Hi Alt,
Thank you for writing! I’m sorry to hear you’re still struggling with sleep, but congratulations on making a plan! I know it can be hard to get over that hurdle when you’re so tired. At this age, most babies are still eating once or twice at night, usually in the later parts of the night, but it can depend on the baby and the daytime feeding schedule. I would encourage you to run your plan past your pediatrician, and then give it a try. You can always make adjustments to the method or schedule once it’s been a few days and you can see how you’re all doing. I hope this helps, and good luck!

Hi @Eugene! Thanks for writing to us about your (almost) 5 month old! I received your voicemail message as well and just returned your call and left a message there for you! As I mentioned in my message, We offer free 15 minute telephone evaluations with an expert sleep consultant, which might be the perfect fit for you right now! This can really give you good insight regarding when/if it’s time to work on sleep, specifically how we can help, and which package may be the best fit for you. If interested, please schedule your free 15 minute evaluation here:
https://www.babysleepsite.com/personalized-baby-sleep-evaluation/
The other option I mentioned that I think would be a great fit is our VIP Members Area, which gives you access to all of our e-Books as well as audio tele-seminar recordings, case studies, and do-it-yourself tutorials, including a workbook designed to help you create your own sleep plan. My favorite feature is the access to our weekly “members only” expert chat sessions, where one of our sleep consultants will answer your specific questions live via chatroom! You can also write a message on any of the pages within the VIP Area, and a Sleep Consultant will reply!
The Members Area subscription is available in various sizes to fit every budget. Members also receive 20% off of all personalized sleep consultation services, should you find that you would like more personalized assistance.
You can read more about our VIP Members Area here:
https://www.babysleepsite.com/diy
Thanks again for writing to us and for calling us Eugene! Sorry we missed your call! Please let me know if you have any questions about this or if you need any assistance at any time. We’d love to help you so your family can start sleeping better!

First off thanks for being a resource to a lot of parents in need of help.

Our son will be 5 months old next week. he still enjoys his swaddle and hasn’t started to roll over. His sleeping at night has been inconsistent but hes been able to do 7:30 to 4:30 or 6:00am stretches often enough to show that hes capable. Sometimes back to back but then “regressing” to waking at 2:00 or 3:00 where we can’t get him back down even with taking cara baby’s sitback routine at which point we have to feed him and then generally he will go back to sleep until the AM. The struggle is that we know he can make it to 6:00am so we are reluctant to feed at 2:00 or 3:00 but after 30 minutes to an hour of other interventions, we figure feeding is the next step.

the last 3 of the 4 nights he’s been going down about 7:15 to 7:30 and lasting till 4:30 to 6:15. That’s obviously a miracle in our book. Also we haven’t been successful in putting him down “drowsy but awake” so it has to always be asleep and in a delicate manner to which he he’s rocked and then put down in the same position otherwise he stirs and cries, needing to reset and start again.
Last night was a different, he woke at 2:00 and after 30 minutes of intervention we fed him, but he was wide awake and refused to go to sleep. By about 3:30 we decided to give Cry it out a try, because we knew he was fed, safe, and sleepy still. We put him down, told him we loved him, and left. He cried for a while, but about 40 minutes to an hour later he was asleep, and then slept till we woke him at 7:00. It was a huge relief to see that he did fall asleep, and clearly it can happen.

I think we are ready to try to give it a consistent shot. Do we allow him to remain in his swaddle or do we transition to a sleep sack when we do cry it out? Initially we were going to do the 5, 10, 15 minute intervals but after seeing that he figured it out last night we are more inclined to let him cry it out as necessary (up to an hour or two), and just check the monitor at 3 or 4 am in case he wakes again (crying, and maybe is hungry).

Do we try to tackle naps in the same way now too? Our nanny loves him as much as his mom and dad, and hates to hear him cry. So i think she will have a tough time letting him cry as well. He’s always really taken short naps (sometimes the first one will be an hour to 1.5 by miracle, but usually its 30-45 minutes so cry it out for naps may eliminate his nap entirely). Can we start with nights and then work into naps? or do we need to do both? Do we cry it out with swaddle for a few nights and then transition into a sleep sack or do it both at the same time so they can soothe themselves with hands etc?

Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated, and we are open to having a call as well if necessary.

Hi @Katharine – Thank you for writing to us! I am so sorry to hear that your daughter’s sleep has been so tough! Since you’ve already worked with a different sleep consultant, I think one of our experts weighing in would be best!! We offer free 15 minute telephone evaluations with an expert sleep consultant, which might be the perfect fit! This can really give you good insight regarding what is going on, if you need one-on-one help, and which package may be the best fit for you. If interested, please schedule your free 15 minute evaluation here:
https://www.babysleepsite.com/personalized-baby-sleep-evaluation/

And, if you determine you need more help – we work with many families that have worked with other sleep consulting companies and that need more help! When you are ready, you can read more about our sleep consultation services, and purchase here:
https://www.babysleepsite.com/baby-toddler-sleep-consulting-services

Thank you again for writing to us Katharine, and hang in there! If you have any additional questions, or if you need any assistance at all, please let me know.

Hi @Heather – Thanks for writing to us! Sorry to hear that naptime has become so rough! How you handle the sleep training, and if you go in and soothe her or not is really up to you and you want to proceed! If you decide to go and help her calm down and soothe her, it is fine, as long as you are sticking with her falling asleep in the way that you are working on. Essentially, you’ll want to have her fall asleep on her own, even if you are going in and helping her calm down/re-start. Our EBook just for toddlers could be very helpful, if you’d like to check it out:
https://www.babysleepsite.com/5-step-system-toddler/
Good luck Heather!

Hi Rachel,
Thank you for using The Baby Sleep Site as a resource! I’m sorry to hear you’re struggling so much with sleep coaching! We’d love to help. It sounds like the nursing at night could be the issue – for sleep coaching to work, we need to help your daughter learn to fall asleep on her own and go back to sleep on her own without intervention from you (unless she is truly hungry or needs a new diaper, etc). If she is nursing to sleep some of the time, then she likely does not understand when nursing is available and when it’s not. For a primer on sleep coaching, you can see our article series here: https://www.babysleepsite.com/sleep-training/sleep-training-from-no-cry-to-cry-series-part-1/
But since this is your third time around and you sound like you’re getting frustrated, I would strongly recommend considering a sleep consultation package. A consultant could double check your methods and schedule and line everything up for success, and also be there to help when you hit snags. I know it can be hard to think when you’re exhausted, and having a second pair of eyes on everything can really help! You can see our package options here: https://www.babysleepsite.com/baby-toddler-sleep-consulting-services/
Please hang in there, and let us know if we can be of any help!