Sleep Training for "High Needs" Baby

[Anonymous]

We used the sleep lady shuffle by Kim West. It worked wonders. Now our son gets a story, bed, and a song as we leave the room and he doesn't make a peep. It was the best thing that we ever did.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Shopmom wrote:The method at www.mybabysleepsatnight.com really worked for me and my friends. good luck

This is your website, huh?

Even better is her other creepy website that doesn't actually say what it's about but thinks you will be stupid enough to enter in your e-mail address to find out. I get quite enough spam as it is, thank you.

I know, right! That travel thing is CREEPY!

[Anonymous]

Not OP, but I just started reading Kim West. Would love to hear more about your experience!

[Anonymous]

I tried to let mine CIO but she threw up every time. No matter our choice, it was a disaster (she either cried and threw up, or she woke up every 2 hours; she was usually wide awake between 3:00-5:00 am). My DH and I traded off taking care of her in the middle of the night. By the time she was 2, we moved her to a big girl bed and she started sleeping through the night. Now at age 5, she goes to bed late (very late), but she sleeps the whole night through and will sleep late if we let her. She'll also take a good nap if she needs it. Sorry, I have no better advice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I tried to let mine CIO but she threw up every time. No matter our choice, it was a disaster (she either cried and threw up, or she woke up every 2 hours; she was usually wide awake between 3:00-5:00 am). My DH and I traded off taking care of her in the middle of the night. By the time she was 2, we moved her to a big girl bed and she started sleeping through the night. Now at age 5, she goes to bed late (very late), but she sleeps the whole night through and will sleep late if we let her. She'll also take a good nap if she needs it. Sorry, I have no better advice.

Further to this, we did all the things they tell you to do: night routine, book, milk, put to bed drowsy but awake, etc. She'd go to sleep fine -- it was the waking up in the middle of the night that was the problem. She also had this piercing cry that you just couldn't ignore, which is why we got up with her.

[Anonymous]

We also did CIO, but not until about 14 months. Yes, we were exhausted for a very long time, but I just couldn't do it before then.

We had initially tried the sleep lady shuffle, but if she saw us it would make things worse. So we eventually did a combination of Ferber and Weisbleuth and now DD mostly sleeps through the night (last night she was up at 2:30am raring to go, but luckily those nights are infrequent now).

Good luck, it sucks.

[Anonymous]

Tried; resorted to co-sleeping and we're all happier. Just trust your instincts and do what works best for you and your family and don't worry about what the experts or the people on DCUm (or anyone else for that matter) thinks

[Anonymous]

My oldest child was very high need. I tried to let her cry it out once but she lasted several hours and I gave up. I slept with her for a long time but she turned into a great sleeper, great student, great kid.

My second child was a little easier and we were so tired that we let him cry it out. He could go to sleep on his own and sleep most of the night but that ended around age two. Now he is seven and he still has nightmares, bed wetting, lots of fears. We have to lie down with him until he is asleep or he will lie there terrified for hours. I think this is all because we left him on his own to cry as a baby and he was traumatized. I would not do it again. My older child, who was comforted through the night, is so much more secure. I really regret doing that to my son. I recognize that not all children will react this way but I blame my son's issues on "sleep training."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My oldest child was very high need. I tried to let her cry it out once but she lasted several hours and I gave up. I slept with her for a long time but she turned into a great sleeper, great student, great kid.

My second child was a little easier and we were so tired that we let him cry it out. He could go to sleep on his own and sleep most of the night but that ended around age two. Now he is seven and he still has nightmares, bed wetting, lots of fears. We have to lie down with him until he is asleep or he will lie there terrified for hours. I think this is all because we left him on his own to cry as a baby and he was traumatized. I would not do it again. My older child, who was comforted through the night, is so much more secure. I really regret doing that to my son. I recognize that not all children will react this way but I blame my son's issues on "sleep training."

Wow! I thought I was the only one who ever felt this way. I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one. My dd was much the same, and we did straight CIO. All was PERFECT and I thought I had done the right thing. Our problems started around 3 not 2. She is 9 and is still a horrible sleeper and very 'needy' at night now. I've always had a nagging feeling that its related to the training.

[Anonymous]

OP here -- thanks so much to all of you for your wonderfully reassuring advice..... we'll give it a try, but it's encouraging to know that whatever the outcome we're not alone.... thanks again!