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Was your baby/infant/toddler a bad or good sleeper? What was their sleep like and what do you attribute it to? Was it anything you did or didnt do?
Just trying to prep for #2 since #1 was a horrible sleeper until age 3 and I am afraid we will get another one exactly the same! Looking for advice, tips on how to get them to sleep through the night and nap normally (without having to rock, etc etc)
People whose babies were good sleepers will attribute that to their great parenting skills.
People whose babies were terrible sleepers will say they were just born that way!
I got lucky and had three good sleepers. If I was going to pat myself on the back for making them good sleepers (which I am not), I'd say that I did the following:
--Tried very hard to keep them awake for a while after they ate (very difficult with newborns, but we kept trying and it got easier). I never intentionally nursed them to sleep, but tried to put them down to sleep still awake.
--Gave them a pacifier and/or a lovey (blanket, stuffed toy) only at naptime and bedtime.
--Did not cosleep or have the bassinet in my room. I know many people swear by this and it works for them, but it didn't work for me. When we were in the same room, we constantly woke each other up.
--Kept middle-of-the-night feedings as short and boring as possible. No lights, no rocking, no singing, just eat and go back to sleep.
--Tried very hard to keep naptimes and bedtimes consistent from day to day, week to week. I found that trying to make the baby "flexible" about these things really didn't work during the first two years. This meant that sometimes we skipped fun afternoon activities or came home early from events. That sucked but it was temporary.
I think its just how they are born, really. But I think there is a weird drive to deprive them of comfort at sleep to "train" them. I just don't agree with that.
My son was a dream sleeper. He did wake up once a night to eat, but stopped when we took him off the bottle at 12 months. Would have 3 hour naps every day. But now as a tween, he is a nightmare sleeper because he can sleep forever! We have to keep him on a really tight sleep schedule so he can get 12 hours a night. And sometimes that isn't enough! And I have to bribe him to get him moving at all! Makes me insane!
My daughter was a nightmare sleeper...she was ok if she was being held or in bed with us. She was a terrible napper. Being the youngest, I really needed her to nap! Now as a tween, she is an average sleeper. She gets up and is in a good mood in the morning. We call her our happy little rooster because she is up first and in a good mood.
Thanks Saibot - that is very good advice and no CIO!
I will for sure try those - hopefully they work. With my first born it got so bad we started co-sleeping just so I could survive. Hoping to avoid that this time as he is still in our bed :/
People whose babies were good sleepers will attribute that to their great parenting skills.
People whose babies were terrible sleepers will say they were just born that way!
I got lucky and had three good sleepers. If I was going to pat myself on the back for making them good sleepers (which I am not), I'd say that I did the following:
--Tried very hard to keep them awake for a while after they ate (very difficult with newborns, but we kept trying and it got easier). I never intentionally nursed them to sleep, but tried to put them down to sleep still awake.
--Gave them a pacifier and/or a lovey (blanket, stuffed toy) only at naptime and bedtime.
--Did not cosleep or have the bassinet in my room. I know many people swear by this and it works for them, but it didn't work for me. When we were in the same room, we constantly woke each other up.
--Kept middle-of-the-night feedings as short and boring as possible. No lights, no rocking, no singing, just eat and go back to sleep.
--Tried very hard to keep naptimes and bedtimes consistent from day to day, week to week. I found that trying to make the baby "flexible" about these things really didn't work during the first two years. This meant that sometimes we skipped fun afternoon activities or came home early from events. That sucked but it was temporary.
I stuck a bottle in my kids face and held it, then passed out. LOL. I had a friend who was complaining about her daughter being really wakeful after feeding at night. It turns out the mom would get up and feed her while she watched TV, got a snack, etc. Of course her baby was wide awake after that!
Thanks Saibot - that is very good advice and no CIO!
I will for sure try those - hopefully they work. With my first born it got so bad we started co-sleeping just so I could survive. Hoping to avoid that this time as he is still in our bed :/
How old?
We had to see a sleep doctor and she said co-sleeping was 100% ok as long as it worked for everyone. Because of a sleep disorder, we have to have our son in our room...at least for now. I bought a $40 cot on amazon and he happily moves to it at night. It might be a good step down from in bed sleeping.
Thanks Saibot - that is very good advice and no CIO!
Yeah, I didn't do CIO. When they woke up at night, I picked them up and fed them. But I kept it boring. And at some point they just started sleeping through the night.
I'm not going to be self-righteous here. If they had kept waking up at night for years, I would probably have eventually tried some kind of CIO. But it never got to the point that I was desperate.
I'm not going to be self-righteous here. If they had kept waking up at night for years, I would probably have eventually tried some kind of CIO. But it never got to the point that I was desperate.
We did get desperate and attempted CIo once or twice, but it didn't work for our high strung kid haha. Aside form still co-sleeping, he is a great sleeper now and all around very healthy, good kid. But I cant go through that with another... it will simply not be possible to devote 100% attention.
Ours was a great sleeper from the day we brought him home. We had to wake him up to eat. However he's always been wide awake at 5 am and kicked the naps at 15 months. But he will sleep 730-5 without any issue so we chalk it up as a win.
He can go to bed at 11 and gets up at 5 or he goes to bed at 730 and gets up at 5. We've played with the timing but it's just how he is I guess...and he's 6 now and still doing this.
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