Sleep training by Gina Ford

[lushtear]

Hi there!
Anyone tried sleep training by Gina Ford? Wondering if it is effective as compared to No cry sleep soluation by Elizabeith Pantley?

I am contemplating to sleep train my child and i want to know which methods work best for you mothers out there and ur children.

Feel like trying out Gina Ford method but i really think its so heart wrenching to hear my baby cry so long.. think i too xing luan. Those who attempted Gina Ford's method, what age did u start sleep training ur child and how many nights did it take to succeed?

What do u ladies do to sleep train ur child?

Pls share! Thanks

 

[PinkDiamonds]

I think you need to decide on what you are comfortable with. There are many philosophies when it comes to sleep training, cry-it-out, no cry, controlled crying, etc.

For me, the cry-it-out method was the most effective for me, but your heart must toughen up to be able to handle it.

If you think it's too heart wrenching to deal with it, then maybe you will be more comfortable with a controlled crying or no-cry method. They all have their pros and cons, so decide which one you the most comfortable with.

Sleep training started at around 4 months for me, cause the book I read recommended at least 12 weeks old.

 

[allycat]

I've not actually done anything but Quan seems to be able to adjust himself quite well. If he sleeps around 10 plus at night, he'll wake up 4 plus am for his next feeding.

 

[stonston]

I'm blessed with a boy who slept through the night since week 3.

However, as he grew older and more mobile, we had to train him to follow a schedule.
I use the 'hard hearted' method of letting him cry it out. Doc says it's alright as long as the cries and not muffled or breaking into bad sobs. He said it's good exercise for the lungs (come to think of it, could that be the reason why my boy has very good stamina now and can talk NON-STOP?)

 

[lushtear]

I think you need to decide on what you are comfortable with. There are many philosophies when it comes to sleep training, cry-it-out, no cry, controlled crying, etc.

For me, the cry-it-out method was the most effective for me, but your heart must toughen up to be able to handle it.

If you think it's too heart wrenching to deal with it, then maybe you will be more comfortable with a controlled crying or no-cry method. They all have their pros and cons, so decide which one you the most comfortable with.

Sleep training started at around 4 months for me, cause the book I read recommended at least 12 weeks old.

I've read on no cry and cry it out method.. What does it mean by controlled crying.. was thinking of using a combination of methods but i'm afraid it will confuse my gal.

My gal is sleeping ok i think except that it takes longer to put her to sleep.. The confinement nanny feeds her 8 pm, she doesnt fall asleep and sometimes wanna play, her last feed is ard 11am and she'll wake up bet 3 to 4 am and the next feed 7 to 8 am.. Is this good cos she can sleep 4 to 5 hours in a stretch? I read that sleeping thru the night meant sleeping a stretch of 4 to 5 hrs for newborns. She is only 4 weeks old.. When will they start sleeping even longer like 6 to 8 hrs? I've read that some babies from this forum sleeping from like 8 to 8am.. What a bliss!!!

 

[lushtear]

I've not actually done anything but Quan seems to be able to adjust himself quite well. If he sleeps around 10 plus at night, he'll wake up 4 plus am for his next feeding.

When u meant sleep, do u pet him to sleep or just throw him in the cot so that he will sleep on his own? My gal needs us to cuddle and pet her to sleep. Several times we put her down the cot she will wake up.. Then we have to keep trying till she settles in the cot eventually.

 

[stonston]

Mummies,
Whichever method you choose, the ultimate aim is to gain success with making your baby fall asleep without struggle every night.
Try out the method that you and your family are comfortable with.
I have friends who used the weaning method and it worked (although it took longer, it worked).

You will not regret perservering with it.
My boy is now 3yo and he can go to sleep on his own without help.
He'll just ask for milk, ask for his fave blanket and off to dreamland.
Even if he's not tired, he'll lie on bed and 'daydream' or sing to himself.

I've nvr carried or pat him to sleep since he was born.
I only sing to him or massage him when he was sick or cranky (usually after jabs).

 

[allycat]

stonston, u sure are lucky.

