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Originally Posted by NiteNicole  Yes, yes, yes! My daughter was a TERRIBLE sleeper until she was three or so. It was awful and I was so tired. She was also one who would cry until she gagged and threw up so CIO was never an option (also, I just couldn't). I FINALLY read Sleepless in America - it was possibly the only sleep book I hadn't read and I just didn't have the energy to tackle another book telling me what I already knew (scientific stuff about sleep and statistics) and presenting one of two methods I already KNEW I couldn't live with (suck it up or cry it out) so I was not really expecting any answers but it helped SO much. I finally GOT IT. It's not just about a bedtime routine, some kids need a good night's sleep to start in the morning - getting up at the same time, having a predictable flow to the day with the right foods and the right activties at the right times. It sounds complicated, but once I got our days worked out, the bedtime horror and night wakings took care of themselves.
One of the hardest things for me was waking her up. I knew that if she had a rare good day and night, her natural waking time was around 7.30. After a bad night, if she would sleep late it was SO tempting to just LET HER and try to catch up, but I had to start waking her up.
I think it also helps if you give yourself time to work out what you want to do, how you're going to do it, and then get someone to help with the night parenting (or ask someone to come over so you can nap) for a few day so you can be well rested and committed to your new plan, as well as calm when you hit a crisis. It's so easy, or it was for me, to just give up when something didn't "work" the first time...or in the first few days. I wanted results RIGHT NOW. It took a week or two for us to really see a big change, but we did work the bugs out.
If you can muster up the energy to read one more book (and I didn't even have to read the whole thing, a lot of it did not apply to us), Sleepless in America is the one!
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Wow, you might have found our problem! I let our 2.5 year old sleep until whenever, thinking he needs it, but maybe he just needs routines. This book is at the library. I will be too, checking it out
