new bedtime routine that goes ok when putting her down (currently working through issues now because dad is out of town and even though it’s been consistent it’s just not going well) but it’s the night time waking is what gets us. Some nights it’s just once (normally between 11-12 or 3-4am) but other nights its every 90 minutes. She’s typically a great napper (1.5-2 hours 95% of the time).
We both work outside of the home and it just seems that anytime I think we are making progress something else happens. A full night of sleep for a full week (or even more) sounds almost too good to be true.
I need this so much! We have a 2-year-old who happily co-slept, but now is getting too big and active. One of us has to lay with him, and he fights sleep so hard. Sometimes it takes him up to 90 minutes to fall asleep! And when he finally does sleep, he wakes up multiple times until we give up and bring him into our room. I am exhausted.
My 2 1/2 year old son just refuses to stay in his bed. He also refuses to keep his PJs and diaper on so most of the time we’ll find him asleep on the floor naked. Please help.
This would be amazing! Currently my 9 month old refuses to sleep unless she is on the boob or in her swing. We’ve tried several different combinations to try and solve her sleep challenges, and my husband really wants to try sleep training. After reading about your success, it’s looking good! thanks!
Help!!! Our 14 month old is STILL waking up every 2 hours all night long!! I’m so exhausted & overwhelmed!! I’ve tried CIO but he got so upset that he threw up in his crib! He’s stronger than me & I need help! I know he needs more rest to be happy & healthy! We also have a 4 year old that sleeps like a champ! He won’t eat a bite but sleeps 11-12 hours a night! Thank you for the giveaway… I hope hope hope we win!
Fan of both!
I have a 9 month old son. He goes to bed around 6:30 PM. He sleeps solidly until 4 or 5 AM. I feed him and this will usually get him until 6 or 6:30 AM. I know he is not hungry. He is sitting up in bed waiting for me! There were other night wakings that I simply let him fuss for a few nights and now they are gone. I can’t seem to eliminate this one.
I have two boys – 6 months and 2. The two yet old sleeps well enough now (6 to 6 & an hour nap) but it took us almost 2 years to get here. My six month old is all over the place. He is in our room and every night ends up in our bed. I love to snuggle him but I need a break too. I am scared he isn’t getting enough sleep. The boys will share a room as soon as we get sleep nailed down. I haven’t had two consecutive nights of quality sleep since 2010. And I feel mounting pressure to get this under control before my husband leaves for a deployment. Help us.
Hello from Australia! We have always had a really strict bedtime routine with our 2. Our 2 year old is in bed by 6:30 and our 7 year old by 7. But although they both go down beautifully, our 2yo wakes us up up to 6 times a night. On the rare nights he doesn’t he is a different child!
Please random generator, pick me!
I’m 6 months pregnant with our second child and about two months ago our 2 year old stopped sleeping through the night. My husband is up for a promotion at work and i’ve been handeling most of the weeknights by myself. Our daughter has also started refusing naps during the day . It seems the only way I can get her to nap is by taking her for a ride in the car. We are literally running on fumes here LOL
We have tried letting her cry it out but, she can make herself vomit on command and I just don’t have the heart to let her sit there in it.
I’m exhausted, my brain feels like scrambled eggs and my calves are the size of tree trunks! We would be beyond grateful for this opportunity. Thank you in advance for your consideration.
We have a beautiful four month old baby boy who is just so against sleeping! In the beginning we were EBF but he was eating so often, mostly just for comfort that I couldn’t keep up so we switched to formula around 2.5 months. Around that time we also started pulling him into bed with us because there was no other way any of us could find sleep! We tried almost everything: swings, slings, rocking, bouncing, jiggling, singing, humming, strollers, leaving him to cry for a little bit (but not crying it out), and nothing worked until we started giving him a bottle before naps and multiple times during the night. I love my son dearly but never wanted to co-sleep; now none of us (my husband included) are getting good rest! My son rarely exhibits signs of being tired (rubbing eyes, pulling hair, pulling ears) until it is too late, so we tried putting him down at set times but he has refused every schedule we have thrown at him! No matter what we have tried he is still not following any set pattern, is having much difficulty sleeping at night and napping and is still eating every 2 or so hours (sometimes more, sometimes less). Our pediatrician has said we have to begin implementing tough love so we have started trying very much to get him to a schedule more consistent with a four month old but the poor thing is fighting it tooth and nail! For all of our sakes and our sanity we are hoping your expertise would save us. We would be so appreciative and grateful for any help, since we are very low on funds (my husband is working on consultations only and I am only part time to take care of our son) and have no other hope at this point! Thank you, thank you!!!
