co-sleepers and bed-sharers - did you do any sleep training? If so, how?

[momm]

We bed-share, and my 6 mo. old has these nights where he wakes up often. Some nights he sleeps a few hours at a stretch.

It doesn't bother me too much, but I am afraid that it will impact him if he doesn't sleep through the night/ get enough unbroken sleep.

All the sleep training books of course deal with babies sleeping in cribs.

Have you co-sleepers/ bed-sharers sleep trained/ read any good books on sleep training/ helping your LOs sleep through the night?

[daisymommy]

Nope, I really don't believe in it before the age of 1, and even then no CIO (cry-it-out). By then my babies were sleeping through the night (at about 10 months) and at 1 we put them to bed in their cribs and they transitioned great, no problems.

It did take awhile to get DS to understand the idea of naps though, LOL! We helped him out with The No Cry Sleep Solution, but I don't really consider that sleep training. Maybe others do though?

[sunnyside]

My girl is 8 months and cosleeps and wakes a couple of times a night to nurse. It's normal.

Does your child have trouble falling back asleep?

[momm]

My girl is 8 months and cosleeps and wakes a couple of times a night to nurse. It's normal.

Does your child have trouble falling back asleep?

No, I wouldn't mind the nursing at all.

He wakes up crying (screaming) a few times a night, only some nights. I have no idea why. I soothe him/ pat him and he sleeps off again in hardly a few minutes. I can't figure out why. he doesn't seem hungry, or wet enough to scream.

[kedss]

it could be teething, my son was a quiet teether, maybe he wakes up when it really bothers him?

[sunnyside]

Hmm, my baby did that once or twice even though she cosleeps. I am sorry. That must be very challenging. I know that it was upsetting to me when it happened. I wish I had advice, but I don't know. I hope someone has some great advice!

[ThreeofUs]

It's probably a developmental phase for your little guy. We co-sleep and find it's a lot easier to manage a situation (from nightmare to sickness) and for everyone to get back to sleep in one bed.

We also read most of the sleep books out there. No Cry Sleep Solution was one of the best.

[PGTB]

We actually started co-sleeping when no other methods seemed to work. we didn't intend to do this from the get-go.

So, yes, we tried some sleep training, but not much. We all slept in one room - we only have one-bedroom, so sort of co-sleeping, but DS was in his crib.

When we tried Ferber, DS was about 5 months (it was out of necessity because he refused to sleep and would be up for most of the night and really dangerously sleep deprived). DS took well to Ferber, he didn't cry that much (longest was 30 min on first night) and it took 2-3 nights total with him starting to fall asleep on his own. Unfortunately this didn't last, we travelled and his schedule got disrupted, then grandma visited and started holding him before bed again. So, we had to repeat, but we didn't want to do CIO at that point because he was going through milestones and we felt like he needed the calories from nursing at night, I WOH and he was reverse cycling. We tried to attack the problem by nightweaning, the goal was to have DS take more milk during the day, he wasn't eating much solid then, but there was pumped milk and he wasn't drinking much either. I slept in the living room for a week with DH soothing DS at night - so not a CIO technically and he was not left alone. Actually, this is what lead to co-sleeping. DH would put DS into our bed and this was the only way he would go back to sleep and without nursing. DS went into his crib afterwards and slept for a few nights better. But then he fell sick and I had to nurse him again, at that point I was very sick myself and the only way I could physically endure this is to sleep with DS in one bed. So, we started co-sleeping officially. I found this much easier and DS didn't cry anymore and bedtime routine was easier too, so this stuck.

DS started to resist the crib at around 8 months very strongly and we struggled putting him there. He just screamed and hated to be confined. I don't think we will use the crib with him, this would have to be something else, like mattress on the floor to get him out of our bed when he is ready.

He is currently still nursing 2-3 times a night, but we are increasing his intake of solids calories (butter, oil) since he is underweight, so once he gains enough weight, I am sure he will sleep longer too - especially after he starts walking and most of his teeth come out. At least keeping my fingers crossed.

[Katigre]

First, a bit about 'unbroken sleep'. Everyone wakes up during the night - as you go through sleep cycles, you move through deep sleep and light sleep, and most people also awaken momentarily to stir and readjust. Babies sometimes wake up just enoguh to get their pacifier back in and then drift back to sleep, babies who CIO sometimes cry in their cribs in the middle of the night between sleep cycles, babies who cosleep often nurse between sleep cycles. Having full sleep cycles that are interspersed with a brief wake-up to nurse (which isn't fully waking up with the lights on to play - just stirring and falling right back to sleep) is normal, ok, and not problematic from a health standpoint. As an adult with a newborn, I felt fully rested if I was only awoken after a full sleep cycle, latched baby on, and fell back asleep. I felt wretchedly overtired if I had to wake up without a full cycle completion, or had to turn on lights/get out of bed.

Where it gets difficult is if your child isn't having full sleep cycles or is getting WIDE AWAKE in the middle of the night. At least in our case, neither of our kids did that except if they were sick or having hardcore teething. Their pattern instead was to sleep through the night but nurse intermittently as they moved into different sleep cycles - much like a baby wakes to eat from hunger or pacifier (or both).

Which of the scenarios above is your baby doing? If it's the 'full sleep but nursing' then no worries about unbroken sleep. If it's too frequent then you can try spacing out night nursing and soothing them back to sleep via other means, or try having them sleep in a crib and see if they do better in their own space (some babies do).

[momm]

hi, thank you all for your input.

katigre - it's crying in his sleep, the nights that are tough. He screams - not fully awake - and calms down when I pat him etc. I'ts confusing to say the least.

[PGTB]

hi, thank you all for your input.

katigre - it's crying in his sleep, the nights that are tough. He screams - not fully awake - and calms down when I pat him etc. I'ts confusing to say the least.

DS does this too sometimes, maybe it's nightmares? or pain from teething or stomach gas? DS has painful gas sometimes or when he tries to poop and is constipated he would cry. Sometimes, I just think it's nightmares if he just needs reassurance and pat on the back.

[fumofu]

I started writing that DS is going through the same thing, and on cue DS started crying and I had to go upstairs to nurse him in our bed. He's not completely awake (he cries with his eyes closed). I quickly run upstairs, latch him on, and he settles back to sleep in about 5 minutes.

DS wakes up every 1-3 hours, which I believe, is between his sleep cycles. Some nights are better than others. At 3 months DS woke up only once to nurse. Then he started waking up twice, then thrice... We thought this would stop once he cut his first tooth. That happened a month ago. No change in his sleeping pattern.

DH and I have decided to sleep train DS soon using Pantley's "No Cry Sleep Solution." It's getting a lot harder to nurse DS to sleep. Also, he tosses and turns a lot and is taking over half the family bed. Mommy is stuck in the middle and has no room to sleep!

[MissAndi]

hi, thank you all for your input.

katigre - it's crying in his sleep, the nights that are tough. He screams - not fully awake - and calms down when I pat him etc. I'ts confusing to say the least.

My DS does this occasionally. I finally figured out what it was when he pooted 3x in a row and then relaxed and fell back asleep. Maybe he's having a little gas pain?