Anyone want to join me in the NCSS 10 day sleep plan challenge? - Page 5

[bartleby]

leomom--Thank you. I have wondered if my daughter is too young for NCSS, but the book does appear to include from birth on up, so I guess I just thought it was worth a try. I like your idea. I can probably do OCD, as long as I'm awake enough to keep track!

I have to say that what is haunting me from the NCSS book is something the author said about trying to transition your child away from needing rocking/bouncing/in-arms to sleep unless you want to still be rocking/bouncing/etc. a two-year-old. Is that really true? If so, then that's what's driving me to try weaning my daughter from needing movement to sleep. Well, that and me being so darn tired all the time!

[PancakeGoddess]

personally, I think (and the book says) if you're happy touching your baby to sleep, via nursing or rocking or whatever, you should do that. For that matter, although 2yo sounds so old and so far off, rocking a 2yo to sleep isn't the end of the world either! In the scheme of life, it is NOT that long.

That said, you can break a rocking or nursing to sleep habit at any age, and personally I think it would be waaaay harder to do it and maintain it with a baby under 18 mos. If you have to woh or some other thing, that's one thing, but for my two older boys, night weaning at 2 was not too hard, and from that point on they could go to sleep without nursing or rocking. (DH could sling them to sleep at any age.)

I really love the NCSS book for its recommendations about routine, comfort objects, etc. It has made it way easier for this third baby to get to sleep quickly - he knows what all the "cues" are, so when he's nursing with me on the couch in front of hte tv it's just nursing, but when we're in our spot with his blanket and the lights are low, he closes his eyes. lovely!

[A&L+1]

We had/have a movement loving baby here. She has been bounced or rocked to sleep since day one. We are trying to “wean” from this gently and here’s what we are trying: We cuddle and rock Eleanor until she is sleepy but not asleep and then we put her in her crib awake. If she cries or fusses we immediately pick her up and cuddle her but as soon as she settles we try to put her down again and just sing or pat her back. Last night she did need to be picked up several times before she would settle into her crib. I just sang to her, patted her back, and/or kept my hand on her and eventually she figure it out and went to sleep. So here’s how it broke down:

7:30 asleep in crib
woke at 12:20, asleep in crib again at 12:30 or so
woke at 4:00, nursed in my bed (we both fell asleep) then moved to crib at 5:00
up for the day at 7:00

Before it was

7:00 rocked to sleep and in crib at 7:30
woke at 8, 8:40, 9:20, 10:30, 1:10 all rocked back to sleep
woke at 3:45, nursed in my bed, rocked to sleep and then back in crib
up at 7:00

I am shocked by the improvement in the first block of sleeping! It was the many many wakings during the evenings that was so frustrating and motivated us to try to track how she sleeps and make some changes. I really think that our success so far is to do with putting her down before she is asleep. Now she seems to understand that we will come to her if she needs us but that she doesn't really need us to rock her to sleep.

Mamameg – Hey there, email or PM about the zoo, wanna go? Good to hear that you are feeling some hope about sleep! Let's compare notes.

[bartleby]

Hey, that sounds kind of like my little girl! It's encouraging to see the improvement in your daughter's sleep patterns. I have high hopes. I think what deters us is that the second we put her down in her crib when she is drifting off, she wakes right up and cries instantly. I am realizing that change will probably be reeeally gradual! (BTW, I love the name Eleanor. It was #2 on our baby-name list!)

So, I'm truly wondering about what I am hearing from some women in my mothers group. I'm not close with any of them, so I don't feel comfortable asking, but several of them say that they can put their babies down awake and they sleep for seven hours straight! And these are 4-5 months olds we're talking about. Is this really possible with some babies? Or is it likely that they've been sleep trained in some way? I must say that when one woman said that at our last group (right after I'd shared that my babe had woken up like 8 times the night before), I had to suppress shock and envy.

[leomom]

Bartleby, IMHO those moms are full of it. I know a baby who does sleep 12 hours stretches at 7 months, but she also went through about a month of CIO! I'm sure there are exceptions and that some babies can sleep long stretches and be laid down to sleep without any training, but they are the EXCEPTION- not the rule.