We have a 2.5 year old that sounds EXACTLY like Mazzy! We have a bedtime “routine” that we start each night at 6:30 and we put her down in her bed every night between 7:30-8pm. She will stay awake in her bed/room and talk, cry, whatever for between 1-4 hours. On a ‘normal’ night she doesn’t fall asleep until 10:30 and then no matter what, is up crying around 5-5:30 every single morning! She is cranky!! We also have a 5 month old who sleeps 12 hours a night no problem!! Easiest baby ever! I am so exhausted and sleep deprived and never see my husband…which would be normal with a 5 month old, but he’s sleeping like a champ! I never thought my older daughter would be the one keeping us up! Help!!!!
Hi! I have 6 yo & 4 yo girls who share a room (bunk beds). Once they go to sleep they stay asleep. However, it feels like some nights they find every excuse in the book to stay awake.
I would also like to nominate the family I nanny for. Their 16 month goes to bed in her toddler bed, but ends up in their bed every night. She just transitioned out of their bed a few months ago. She’s a sweet girl, but super clingy, screamer during the day. After reading the above review I’m pretty sure sleep has something to do with the clingy/screamer/needy behavior.
We have a two year old and a two month old. So far, we have been good with making the two year old a good sleeper. We can put him down with minimal rocking with a binkie and he is out in under five minutes, usually. We have been trying so hard with him because we made the two year old a horrible sleeper. We managed to get him into the crib after cosleeping for the first year through modified CIO. However, he still requires my husband to rock him in the glider for anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour then he usually asks for more rocking. Its the same MO for naptime. Though he usually wakes up after a half hour and then wants to sleep on one of us in the glder for another hour. He had been sleeping through the night (mostly) starting at 18 months (he didn’t sleep for more than three or four hours before then, but since the new baby came he wakes up two or three times a night.
Obviously, if we are ever to have a baby sitter or even just have one of out of the house for bed or nap time this isn’t going to work with the new baby. We have tried shortening the rocking time, but he still wants more or we have to go in again and again and again.
My son does not sleep through the night. Ever. And he’s two-and-a-half years old now. When he was young, we had a family bed. He would always get up several times a night, often waking after sitting up in bed. He also often checks to make sure someone is next to him, sleeping as well. Now that we have a second child, my husband sleeps with him and I sleep in another room with the baby. She sleeps through the night! We would like to put them together soon, but have been reluctant to do so because my son will wake the baby up.
My husband and I would love to one day sleep through the night along with our two kids!
Our twin 7 month old girls sleep in the same crib and often have a hard time going to sleep in the evening. We have tried laying them down together or desperate but it still seems like they cannot soothe themselves to fall asleep. They are also sometimes waking up in the night to eat, but usually only nurse for a short time and then just want to snuggle and pacify themselves at my breast. I would love to get an earlier start to their night and perhaps more than 4 hours of uninterrupted sleep!
Congrats on the sleep training!!!
I’m entering for my brother and sister in law. Although my 3 year old’s sleep schedule isnt ideal, they need it more than us!!! They have 8 month old twins who both wake multiple times a night (sometimes waking eachother, other times they are up consecutively). Neither naps well during the day either and get very fussy/cranky. Between a difficult pregnancy and raising twins, my sister in law hasn’t slept more than a couple hours straight in over a year. I’d love to win this giveaway for them and help their whole family sleep better. Thanks!
We’re a military family and have been in transition to our new base since our son was born 7.5 months ago. We’ve moved 3 times, lived in 4 different houses and stayed at MANY different hotels & friends houses along the way. We’re FINALLY in our rental house for at least the next 6 months, but our son has only ever been able to go to sleep while nursing and wakes up every 1-2 hours needing soothed. He cat naps during the day but not usually for very long. I often pull him into bed with us in the middle of the night because I’m just too tired to do anything else. I’m so exhausted, but i know I’m not being the best mommy and it just breaks my heart.
I loosely sleep trained our baby when she was 6 months old, and now have very little trouble with nap times and bedtime. She would sleep 12 hours. A miracle! But somewhere in there, her sleep went very awry. For probably two months now (she’s 9 months), I’ve been woken consistently between 4-5 am. Nothing gets her back to sleep but nursing her. Which would be ok, if peaceful slumber for several more hours is what followed. But no. She wakes repeatedly, sometimes every 20 minutes. This child is invincible to CIO at 5 am. And mommy is so, so tired. I’ll admit that she will sleep peacefully till 7:30 or 8 if I lay down with her. I know. I know. Danger. But sometimes it’s the only way this house can sleep. Hellllllp me!
