I got into researching sleep when my first child, Joshua, was born and liked to do anything but sleep. It was stressful and tiring and made life pretty terrible for a while. Sound familiar to any of you? Luckily after lots of research and trial and error, I figured it out pretty good. And I helped thousands of parents along the way.
I have a bachelors of science in nursing and am specialized in Emergency and Critical care. I’m also a life coach (LCS) so you'll see bits and pieces of that in my writing.
I was born in Australia and immigrated to the US when I was a child. I've got a big, crazy, fun family with piles of nieces and nephews. My siblings are my best friends and I couldn't be luckier because of it. Oh, and I also have an identical twin. We still look freakishly alike even as adults.
I hope you find my blog helpful and feel free to ask a question, answer a reader's question, or leave helpful experience or advice.
If this blog has been helpful for you, please consider following me on facebook, twitter and through email or a reader.
I can be reached at rachel[at]mybabysleepguide[dot]com
Happy Sleeping!
Rachel
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My Favorite Books On Sleep
Kelly commented on About Me - My Baby Sleep Guide:
ReplyDeleteHi Rachel,
Thanks for your wonderfully helpful blog! Unfortunately even with all your helpful resources I'm feeling so overwhelmed that I'm in tears over just choosing a sleep training method to use. I own a few of the books that are mentioned in your blog and have read parts of them but still don't know what to do. My question for you is: which method if you had to choose just one would you use?
My son just turned 4 mos. I need to get him sleeping in his crib. At the moment he sleeps only in my arms, for naps and through the night. I will buy whichever book I need to if it's not one that I already own. I'm so exhausted at the moment that even the thought of having to read a whole book to start the sleep training sounds overwhelming.
Honestly I'm not lazy just exhausted. I also have a 2 1/2 year old. Thanks!
Kelly,
DeleteWhich would I use? Well, I use a combination of all of them and it depends on the age. My situation has been different than yours because I have starting teaching the methods from the get go and never had strong sleep props and associations like you have (he is used to sleeping in your arms) so you will have to do things differently.
I completely and totally get that you are not lazy but exhausted. I've been there too. I suggest getting on some sort of routine. I like the easy routine or eat/wake/sleep routine. You'll want to try to extend out the feeds and get full feeds in if that isn't happening to promote the longer naps and night sleep. Keep a sleep log to get you an idea of average waketimes and nap lengths. Then you'll have to work on helping your son learn to sleep on his own. You need to decide if you are ok with some crying. I would look over the top sleep post to try to set things up for good sleep before further sleep training. Personally, at 4 months I feel ok with doing cio if a mom is feeling overwhelmed. I like this method
http://www.mybabysleepguide.com/2012/09/the-limited-crying-solution-baby-sleep.html
or just straight cio. For naps, do it for 1-1.5 hours max (a total of around 3 hours from last feed). You may need to feed a little sooner than usual during the day. At night, you do it all night. You will still offer the usual feeds. You will want to extend them out though either by reducing how much you feed at each feed or moving them later. Work on one at a time. I would work towards a max of 1 feed at night. It is possible he might end up not needing any. I would work mainly on having him sleep on his own at night first before dropping the feeds unless he is feeding frequently then do both at once. Continue to monitor his growth and health. Try to do things in his crib while he's awake to make it a fun and inviting place. Good luck!
Claire commented on About Me - My Baby Sleep Guide:
ReplyDeleteHey great site, wondered if u could help me please? My little chap is 6months and on 3 meals a day but still waking 1-3 times a night for milk. He won't take a bottle and if someone else goes he just cries until I, the milk machine, comes to feed him. I am totally exhausted! He often seems uncomfortable/windy so have been working to wind him more but he's usually so floppy I can't. Day time he usually has 2 naps but hard to get a decent routine because everyday is different with my 2.5 year old. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Dear Rachel,
ReplyDeleteMaybe you could help me?
Our son is 2 months old. He sleeps well, but frequently he wakes up like one or twice during the night (not always the same time). As he falls asleep (naps and night) with a pacifier, we end up going to it to him and he usually falls back to sleep. Pacifier is very usefull - but this is the down side. Do you think he could go back to sleep without it? Should we let him cry (how long?) to see if he manages to do it by himself or is it impossible because he is so used to the pacifier?
What would you do? Give it during the day but not at night time? Seems difficult... Or just wait until he is able to put it back himself in a few months...?
Thanks for the advice!