Don't worry about the bouncing/rocking thing. Pantely suggests varying the way you put them to sleep: nursing, swinging, bouncing, rocking, etc. I would try that if you're worried. But I think it will all come together.

[mamameg]

Hey there! Checking in on our progress. Last night was great!

Asleep in crib, 7:30
woke 8:15 (DH rocked her back down within 10 min or so )
woke 2:45, nurse/rock, back in crib 3:05
woke 6:15, nursed/dozed in bed with me until we got up at 7:20

Our night used ot be very much like Lisa and Elanor's nights, averaging 5-6 wakings per night. UGH. I can hardly believe it has been this easy and that things are SO MUCH BETTER in such a short period of time (approx 3 weeks). I do think that at 10 months, DD was/is really ready for it. I sometimes think, "why did I wait so long to try this?", but then I think that it might not have gone so well if I had tried it earlier. Oh, whatever... I'll never know, I guess.

bartleby - just go slow. Your babe is so young and I can't imagine my DD going for any of this pop-ff or rubbing/patting nonsense when she was just a few months old. Just stick with it, take small steps and I'm sure you will see progress soon. You're doing great!

And Hi LISA! The zoo??? Wiht nugget, too? I'm so in. PM'ing you now.

[dianna11]

Originally Posted by leomom

Bartleby, IMHO those moms are full of it. I know a baby who does sleep 12 hours stretches at 7 months, but she also went through about a month of CIO! I'm sure there are exceptions and that some babies can sleep long stretches and be laid down to sleep without any training, but they are the EXCEPTION- not the rule.

Uhm yeah. My DD sleeps 6-8 hour stretches almost every night, she's 4 months old and we've never 'sleep trained' or CIO. We have been working with the NCSS, but DD is just a good sleeper. She screams like she's on fire for a good few hours during the day, but she's always slept well.

I'm not "full of it" thanx

SO yes, it is possible and this book is very helpful.

[leomom]

Originally Posted by dianna11

Uhm yeah. My DD sleeps 6-8 hour stretches almost every night, she's 4 months old and we've never 'sleep trained' or CIO. We have been working with the NCSS, but DD is just a good sleeper. She screams like she's on fire for a good few hours during the day, but she's always slept well.

I didn't mean that it isn't possible. I meant that when I'm in a plygroup full of Mamas that say their babies are sleeping through the night, I don't believe it. Maybe I'm wrong. In any case, my comment certainly wasn't meant to offend, it was meant to encourage another Mama and help her to not stress about comparing to other babies.

Sorry if I offended you dianna.

[dianna11]

Originally Posted by leomom

I didn't mean that it isn't possible. I meant that when I'm in a plygroup full of Mamas that say their babies are sleeping through the night, I don't believe it. Maybe I'm wrong. In any case, my comment certainly wasn't meant to offend, it was meant to encourage another Mama and help her to not stress about comparing to other babies.

Sorry if I offended you dianna.

No worries , I see your point about a room full of moms saying that their babies sleep 8 hours is a *bit* of a stretch, to say the least. I know how hard it is to feel like you have the 'odd baby out' in a moms group. DD has the loudest and most persistent cry most people have ever heard and will go from 0 to meltdown with no warning. All of the other babies have these soft little lamb cries and rarely use them. I have to leave the room with her because you cna't hear yourself talk (or even yell) over top of her ungodly screeches :

Take heart though ladies, the NCSS has worked beautifully for us - with a few tweakings to account for her particular habits. A month ago, she wouldn't sleep longer than 3 hour stretches - it does get better!

[bartleby]

Oh, I also did not mean to imply that all babies who sleep long stretches at night are necessarily sleep trained. Heck, my babe slept pretty well for the first four months of her life; then, it all went downhill.

Dianna, I too have/had the "odd baby out" at groups (aside from the no-sleeping issue). When I went to my first moms group, when my daughter was about two months old, she was the only one who cried for most of it. I was the only mother walking around the room the whole time, trying to calm my baby. I felt like such a loser. (And, of course, I questioned my parenting.)

