Awwwww……….poor thing.
We had no choice but to sleep train T2 because she hadn’t learnt how to get off the bed safely and I couldn’t spend every waking hour in the bedroom next to her whilst she slept, now could I? So into the cot she went and was forced to learn how to sleep in her OWN bed.
I remember when T1 was about 13 months, I was getting rather fed up of wasting up to an hour every day just trying to put her to sleep and friends urged me to sleep train her. I had tried but failed so one friend coaxed me into allowing her to do it. She dumped T1 into her darkened bedroom with a baby monitor and left her screaming for 2 whole hours until she pooped. My heart cried out LOUD and all kinds of knots were pulled tight within my heart but for fear of being called a wuss, I cried silently but swore never to let it happen again. It was not until T1 was FIVE YEARS OLD that she finally was able to sleep on her own and even that because we forced her. She cried, oh, she cried…..but we figured that at FIVE, she was definitely mature enough to understand why it was time to sleep on her own.
On day one, she cried for 3 whole hours, sobbing and trying to get out of sleeping on her own. On day two, she cried for an hour and a half. Of course, she wasn’t really crying, just sobbing and being a drama queen. On day three, when she realised we weren’t giving in (as we kept reminding her that we wouldn’t!), she went to sleep entirely without crying and was actually quite happy and normal. And then WOOOOOOOSHHH!!!! It hit us like a ton of bricks. She could actually do this and was playing us all along…….In fact, on subsequent days, she would walk to her bedroom happy at night and then stay up reading with the radio on before she passed out.
I felt really conned. FIVE years of my life was spent putting T1 to sleep.That is 365 hours per year, sometimes it took even MORE than an hour. You do the math what I could have achieved more productively in those hours……I wasn’t going to do the same with T2. No way.
On day one, the cot was more a novelty for T2 so she didn’t have any problems sleeping in it. On day two and day three however, she realised it wasn’t so fun after all and she WAILED!!!!! But I didn’t leave her alone in the room. I was right beside her whispering sweet nothings into her ears, explaining why she had to learn to sleep on her own bed I kept repeating T2 sleeps on T2’s bed, Mama sleeps on Mama’s bed…..
She’d complain up to an hour and then pass out. For the 3am feed, on day one, I brought her out for a feed then put her back in when she’d passed out but on day two, I didn’t feed. I just went to the toilet and by the time I’d returned, the fussing had stopped and she’d put herself back to sleep. YAY! For the 6am feed however, I’d bring her out and depending how tired I was by then, I’d either put her back into the cot after she slept or just allowed her to be in bed with me (for the times I’m too exhausted to wait for her to finish!). On day FOUR, she had growned to accept that we both had our respective beds. She has stopped her 3 am feeds now (YAY!) and only wakes between 5-6am for a feed. She will fuss a little when we put her down into her cot but generally, after some patting and some soothing words from Mommy, or some crooning, she’d lie down and sleep.
We’re working on it. I want it to be where she stops waking up entirely and can sleep from 8 to 8 (right now, it’s 11pm to 9am, with 2 wakes in between) and I want to be able to just put her down and walk out without her grumbling. I wonder how long that will take but it seems like she’d a fast learner so far so fingers crossed!
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YAY!! it’s good she stopped her 3am feeds. that’s the hardest, cos that’s when you’re in a deep DEEP sleep. for me anyway. so to get up then it’s arrrgghhh…and keep going on the cot thingy, looks like you’re doing well. soon, she’ll be sleeping in her big girl’s bed in no time.
Well done Mummy!! Be persistent else the kiddo would be one helluva of a confused kid. I’ve also re-started sleep training B3. He requires 5mins of patting on his cot and that’s it. Wakes up at 7-ish. *DREAM*
First time here! You’ve got a pair of pretty girls! I never think of sleep train the baby (who’s almost 9 mths old now). well, i’ve been used to night wakings for 5 years since no.1 was born! so i just let the baby take her own time!
aww… poor thing, but she still looked so cute with a 🙁 face like that. one leg up in objection! heh!
keep it up! don’t be conned again. (i was conned big time too from the first kid, it’s always like that, isn’t it?)
well done to mommy and T2 🙂 she looked so pitiful in the photo..like in the jail…hahahahahaha. i still haven’t sleep train mine *hangs head down in shame*
Hi, just want to know are you still breastfeeding her. Will she hangry in the middle of the night? .. my son (17 mths old)who refuse formula milk totally, just want my breast as pacifier for sleep, and wakes up 3-4 times at night for milk / soothing.
He is bad temper with breath-holding condition when crying… he hold the breath then suddenly “lembut” and fainted… everyone will panic when this happened. That’s why i failed to sleep train and wean him from the breast… do you all have any tips or solution that can HELP me ?? thanks in advance
The word is “CONSISTENCY” and do not give in. Just do it.
But but…look at the pic…T2 is so ke-lian (pitiful)
Keep it up. T2 is doing good now. Eating now, putting on weight now, toilet training now n sleep training too! SOON..u will be smiling n hv some more time on ur own.
yes, that pic is soooo sad! 🙂 i need to train my girls too. right now, hubs & i sleep in their room ever since last dec! 🙁