Comments on: The Best Age to Sleep Train Your Baby: Ideal Sleep Coaching Windows

By: Emily DeJeu

Emily DeJeu — Thu, 08 Oct 2015 19:34:13 +0000

In reply to Caitlyn. @ Caitlyn - This is so normal! Naps are tough for lots of parents. As for how to keep your daughter from falling asleep while nursing: could you try moving the feeds a bit earlier, so that the end of the feed isn't coming quite so close to the start of the nap? Some parents have success w/ moving the feeding and then doing something else before the start of the nap (like a mini nap routine). Hope this helps, Caitlyn; best of luck to you!

By: Caitlyn

Caitlyn — Tue, 06 Oct 2015 17:19:14 +0000

I have a 6 almost 7 month old that we’ve started to sleep train. Naps seem to be our biggest struggle. I nurse and for a long time she would nurse and then be rocked for an hour plus because that was the only way I could get her to stay asleep. Now I’m trying to get her to fall asleep on her own and we’re struggling. My question is when nursing how do you prevent them from falling asleep while nursing? I’m trying to follow one of the sample schedules but what if I put her down at 9 and she doesn’t sleep? She can’t last for longer than 3 hours usually in between naps.

By: Emily DeJeu

Emily DeJeu — Tue, 05 Nov 2013 11:27:49 +0000

In reply to Amber.

@ Amber — absolutely! There are many, many approaches before you get to full-on CIO 🙂 For help with naps, I’d suggest starting with our free nap guide (https://www.babysleepsite.com/free-baby-nap-guide/). For the nighttime sleep, I’d suggest downloading a copy of 5 Ways To Help Your Child Sleep Through The Night, our free sleep coaching guide (https://www.babysleepsite.com/baby-sleep-through-night-free-ebook/).

Bravo to you for starting this process now — at about 4 months, your son is ready and able to learn some good sleeping habits (and you are no doubt ready to start sleeping again!)

We also have hundreds of articles on the blog that offer general helps and insights. If you click the ‘Articles’ tab on the main menu bar, you can search them by category; that may be a good option if you want to quickly find specific articles. We have an enormous ‘Sleep Training’ category; those articles will no doubt be helpful to you. 🙂

Thanks for commenting, Amber! Hope these resources prove helpful to you.

By: Amber

Amber — Tue, 05 Nov 2013 03:42:44 +0000

I have a wonderful 14 week old boy. We are having a bit of a sleep conundrum. He will only sleep on me for most naps & at night. It’s getting to the point were he is so heavy that it’s physically hurting me to have him on me for so long. Plus at night he rubs his face back and forth and wiggles most of the night. I haven’t had much sleep in awhile. And I don’t think he is getting quality sleep either. I do rest while he is napping but it’s very hard for me to sleep during the day. I’ve tried to put him in his co- sleeper, next to me, baby wear and in a swing. He either wakes up immediately or cries until I put him on my chest & nurse. Is there anything else I can do? No CIO and husband works long hours….thank you so much.

By: Emily DeJeu

Emily DeJeu — Tue, 29 Oct 2013 12:50:12 +0000

@ Jackie — if you’re a few weeks in, and you haven’t seen any noticeable progress, it may be time to consider a new method. You mentioned that patting and hushing usually works — you may want to try sticking with that technique, instead of CIO. That’s actually a gentler method, too, which may make it easier for both of you to do!

Hope this helps, Jackie! For more info on sleep coaching techniques, check out our free guide, found here: https://www.babysleepsite.com/baby-sleep-through-night-free-ebook/

Thanks for commenting, Jackie! 🙂

By: Jackie

Jackie — Tue, 29 Oct 2013 03:43:30 +0000

I’ve been letting my 6 month old cry it out for a few weeks now. Some nights she cries for a few minutes, other nights it past 10 minutes of heavy crying. Every night is different and you never know what to expect. She wakes 2 times to nurse and it’s the same thing when she goes back to bed. Some nights she’ll go back to bed or fuss!! And when she fusses, she fusses!! She’ll usually fall back asleep with some patting and hushing. I don’t know if the CIO method is working for her because she has both good and bad nights. It’s not consistent. Any recommendations????