I'm so glad so many of you are finding success with NCSS. I think we're going to hold off for now on any major attempts to modify sleep patterns--for one, we're going on vacation in a couple of weeks; for another, I think I can deal with the way things are now for a while longer. Thanks, all, for your tips and encouragement!

[A&L+1]

Just reporting on yesterday because this is going so much better than we expected:

naps, two total, one for 1.5 hours and one for 2.25 hours!!!

in bed by 7:30 after her regular routine, asleep after 20 minutes of my hand on her back
up at 10:20 (we made noise going to bed), asleep with pacifier and hand on back within a few minutes
up at 12:30, screaming and chewing on EVERYTHING, gave homoepathic teething drops and then tylenol and she was asleep again at 1:15
Up to nurse at 6:05, back in bed by 6:30, slept until 7:15

I think she was just so ready for this and that's why it is working so well! Despite the obvious discomfort at 12:30 last night she really just wanted some comfort (and pain relief) and then she was ready to sleep again.

I am amazed.

[mamameg]

Way to go Eleanor! That's so great, Lisa. Her naps are awesome, too! We were making some progress with naps (she was finally sleeping for about an hour in the morning and again in the afternoon), but we seem to have gone back to 30 minutes in the AM, 30 minutes in the PM. Oh well. With the nights being so much better, the short naps aren't as much of an issue.

We had an awesome night last night!

Alseep in crib by 8:00
woke 11:45, nursed, back in crib by 12:05
woke at 6:15 for the day

Yes folks, you read that right. She woke up ONCE and only once. Let me echo Lisa's sentiments.... I am amazed.

[leomom]

Wow, congratulations Mamas!!!

[Mama Bear]

We too had a good night. Ds went to bed at 9pm. Woke at 2am - nursed him - went right back to sleep - up at 6am - nursed back to sleep - up for day at 9 am. I am surprised that he slept from 9pm until 2am. He almost always gets up around 11pm - but not last night. He's going back and forth between getting up 1 or 2 times, but thankfully he always falls right back to sleep after he nurses.

[Maggie Mae]

Holy cow, it really does work! I'm so glad to read your success stories - especially Lisa and Megan (thanks for the heads-up about this thread, Megan).

We haven't started in earnest yet, but already things are getting better. Naps especially. The norm is now 2 good naps at day - at least an hour each - and today it was 90 min and the 2hrs.

I'm wondering if any of you cosleep? We do, and want to continue, but I have a hunch we're responsible for at least some of the nightwakings... any ideas?

Glad to have found you!

[Tangle]

Glad to see successes

Hi there,

I'm so heartend to see some successes. We have been having a difficult time and things seem worse right now instead of better!! Alsyon is teething like mad and wakes up even earlier than normal crying and fussing. She nursed all night (okay it felt like ALL NIGHT) the past two nights!! I'm sure it doesn't help that I have returned to work part-time and she spent most of Monday and Wednesday with a nanny. I'm working from home so I still see her several times a day and come in the room when she ramps up the crying.

Current problem- She won't nap without one of the following- nursing, being in car, or being in stoller. This is pretty inconvenient for the nanny. While I can nurse her down right now, there will be days that I have to go to work. I'm not ready to let nanny drive her around and how many walks can they take a day????

HELP!!! And keep the positive stories coming.

Sleepless in Sacramento!

[Mama Bear]

Update

So for the past few weeks, we've been trying to establish somewhat of a bedtime routine. I turn the lights really dim in ds room. I change him into his pj's and diaper him for the night. Then, I hold him in my arms and I sing to him and we 'dance'. Then I lay him down in his crib and, with my dh, we all three pray together. Then I turn on a lullaby cd, give him a kiss and leave the room. Sometimes, he gets fussy and I try to feed him again and then he goes right to sleep. Other times, he falls asleep with his paci.
So for the past two nights - he's SLEPT THROUGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (1am - 8:30am Tuesday night and 11pm - 8am last night) I don't know if it will continue, but it is nice. Actually I think my body doesn't know what to do with the sleep :LOL
(BTW - he turned 7 mths old on April 4)