 

[annie]

there are lucky mothers who has bb sleeping through the night since very young n also unlucky ones like me lol. my girl is 18mths n not sleeping through the night yet. however, she has been sleeping from 9pm-6am n wake up for her first milk n sleep again till 9am sine 5.5mths old. she did this naturally. i didnt sleep train her. however, when she was about 6.5mths old she suddenly start waking up every 2hrs which i thought was growth sprut but it lasted about 1 mth so i started to sleep train her.. it took me rather long though cos i started with the most gentle method to get her to sleep back. lol. instead of giving her milk, i try carrying her, rocking her etc. then finally to controlled crying. all dosent work. then finally i let her cry it out. when it finally works, it was like maybe when she was 9-10mths old already! so though she does wake up many times midnight when she was before 9mths old, she dosent get any milk till 6am since 7mths old. so in another words, she takes 2mths to get the idea tat her waking gets her nothing(very long! lol). since then, she has been sleeping consistently without waking up for milk in midnight anymore. im now dealing with her nap problem.. she dosent nap well and dosent nap long! hai~

for my girl, she was waking up for milk every 3hrs since newborn then slowly increase to 4hrs after full mth n 5hrs at 2mths. at 4mths she sometimes sleep 8hr stretch(not often though). sometimes 6hrs stretch..

i think if u stick to a bedtime routine your bb will get the idea that bed time is coming n go to bed easier. tats wat i did with my girl since newborn.. i bath her, give her milk, burp her n put her down to bed awake n let her drift off to sleep. the first week was terrible but after tat i never had any problem with her night sleep. she goes down like a breeze.

 

[Sheila]

I've not actually done anything but Quan seems to be able to adjust himself quite well. If he sleeps around 10 plus at night, he'll wake up 4 plus am for his next feeding.

Same goes with my baby boy... He slept at 7pm till 11 or 12 mdnight for milk and changing of diaper.. sleep again and wakes up at 4am everyday..

 

[Verona's]

I think i am quite lucky , my daughter sleep through the night since 2 weeks ago . She is about 3 month old , longest time she sleep is night 10 to morning 8 , Shortest also 10 pm to 4 am Few days ago i was too tired to handle her after her 7 am feed , i just put her down sleeping on side way & pat her & to my surprise she sleep ! Usually she only want ppl to carry her till she sleep then we put down. It only work if she want to sleep .. Now whenever she want to sleep i quickly use this method , this also work while she lie on her back .. Hopefully she will get use to all this habits .

 

[Mummy to Baby V]

I still stick by No-Cry method because recent studies have shown that crying it out may cause brain damage to babies. It may also affect them psychologically as they grow because of the bad experience at bedtime. Even if crying it out succeeds to get baby to fall asleep, he may be scarred for life. I don't want to risk this just so that I can sleep for 8 hours at a stretch.

Babies cannot tell us why they are upset, so they cry or scream. After using the No-Cry method for a month, nap times became a bliss, my boy took 4 naps up to 6 hours during 3-4 months old. Now he is 14-mth old and naps once for 2-3 hours.

Night-time is more challenging as he fussed a lot to suckle for comfort, so we started co-sleeping from 4 months old. Finally recently, he started to fall asleep easily -- milk, stories, songs, roll around to find a comfortable position around or on me, sleep. He fusses only a few times and I get a lot of sleep.

Using a gentle method ensures that baby feels loved and associate a loving environment with bedtime. As parents, it is our responsibility to help our babies learn new skills patiently and not simply allow them to cry and figure a way out themselves. If we allow ourselves to ignore the baby's cries at bedtime, would we also ignore the cries in the day when we want him to do things our way?

Using a loving method and allowing the baby to develop and reach the sleeping-milestone at his pace also allows him to thrive in various aspects. Many babies also need their night feeds for long so that they can grow well.

My boy was a fussy and light sleeper for months, yet we stayed patient, fed when he needed it and slept with him. Now we see the success and are very happy it happened when he was ready. He grows well, learns very fast, talks well, uses sign language, walks fast and is a very happy and healthy boy. We are his happy parents.

Think about the long-term development for your baby and the importance of your parent-child relationship, then make the choice.