My 8 month old is a terrible catnapper. Rarely will he sleep longer than 45 minutes at a time during the day. To make matters worse, all of the developmental milestones plus teething is really wreaking havoc with his day sleeps. The last few days he has slept for about half an hour ALL day. This makes for one really tired & cranky bubba who needs to be held all the time (& one stressed out mumma)!
I can’t get to the P&I FB page either as the link doesn’t appear to work.
Congratualtions!!
Fan of both and have been following this saga closely as we are in a similar boat. I have a 3 y/o son and a 9.5 month old. 3 y/o was a piece of cake to sleep train and sleeps solidly thru the nite in a separate room, 7pm-7am. He’s a great sleeper. Little bro came along and is a tough nut to crack. We’re down to 1 or 2 night wakings but he nurses to sleep at 6:30-7:30 pm depending on the night, nurses during night and before naps which are inconsistent. Not sure what to do as I have been trying to avoid prolonged crying at night due to waking up hard-working hubby and other son. Help, please!
I have a 14 month old that I have been sleep training for 3 weeks. It’s going okay (read: he eventually does go to sleep) but he still cries pathetically every time I put him down. Also I we don’t have a good schedule and I don’t know how to schedule his naps. There is so much to read about online that I feel overwhelmed and am not sure if I’m damaging my kid. . . 😉
We have a 19 month old and I am 8 months pregnant with our second child. We tried very “gentle” sleep solutions with our 19 month old until she was 8 months old and then we finally had to admit that we were all going a little crazy. We used the methods found in Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child. While we are truly happy with the results (bedtime 7:00pm, wakes at 6:00am and has a two hour nap from 12-2 everyday) we still struggle with periodic midnight wake-ups and a requirement for her own bed. Hotel stays and nights with Grandparents are difficult for everyone.
With the imminent arrival of the new baby we want advice on 1) helping our toddler sleep in places other than her crib – she will have to stay with the grandparents while mommy is in labor. 2) Encouraging good infant habits from the start for baby #2 – so we don’t have to lose our minds again – and 3) transitioning from the crib to the toddler bed and/or twin bed (she still thrashes and rolls all night).
Thanks for the blogs. They have been so helpful and validating. With your help, I *might* come out as a having sleep trained my children. 🙂
I have a 3 year old and a 1 year old, both girls. My oldest is a dream sleeper and sleeps about 9 solid hours at night and 2 during afternoon nap.
My youngest is a totally different person in every way.
The only way I can get her to go to sleep is by breastfeeding her to sleep. She takes a 30 min nap in the morning, a couple hour nap in the afternoon and then maybe 8 hours at night, most of which is while I am holding her. I am definately sleep deprived and I suspect she is too. She always wakes up crying and only wants me. She is very needy and clingy during the day and just seems unhappy a lot. She is very high strung. This is completely different from older sis who is very mellow.
I know you shouldn’t compare kids, but it really seems like my youngest is in need of help and I have no idea what to do. We have tried sleep training on our own in he past and it just never worked out. I need help. I can’t stand seeing my baby so unhappy. Unfortunately with our finances the way they are and only one income, we won’t be able to get help on our own.
I have twin girls age 15 months. Since 6 months, one of them has woken up at minimum once a night and wouldn’t go back to sleep w/o breastfeeding. She is now mostly sleeping through the night, but her sister has taken up the reins of waking up and can be even harder to get back to sleep. Letting either one cry it out hasn’t been much of an option, as they wake the other. Napping is also all over the place and requires a car/stroller ride, or again breastfeeding. Obviously, this puts a lot of the work on me. I am at my wits end, quite literally. Am in so deep I can’t even put together a plan to try.
thanks for replying!! done 🙂
My son is six-weeks old. We’re trying to start early with good habits, but I don’t even know if it’s too early! Right now, we have no semblance of a routine, and the baby has colic, so he screams for several hours almost every night. He’s also being solely breastfed, so he does wake up during the night to eat. We’d really love to have some guidance on what to do to help our son sleep better (and us,too!).
I live in Berkeley, CA where the cult of attachment parenting is openly praised in the line at the organic, fair-trade co-op pizza shop! I was given a pile of Dr Sears books at my baby shower. I read them. I drank the Koolaid. Co-sleeping, baby wearing and my little guy still nurses to nap and can’t fall asleep unless I lay with him and nurse for an hour or more! Then he wakes me (and my husband) up 3-4 Times throughout the night to “snack”. 18 months later we have 3 people (mom, dad & very grumpy little boy) who desperately need some quality sleep. Don’t get me wrong, I think many of AP ideas are wonderful. They just no longer work for our family. All my crunchy, granola mom friends have been offering the empty platitude: “it will get easier”. It hasn’t. I am ready to come to the darkside!
