Sleep training at 9 months. Is it possible?
I've tried many ways to sleep train Teddy and have failed every single time! At 5 months old he went into his own bed, in his own room and although he wasn't sleeping through the night, he was sleeping a good 5 hours straight and going down at 7pm. When he would wake up, I would bring him into bed with me and he would usually fall asleep whilst feeding. This worked for us for a while, but then at the end of May our house flooded. We were out of our house, without a travel cot for Teddy so he was back to sleeping in bed with me. Since July Teddy has been starting off in his bed, but then waking up 2 hours later, just as I'm going to bed. As he was waking up at this time, I would bring him into bed with me to feed him and we would both fall asleep.
My parents went away last week and over the weekend Teddy's daddy stayed. This is where I started to realise that co-sleeping was beginning to be an issue. We have been taking things slowly, so he will be staying and mine, and we will be staying at his more. Teddy started in his bed, but when he woke up, we brought him in with us and there were 3 of us sharing a bed. The issue was Billy moves around lots in the night and has never shared a bed with Teddy so we weren't sure how it would work. He was getting a bad nights sleep and so was I because Teddy was waking up more often than normal as he wasn't used to sleeping with 2 other people in bed.
I wanted to start sleep training, but had no idea where to start, so I joined a sleep training group on Facebook for some advice. I was looking through their files and saw one called the 3 day sleep solution. After reading it, I decided this would be what I followed to sleep train Teddy. We have changed and adapted it to suit us, but it's working really well so far and in my opinion it's the best sleep training solution I've found.
It says to start the bedtime routine at 5, so I give Teddy some solid foods- although he's been off food for the last few days as he isn't very well. While I'm feeding Teddy, my mum will start to run a bath for him. We take it in turns, so one night she sits with him while he eats and I run his bath and get everything ready for bed, and then the other night I will sit with him. After he has eaten and had a good old splash around in the bath, it's then time for jammies. After he is ready for bed, at around 5:45, I feed him for the night. Sometimes it's a bottle as I'm hoping he will sleep through with it, but the majority of the times he's breastfed. At 6pm he is put into bed. That's what the 3 day sleep solution says to do, so we follow it! He usually cries when he goes down as he doesn't want to go to bed, but after 5 days he is falling asleep within 10 minutes of being put down! This is where we've changed it slightly to suit us. The sleep solution says to check on your baby after an hour, if they're still crying, but I didn't have the heart to leave Teddy that long, so I checked on him after 30 minutes. This gave him enough time to realise (after the first 2 days) that it was time to go to sleep and made me feel better as I didn't want him to think I was abandoning him if he was left for an hour.
The first night, I was still reading how to sleep train with this method, so my mum went in after 15 minutes and laid him back down and patted his back. She repeated this for just over an hour and then he finally given in and fallen asleep. He did wake up around 10 but fell asleep within the half an hour. He woke up around 4 in the morning and cried for half an hour. I went in and comforted him and he fell back asleep. Me on the other hand was then awake for an hour!
The second night was slightly easier. We followed the routine again and at 6 put him in his bed. He cried and cried but I waited out the 30 minutes and then went in to comfort him. He calmed down instantly as he realised I was still going to come to him, but then cried again as I left the room. This round of crying happened for 15 minutes and then silence. He had fallen asleep but yet again woke up at 10, and fell asleep within the 30 minutes. He woke up during the night and fussed for a little before falling back asleep without my help!
The third night was slightly different as we had been to the doctors during the day as Teddy wasn't himself. He has oral thrush and a viral infection and was struggling to stay awake at 5 so I decided to put him to bed earlier than the routine said. He fell asleep within the 30 minutes but as his old routine would have it, he was up at 10 and being ill, I felt bad about him being alone so I brought him in with me as I felt bad that he wasn't very well and probably just wanted his mama to comfort him. This was a big mistake as he then was wide awake thinking it was play time. After an hour of trying to settle him back down, multiple times feeding him and giving him cuddles, I put him back in his own bed. He cried for 5 minutes but was then asleep. This night he fussed for a little while, but yet again fell asleep without my help.
The fourth night came and by now he was used to this routine, although he still wasn't eating food. We got ready for bed and had lots of cuddles as Teddy was really poorly. He fed multiple times during the hour and then just before 6 he went down into bed. He cried for around 10 minutes and then was asleep. I was amazed! He did fuss a little during the night, but I mean maybe 2 minutes. I was up for over an hour and a half after he fussed. My mum set an alarm for half 6 and went to check on him. She said he was just laying there, happy and content, which made a big difference from how he has been waking up!
Last night he breastfed and then I ran him a bath. He had a bath and got ready for bed, then was taken downstairs for cuddles and another feed. After he had fed, I took him to his room and he started to cry just as I was about to put him down. Babies are crafty and he didn't want to go to bed so he cried, but I put him down and walked away. Within 5 minutes he was asleep! I even went into his room to plug in a vapour nightlight which made a little noise, and he didn't wake. He did wake up just after 9 as we were getting ready for bed and wouldn't stop crying, so he came into bed with me and spent the night in my bed. We were up most of the night with Teddy coughing and crying and then up at 5:30, but we stayed in bed and cuddled until gone 6. He wouldn't have slept in my bed, but he got so worked up that he would have a coughing fit and then cry because he coughed so much.
