When did your co-sleeping LOs STTN on their own?

[PGTB]

Question to Co-sleeping BFing moms:

If you were co-sleeping with your infant babies, when did they actually start sleeping through the night on their own without any sleep training?

Did you end up having to sleep train? When did you do this and what method did you use with the co-sleeping baby? Did you continue co-sleeping or transition your LO to their own room/bed?

TIA!

[fumofu]

DS was about 3 months when he was STTN (2x 5.5 hr) and co-sleeping. That's when we transitioned him to his crib, where he stayed for 3 weeks. Then he started waking up more and more. He's 6 months now, cosleeping, and waking up every 2-3 hours for the past month. I nurse him back to sleep every time he wakes up. Grr... I keep telling myself, "This, too, shall pass."

A friend's DS was doing the same thing, but every time she unlatched him he cried until he latched back on. It got to the point where both parents and baby were not getting sleep and everyone was miserable. They decided to do sleep training. Knowing their DS's temperament, they decided to let him cry cold turkey without going in to check on him. He cried for 1 hr 45 min the first night. The second night onward he cried for 5 minutes then fell asleep. It's been about 2 weeks. This is their routine: Feeding solid, bath, nurse, rock for 5 minutes, then to the crib next to the parents' bed whether he's sleeping or awake. L would sleep for 6.5 hr, and wake up 1-2x when his mom would nurse him and put him to back in his crib.

[Kira's Mommy]

At around 9 months, after she started walking, she starting sleeping till 4:30 - 5 in her crib. At 5 I would take her to my bed and she'd nurse and fall asleep until 7.

Some days are still better than others. We still have nights when we co-sleep all night and she nurses all night (usually I can tell that something is bothering her but can't figure out what exactly). She also wakes up always always at 12am but I nurse her and put her back in her crib.

At 9 months I noticed a dramatic improvement in the way she fell asleep, slept and woke up. That's when I knew there was a light in the end of the tunnel:)

I don't plan on doing any major sleep training with her. I don't think it would suit us. She is outgrowing her sleep issues in a way that seems perfectly normal to me and I don't plan to interfere.

[brittone2]

Somewhere between 18 months and 2 years? Hard to say. I think they might have nursed 1x a night in the middle of the night up until close to 2?

I don't wake up all the way when nursing/cosleeping so it doesn't bother me that much.

DS1 and DD both moved into their own rooms right around age 3, and for us it was a gentle transition and they sleep great on their own now.

[Katigre]

It depends on what you mean by 'STTN'. Do you mean not having to get up with them at night? Then from the first few months - once I didn't have to change diapers at night, I didn't get up at all, just rolled over and latched them on every few hours. Our sleep cycles sync'd such that I would often stir and look at the clock and then a minute or two later the baby would stir to eat. Then I'd fall back asleep. Nursing laying down made this work well.

If you mean nightweaned completely and not nursing from 7pm-7am, then not until they were 2 (by my choice - I slowly encouraged them to taper down on night nursing after age 1).

[SnuggleBuggles]

We only co-slept for part of the nights (like 3-5am). Both wound up sleeping through the night when they self weaned between 17-19 months.

Beth

[Canna]

I'd say it happened very gradually and between about 18 months and 3 years. Gradually the amount of night nursing/waking decreased. Both DD's weaned on their own around 2.5 but one would still wake and come to our bed or call to us once a night up until about 3 years. After that they were both great sleepers. We transitioned DD#1 to a crib mattress on our floor, then to her own room and didn't do the same with DD#2 (different spaces in different house). We never had to sleep train. It seemed to happen naturally, gradually, and organically. I should maybe point out that at age 6 and 3, both prefer to be "parented to sleep" when possible. They like to have a parent lay down and cuddle with them for a few minutes before they go to sleep. The 6 year-old is easily able to fall asleep on her own (if one parent is out for the night, or if there's a sitter, etc.) but she's very cuddly and still loves that time.

[MeISOE]

For DS1 I would nurse down at night but he wouldn't sleep through until he was in his own bed. Admittedly we transitions him earlier than most people (at around 16 mo) on a whim but that was because he was walking at 9 mo and by 16 mo was certainly able to walk to our room and knew he could do it. We put him in a toddler bed one night (just to try it out) and it was the first time he slept through the night. Before that we tried to have him in the crib or at least put him in it each night initially but I am too lazy to get up and down so the first time he woke up he was in bed with me the rest of the night.

For DS2 he is still in the crib when he first goes down (after nursing). I think he views it as baby jail because when he wakes he doesn't make cute gurgle noises but instead screams bloody murder waking the whole house. For the past 2 months we have tried rocking him down, patting his back, etc. because I know he isn't hungry but usually by 2am (after 2-3 night wakings without being able to sooth himself) I give up and bring him to bed. In bed with me he sleeps well, eats around 5:30 consistently and goes back to bed. I will likely continue to do it this way until he reaches the same point his brother did and we can transition into a bed.

Baby jail makes my sons VERY angry. And I am a very tired mom who is more willing to let them snuggle in with me rather than suffer through any attempt to sleep train. I now miss snuggling with DS1 (now 3) so I'll take what I can get.

But I will add it is very difficult and I try to not talk about it with other moms. Most I know didn't co-sleep at all, many did not nurse, and pretty much all of them tell me their kids sleep through the night super early. I'm fairly convinced that many moms lie about the sleep thing to save face and/or not feel like a bad mom, but in reality feel worse because no one is willing to admit their kids are crappy sleepers.

My kids are crappy sleepers!

Off my soap box and hope at least one sentence in this cathartic release (for me) helps you or someone else out. :blahblah:

[MommyAllison]

Ours didn't really sleep through before we started transitioning them to their own beds. With both, we stopped nursing in the middle of the night around their second birthday, and they started staying all night in their own beds after that. (Prior to nightweaning, they would nurse to sleep in their bed, then come into ours in the middle of the night) DD stopped coming to our bed after nightweaning, but DS still came in, even though he wasn't asking to nurse. He just started staying in his own bed all night about 6 weeks ago.

[PGTB]

Thank you for all your helpful replies!

I am glad to read some of you had success transitioning DC into their own beds/rooms before the age of 2.

I hope this would be the case for us as well. Currently, we are still co-sleeping, and since we don't have the option of a second bedroom for DS yet, we aren't sure what else to do. DS will not accept crib of any kind or configuration, he only can fall asleep on our bed or his stroller. He maybe one of those kids who would have to go to a toddler bed right away or a mattress on the floor. :confused: I noticed DS started to nurse less at night now, in terms of the amount of time each nursing session lasts. He still wakes up roughtly every 2 hours. But now, he is crying/moaning instead of searching for the nipple, like he is trying to get relief and settle himself down.

[chottumommy]

We co-slept with DS from day 1. We tried sleep training at 8 months but he became so aggressive we stopped. Then at 18 months, we transitioned him to his own twin bed, no fuss, no tears nothing. He was very happy to sleep in his own bed. We still got him to our bed when he woke up (between 1-3) and I would nurse him to sleep.

Now at about 26 months, somedays he STTN or if he wakes up he comes to our bed on his own, climbs up and sleeps in between. Most nights, DH and I don't even wake up when he comes. He was weaned at 23 months.