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ali
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Joined: 15 Sep 2006
Posts: 55
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Location: Surrey, BC
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| Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 12:25 pm Post subject: how young is too young to begin some form of sleep training? |
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Hi there - I just posted this same message but it disappeared...so i will try again! SInce i last posted i have been blessed with a baby boy...Ethan (now six weeks old)....he is turning out to be not the natural sleeper that i ordered from the catalogue!!! ha ha!
He sleeps best when held (of course) and often wakes shortly after being put down...has been super fussy in the evenings (which now i realize is probably from being overtired and wired!) and is not taking very long naps. I have been co-sleeping at night to help him catch up on sleep and this is working...HOWEVER as i also have a two year old...holding a newborn all day long is NOT an option...so i have consulted with a sleep consultant and she has helped me come up with a sleep plan....it seems really reasonable...starting with establishing a bathtime/bedtime routine and then the biggy is having him start learning to fall asleep himself, first at bedtime (630pm ish) and then later on for his naps....she talks alot about "start as you mean to go on" which makes alot of sense to me...
as i am probably going to start the plan in a couple of days i just wanted to get some feedback...does this seem too young to start this sort of thing? I desperately don't want to have to travel down the same difficult path we did with Jade - sleep training her at seven months...and in some ways it has continued and i have to be super vigilant about her sleep......
I know he is probably going to fuss and cry and i have a plan for how to respond and soothe him without parenting to sleep - but i still have twinges of guilt for not just attachment parenting him until he is 18!!!!
No seriously though - i come back to the age old question...will i damage him psychologically by him crying himself to sleep (despite my intermittent presence and soothing efforts???)
thanks for any and all feedback...
Ali
ps anyone experience difficult adjustment for the older toddler? Jade has been resisting her only nap again, tantrums, head banging, whining, super clingy, throwing food and refusing to eat and waking at night...AAAHHHHHH!
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SebsMom
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Joined: 14 Apr 2005
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| Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 4:26 pm Post subject: |
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Hi,
I started pretty early with Jake. He is 19 weeks old today and already I can't remember when I started sleep teaching...the girls here listened to me whine for a while before I started doing anything.  I started pretty gently, really trying to figure out what Jake needed to sleep and tried to offer him that. I was freaking out b/c I have a 3 year old and also couldn't hold Jake all the time. The first 8-10 weeks were really hard and after that, things started to fall into place.
I never let Jake fuss more than 3 min at a time and within a few nights he was sleeping well on his own. Naps took longer to come about in the crib but they are here. I figured out that he didn't need to be held/jiggled, etc and in fact that was causing most of the problems. So, I would encourage figuring out what Ethan needs and likes/dislikes before going into hard core sleep teaching. After all, he is young and just getting all his "wiring" in order that is, hormones, etc. I recommend reading Dr. Weissbluth's "Healthy sleep habits, healthy child" if you haven't already. He presents some good sleep research and reasoning. helps you make sure you aren't expecting too much out of these little ones.
good luck!
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