By: Emily DeJeu

Emily DeJeu — Thu, 17 Oct 2013 17:06:26 +0000

@ marisa o — This sounds really, really tough 🙁 I imagine that sharing a room with her makes it hard, too, since she’s able to see and hear you, and that means she’s less likely to soothe herself to sleep.

We wrote an article about sleep training while room sharing; some of these tips may be helpful to you: https://www.babysleepsite.com/sleep-training/sleep-training-room-sharing-tips/

Have you ever considered trying a sleep consultation? They’re great for babies and toddlers who seem especially resistant to their parents sleep coaching efforts. You can find out more about the consultation packages here: https://www.babysleepsite.com/baby-toddler-sleep-consulting-services/ At the point you’re at, this is probably your best option for getting help with your daughter’s sleep.

Again — I’m so sorry you’re going through this, marisa! Truly, it sounds like you’re a great mom, and that you’re trying your hardest to figure out what’s best for your daughter. I know it can be discouraging when friends and family members are critical of your parenting choices, but hang in there — remember, your family members aren’t the ones who have to sleep with a screaming toddler each night! Nothing you are doing is wrong, or bad, and you’re not a bad mom for trying to help your daughter learn to sleep on her own.

Best of luck to you, marisa! Do let us know how you progress with your little girl. And don’t hesitate to reach out for help, or with more questions, either by leaving a comment or by e-mailing contact (at) babysleepsite (dot) com.

By: marisa o

marisa o — Wed, 16 Oct 2013 18:31:23 +0000

My daughter is 15 1/2 months old and she was preemie 6 weeks. She must have a bottle to even start to fall asleep unless in the car, but she wont take a cup.i have to hold her with her strugglign to finally try and pass out, i wait for her to fall asleep and then try and transfer her most of the times she wakes when i transfer her and starts to cry again. I am single parent alone and it makes life very hard. She will cry and if i dont reach her soon enough she will vomit 1-2 times, i’ll clean her change her the bed the floor and have to go back out the living room on the couch for her to calm back down and go to sleep and sometimes give her some more milk.
She will awake again between 12-4 and i let her cry again sometimes she falls back asleep and sometimes she cries and cries (WE COshare a room) and i’ll get her and she will come into bed with me and finally falls back to sleep.. but i dont rest well and i dont think she does either..
her naps are the same way.. unless i am traveling and she will doze off with ease.
please help i am not working, i feel like i’ve done everything even the checks at different times. i am struggling because sometimes i’ll have to rush to the bathroom or hold it and if she wakes again she goes into a fit. Im sure some part of it is separation anxiety and i never did a sleep training with her in the beginning but she didnt need it she was a good sleeper but always fell asleep in my arms first and then i transferred her and it started around 7months and my father and stepmother dont’ listen or agree to my arrangements for her and told me to wait till she was much older but i need it done now. i was told after a trauma like that violent crying is why she slept so well.
i did it for 2-3 weeks but the naps were always an issue and she always cried for 35-110 minutes allt he time.

By: Emily DeJeu

Emily DeJeu — Wed, 16 Oct 2013 16:52:07 +0000

In reply to Bianca.

@ Bianca — Ok, I see. Yes, it sounds like she’s becoming dependent on the rocking to fall asleep. You can utilize the same sleep training techniques and strategies now that you used when she was 5 months old. It may be best to sleep train while you’re at home, and then utilize some of the tips from the room-sharing article to keep up with good sleep habits and practices while you’re traveling on the road. This way, you won’t have to worry about disturbing other people while you’re sleep training.

Thanks for commenting, Bianca! 🙂

By: Emily DeJeu

Emily DeJeu — Wed, 16 Oct 2013 16:39:53 +0000

In reply to Bianca.

@ Bianca — since you mentioned that you plan on doing extended traveling for awhile, you probably don’t want to retrain her on how to sleep in her own crib, in her own room (since that’s not going to be your ‘norm’). Instead, you’ll want to focus on helping her learn how to sleep on her own, and stay asleep, in a traveling environment.

Let me ask — when you travel with her, does she share a room with you? If so, this post might be helpful to you: https://www.babysleepsite.com/sleep-training/sleep-training-room-sharing-tips/. It deals with how to sleep train while room-sharing. Some of those tips will likely apply to your situation.

Hope this helps, Bianca! Thanks for commenting. 🙂