The 3 day sleep solution outlines and explains the sleep process so simply, that it makes total sense as to why a baby cries when they go down for bed. 100% take a read as it simplifies sleep training, and gives easy explanations. It also says that a baby who goes down to bed at 6pm, shouldn't be removed from their bed until 6am. This gives their internal clock a beginning and end time. If your baby stays asleep well past 6am then leave them to sleep, but DO NOT remove your baby until 6am!
My parents went away last week and over the weekend Teddy's daddy stayed. This is where I started to realise that co-sleeping was beginning to be an issue. We have been taking things slowly, so he will be staying and mine, and we will be staying at his more. Teddy started in his bed, but when he woke up, we brought him in with us and there were 3 of us sharing a bed. The issue was Billy moves around lots in the night and has never shared a bed with Teddy so we weren't sure how it would work. He was getting a bad nights sleep and so was I because Teddy was waking up more often than normal as he wasn't used to sleeping with 2 other people in bed.
I wanted to start sleep training, but had no idea where to start, so I joined a sleep training group on Facebook for some advice. I was looking through their files and saw one called the 3 day sleep solution. After reading it, I decided this would be what I followed to sleep train Teddy. We have changed and adapted it to suit us, but it's working really well so far and in my opinion it's the best sleep training solution I've found.
It says to start the bedtime routine at 5, so I give Teddy some solid foods- although he's been off food for the last few days as he isn't very well. While I'm feeding Teddy, my mum will start to run a bath for him. We take it in turns, so one night she sits with him while he eats and I run his bath and get everything ready for bed, and then the other night I will sit with him. After he has eaten and had a good old splash around in the bath, it's then time for jammies. After he is ready for bed, at around 5:45, I feed him for the night. Sometimes it's a bottle as I'm hoping he will sleep through with it, but the majority of the times he's breastfed. At 6pm he is put into bed. That's what the 3 day sleep solution says to do, so we follow it! He usually cries when he goes down as he doesn't want to go to bed, but after 5 days he is falling asleep within 10 minutes of being put down! This is where we've changed it slightly to suit us. The sleep solution says to check on your baby after an hour, if they're still crying, but I didn't have the heart to leave Teddy that long, so I checked on him after 30 minutes. This gave him enough time to realise (after the first 2 days) that it was time to go to sleep and made me feel better as I didn't want him to think I was abandoning him if he was left for an hour.
The first night, I was still reading how to sleep train with this method, so my mum went in after 15 minutes and laid him back down and patted his back. She repeated this for just over an hour and then he finally given in and fallen asleep. He did wake up around 10 but fell asleep within the half an hour. He woke up around 4 in the morning and cried for half an hour. I went in and comforted him and he fell back asleep. Me on the other hand was then awake for an hour!
The second night was slightly easier. We followed the routine again and at 6 put him in his bed. He cried and cried but I waited out the 30 minutes and then went in to comfort him. He calmed down instantly as he realised I was still going to come to him, but then cried again as I left the room. This round of crying happened for 15 minutes and then silence. He had fallen asleep but yet again woke up at 10, and fell asleep within the 30 minutes. He woke up during the night and fussed for a little before falling back asleep without my help!
The third night was slightly different as we had been to the doctors during the day as Teddy wasn't himself. He has oral thrush and a viral infection and was struggling to stay awake at 5 so I decided to put him to bed earlier than the routine said. He fell asleep within the 30 minutes but as his old routine would have it, he was up at 10 and being ill, I felt bad about him being alone so I brought him in with me as I felt bad that he wasn't very well and probably just wanted his mama to comfort him. This was a big mistake as he then was wide awake thinking it was play time. After an hour of trying to settle him back down, multiple times feeding him and giving him cuddles, I put him back in his own bed. He cried for 5 minutes but was then asleep. This night he fussed for a little while, but yet again fell asleep without my help.
The fourth night came and by now he was used to this routine, although he still wasn't eating food. We got ready for bed and had lots of cuddles as Teddy was really poorly. He fed multiple times during the hour and then just before 6 he went down into bed. He cried for around 10 minutes and then was asleep. I was amazed! He did fuss a little during the night, but I mean maybe 2 minutes. I was up for over an hour and a half after he fussed. My mum set an alarm for half 6 and went to check on him. She said he was just laying there, happy and content, which made a big difference from how he has been waking up!
Last night he breastfed and then I ran him a bath. He had a bath and got ready for bed, then was taken downstairs for cuddles and another feed. After he had fed, I took him to his room and he started to cry just as I was about to put him down. Babies are crafty and he didn't want to go to bed so he cried, but I put him down and walked away. Within 5 minutes he was asleep! I even went into his room to plug in a vapour nightlight which made a little noise, and he didn't wake. He did wake up just after 9 as we were getting ready for bed and wouldn't stop crying, so he came into bed with me and spent the night in my bed. We were up most of the night with Teddy coughing and crying and then up at 5:30, but we stayed in bed and cuddled until gone 6. He wouldn't have slept in my bed, but he got so worked up that he would have a coughing fit and then cry because he coughed so much.
The 3 day sleep solution outlines and explains the sleep process so simply, that it makes total sense as to why a baby cries when they go down for bed. 100% take a read as it simplifies sleep training, and gives easy explanations. It also says that a baby who goes down to bed at 6pm, shouldn't be removed from their bed until 6am. This gives their internal clock a beginning and end time. If your baby stays asleep well past 6am then leave them to sleep, but DO NOT remove your baby until 6am!
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