Anyone use "12 hours sleep by 12 weeks" book by Suzy Giordano?

[Anonymous]

I loved her book, BUT, took only bits and pieces of advice from it. I too cobbled together lots of books. She used formula, which lasts longer. I only breastfed so had minimal success with her 3 - 4 hour limit on food.

What DO like about Giordano is her sensibility; the biggest lesson I still use with my kids is about setting limits! This is fantastic, general parenting advice.

I often have to remind myself that parenting is HARD -- and kids NEED to have limits and be told NO a lot this is first true when setting sleep limits and not coddling when they are old enough to self soothe -- for us, this was around 5 - 6 months.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This was one book among many that we read and some of what Suzy said did make a lot of sense to me. So I took some of her advice, combined with a bit of Weissbluth and a bit of Happiest Baby on hte Block and created my own system. What helped us was to stop feeding DD when she reached 12 lbs. The ped said she didn't need the overnight feed at that stage and better to cut out the habit of her relying on it earlier than later. So once we eliminated that (which took DD a few nights to get used to - she cried and we rocked/held until she realized we weren't feeding) she started sleeping longer stretches. We also employed the early bedtime strategy and were really consistent about it - down by 8p every night. We swaddled for several months (probably longer than most), let her sleep with paci and she eventually got the hang of sleeping all night long. We didn't rush in immediately if she started fussing but didn't let her cry it out either. Hope this is helpful!

PLEASE do not listen to this poster. This is truly cruel behavior toward a baby. You are insane.

[Anonymous]

We used the 12 hours by 12 weeks method and it worked great. DS is now 2-1/2 and has always slept at least 12 hours (uninterrupted) each night since 3 months. We followed the method and gave him all of his food during the 12 hour awake period. It's been great having our time from 7:30 in the evening until the morning and more importantly, DS is well rested every day.

I realize that this method is not for everyone but our situation made it work:

- We adopted DS at 12 days old so obviously we used formula and were able to measure and track the amount of food

- DS has always been in the 90th percentile in weight so he was able to take the food during the 12 hours

- We have a very predictible and regular daily schedule (work, etc.)

- We were committed to the method since we had friends and family who used it.

[Anonymous]

OP, how old is your baby and how frequently is he or she waking up? You may just need to revise your expectations.

[Anonymous]

Just to add another note, overfeeding formula before bedtime is a risk for SIDS.

To the OP who asked when they start sleeping through the night, for infants, sleeping through the night is sleeping five hours in a row. That's really all you can expect until they turn six months. At that point you can start sleep-training, but 12 weeks is way too early. You can't spoil a newborn by responding to their needs. They really do need you at night, they are not manipulating. We co-slept for the first few months and I was never sleep-deprived. And neither was the baby.

[Anonymous]

Am I an idiot, or is there some reason it would be important for a 12-week-old to sleep 12 hours other than convenience for the parents?

I'm thrilled to pieces that my 3-month-old is sleeping 9-10 hours a night. Isn't that good enough?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just to add another note, overfeeding formula before bedtime is a risk for SIDS.

To the OP who asked when they start sleeping through the night, for infants, sleeping through the night is sleeping five hours in a row. That's really all you can expect until they turn six months. At that point you can start sleep-training, but 12 weeks is way too early. You can't spoil a newborn by responding to their needs. They really do need you at night, they are not manipulating. We co-slept for the first few months and I was never sleep-deprived. And neither was the baby.

BS. You can definitely expect a baby to sleep for more than 5 hours before 6 months. That might not be your experience but it is very common for babies to sleep through the night at 3-4 months. As to your first point about SIDS, that's just a crock of shit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Am I an idiot, or is there some reason it would be important for a 12-week-old to sleep 12 hours other than convenience for the parents?

I'm thrilled to pieces that my 3-month-old is sleeping 9-10 hours a night. Isn't that good enough?

Of course it is good enough. It's through the night 9-10 or 12 hours, same thing if it's continuous. It's all good!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Am I an idiot, or is there some reason it would be important for a 12-week-old to sleep 12 hours other than convenience for the parents?

I'm thrilled to pieces that my 3-month-old is sleeping 9-10 hours a night. Isn't that good enough?

Ditto this. I HATE HATE HATE the idea that once a baby reaches a certain weight they no longer need to eat at night. You know what? I weigh more than 12lbs and sometimes I wake up at 4am starving! Granted I am an adult so I can tell my brain/stomach to shut up and go back to sleep but babies don't know how to do that. And for a little baby they register hungry/pain as the same thing. It just breaks my heart to think that someone would withold food from a kid just because they reached a certain weight.

Anyway, I think all sleep methods are crap. The baby STTN when they are ready to STTN. You may be lucky and have that naturally happen at 12 weeks or it may not happen until 2.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just to add another note, overfeeding formula before bedtime is a risk for SIDS.

To the OP who asked when they start sleeping through the night, for infants, sleeping through the night is sleeping five hours in a row. That's really all you can expect until they turn six months. At that point you can start sleep-training, but 12 weeks is way too early. You can't spoil a newborn by responding to their needs. They really do need you at night, they are not manipulating. We co-slept for the first few months and I was never sleep-deprived. And neither was the baby.

BS. You can definitely expect a baby to sleep for more than 5 hours before 6 months. That might not be your experience but it is very common for babies to sleep through the night at 3-4 months. As to your first point about SIDS, that's just a crock of shit.

Not the PP, but we breastfed except for a bottle of formula before bedtime and our pediatrician warned us to stop because of the SIDS risk.

[Anonymous]

We used this method for both DCs, and it worked like a charm. Both of them were down for a full night by 12 weeks, with no ill effects. Both still sleep well and neither had any nutritional or weight problems.

The book was actually recommended to me by a friend who is a physician and used it to to great effect with his child. Notwithstanding opinions from the DCUM peanut gallery (all of whom are likely sleep deprived), this is a great method.

[Anonymous]

Why does a four month old need to sleep 12 straight hours?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We used this method for both DCs, and it worked like a charm. Both of them were down for a full night by 12 weeks, with no ill effects. Both still sleep well and neither had any nutritional or weight problems.

The book was actually recommended to me by a friend who is a physician and used it to to great effect with his child. Notwithstanding opinions from the DCUM peanut gallery (all of whom are likely sleep deprived), this is a great method.

Totally agree. The method worked great for us and I assume a lot of other people since the book is still selling. DS is a healthy 2 y.o. and has slept through the night since 12 weeks. Some of it might have been luck but we are loving it!!! Of course, those DCUMer who didn't do it or are seriously lacking sleep like to knock any method that they didn't do or failed at.

[Anonymous]

I bought it when I had my firstborn. After 2.5 weeks I had never been so deleriously, sleep-deprived in my entire life. My mother (veteran of 3 kids close together) saw it and started laughing. She was like that is a 'no-brainer'. 12 weeks is usually the time when babies are physically able to go the distance (stomachs can hold enough to make it through the night without a feeding).

It didn't work for me---but as my kid got bigger and was closer to 4-5 months he did start sleeping MUCH better at night.

[Anonymous]

Formula feeding has risks and benefits like anything else.
The risk of SIDS is higher with formula feeding, but obviously most babies survive and thrive.

Nope, not sleep-deprived, but thanks! There's more to parenting than how many hours in a row your baby sleeps.