Your sleep training posts have given me real hope. Thank you for writing so honestly and for bravely disregarding the narrow minded opinions of those people who feel that it’s OK judge other loving parents choices.
We are currently a one income family, so our monthly budget is really tight. Winning a consult would be a wonderful thing for our family..
My almost 3 year old is a nightmare to put to bed! She constantly stalls us and cries every single night. She doesn’t fall asleep until after 9 PM, wakes up through the night, and gets up for the day around 6 AM. Getting her to nap is difficult as well. We’re so tired!
First time mom trying to sleep train a very “spirited” 6 month old boy. Big issues right now are middle of the night wake-ups, inconsistent naps and the fact that I get hysterical if he cries for more than 10 minutes. Help!!
would live to win!!!
8 month old has slept they night maybe 2x total. goes to bed without problem but wakes up at least once a night. crying it out is rough. she wakes up 2 and 4 yr olds (who are in different rooms from her)
That is a very impressive list of sleep issues and entries! We have already profited from hearing about sleep training in your household. Bedtime is becoming more routine, though needs to be earlier. We have headed off nursing to sleep, though I stay in the room through a cycle of the seahorse music. Still waking at about three-hour intervals, though last night went back down with a little comfort and a round of seahorse music and company (no bottle, no nursing). It’s not so easy to know how to apply all of the sleep advice out there, so personalized advice is certainly a calling/mission that can change lives. 🙂
My 2.5 year old was a great sleeper until a couple months ago. Now bedtime is a struggle and she is up 1-3 times at night. I am exhausted and want my good sleeper back!!!!!
We have two boys and need some help! Our 4 month old is nowhere near sleeping through the night; he has acid reflux and still sleeps in his swing in our bedroom; and sometimes is totally awake and ready for the day at 4 a.m. Our 3 year old used to be a champion sleeper at night but is currently going through some kind of regression where he refuses to stay in his room when we put him to bed and then makes repeat appearances during the night and in the wee morning hours. Our goal is to get both kids sleeping through as much of the night as possible AND in the same room (at least eventually)! But we have no idea where to start!
I have an 11 month old who is still waking up every 2-3 hours every night and only wants me to nurse him. I feel like I have tried everything,read every book, every blog post and talked to all my mom friends and I still have no clue what to do. The other thing is when he was 4 months old he got a bad cold and ear infection and our pediatrician told us to have him sleep in his carseat. That worked great! So great infact that he is still sleeping in it now at 11 months old! He’s in his crib, in the car seat! Ha! And no matter what I try he will NOT sleep at all without it. My husband and I are at a loss and so very exhausted! He’s going to be a year old and we both know its time for things to change, but we aren’t sure how to go about it exactly. I need ERIN!!
We have a 13 month old and an almost 4 year old (she will be 4 in one week.) The 18 month old was an excellent sleeper when she was first born, until maybe about 6 months or so, she always only woke up once or twice a night, but her sleep has deteriorated so now getting her to sleep is a challenge and she does not seem physically able to skeep more than 3 hours at a stretch. Our 4 year old only has troulbe GOING to sleep, she will smetimes have multiple hour long tantrum at bedtime, AND she has been sleeping in our bed with me since she was about a year and a half when I started taking her to bed bc at that time she would only sleep in about 45 minute stretches if we put her in her crib and I was on the verge of a total meltdown due to lack of sleep. I am totally sleep deprived bc I work fulltime and end up catching up on work after both kids are asleep, usually between 9/9:30 or so until midnight, and then the baby usually wakes up now right before midnight and so I am spending about an hour, sometimes longer, trying to get her back to sleep and then I get to sleep around 2 and sleep until her next wakeup around 3 or 4, and then I have to be up by 5:45 for work, so I am averaging about 3-4 hours broken up until two segments. I am a zombie and the baby who used to be the happiest baby on the block is a crying mess and I can only imagine it has to do with sleep. We need help with both girl. Thanks for sharing your experience and for providing the link to your service provider. I am contacting her today.
I have a 2.5 year old who used to lay down in bed at 8PM and put herself to sleep, but since Christmas she won’t go to sleep unless we lay down in the room with her until she is completely out. To add insult to injury, she is pretty much up at 5AM no matter what time we put her to bed. We have tried moving bedtime forward and back, but nothing seems to work.
I also have a 10 month old that still insists on being rocked to sleep, then wakes up after about 3 hours and no amount of rocking or soothing will get him back to sleep. Our only way to survive is to pull him into bed with us, which while adorable isn’t sustainable.
We could use some help.