 

[annie]

hi mummy to baby very, long time no see! hehe. i agree with some of wat u said but not all. some kids are so smart to know tat crying gets them everything so when its time to let them cry then we have to. also, letting them cry n sort their own feelings out creates independency imo.. of cos it dosent mean we dun need to care about their feelings at all. im not very supportive to letting them cry alone in the bedrm as i feel its like ignoring them, their emotional needs. so i choose to stay beside her, talk to her, rub her back etc to try to calm her down when she cry EXCEPT giving her my breast lol. my girl is simply too dependent on breast so i want her to grow out of it. Or when im disciplining her, i let her cry if she refuse to follow. crying dosent mean she dosent need to do what she needs to do..

few days ago i ask her to pick up her cup as she throws it onto the floor for fun. then she refuse. n i insist. then she started crying n kick the cup! just simply refuse to pick it up. ended up cried for more than 1hr n still refuse to pick up! finally i pick it up as i need to bring her for class.. cant afford to spend more time disciplining her...

 

[Oppsgal]

For me, I choose to let baby cry (maximum 15 minutes only, as scare colic).

The training last only 2 days, then everything is fine. Recently, schedule all mess up again. My baby sometimes refuse to sleep in the day time for nap, until feeding time almost there then doze off. :embarrassed: Then I dont know what to wake baby up for feeds anot.

 

[Mummy to Baby V]

hi mummy to baby very, long time no see! hehe. i agree with some of what you said but not all. some kids are so smart to know that crying gets them everything so when its time to let them cry then we have to. also, letting them cry n sort their own feelings out creates independency imo.. of cos it dosent mean we dont need to care about their feelings at all. im not very supportive to letting them cry alone in the bedrm as i feel its like ignoring them, their emotional needs. so i choose to stay beside her, talk to her, rub her back etc to try to calm her down when she cry EXCEPT giving her my breast lol. my girl is simply too dependent on breast so i want her to grow out of it. Or when im disciplining her, i let her cry if she refuse to follow. crying dosent mean she dosent need to do what she needs to do..

few days ago i ask her to pick up her cup as she throws it onto the floor for fun. then she refuse. n i insist. then she started crying n kick the cup! just simply refuse to pick it up. ended up cried for more than 1hr n still refuse to pick up! finally i pick it up as i need to bring her for class.. cant afford to spend more time disciplining her...

Hihi... My opinions are in relation to babies, which means younger than 12 months old in general. Newborns are even more fragile and should not be left crying till they sleep, because many still need the frequent night feeds.

Of course, toddlers cry / fuss / throw temper for all kinds of odd reasons to push our limits. Discipline is important and I always start from using gentle methods with positive words. Toddlers are able to communicate in many ways more than babies, who can only cry. Therefore, they need to be responded in a different manner.

 

[annie]

oh lol ya toddlers are a handful...:nah:

 

[sasha10]

How is No-Cry menthod for sleep training?
my baby is currently 6 weeks old, and she refuse to sleep if we don't carry her. I am very frustrated..don't know when is the best time to start sleep training on her. When i left her crying..I end up crying myself..cos really can't do it to her. At the end...me and hubby end up not sleeping also.
Now I am back carry her to half asleep and put her to her cot after that.

any suggestion to help me? is 6 weeks old too young for sleep training?
I usually get her to sleep after bathing at night..then at night feed, sometime she is woken up becos she poo poo, etc..cry, etc..then i have to pat and carry her again to sleep. She also seems to keep looking for breast for comfort before she can sleep too. I am worry that I do the wrong thing all this time.

I still stick by No-Cry method because recent studies have shown that crying it out may cause brain damage to babies. It may also affect them psychologically as they grow because of the bad experience at bedtime. Even if crying it out succeeds to get baby to fall asleep, he may be scarred for life. I dont't want to risk this just so that I can sleep for 8 hours at a stretch.

Babies cannot tell us why they are upset, so they cry or scream. After using the No-Cry method for a month, nap times became a bliss, my boy took 4 naps up to 6 hours during 3-4 months old. Now he is 14-month old and naps once for 2-3 hours.

Night-time is more challenging as he fussed a lot to suckle for comfort, so we started co-sleeping from 4 months old. Finally recently, he started to fall asleep easily -- milk, stories, songs, roll around to find a comfortable position around or on me, sleep. He fusses only a few times and I get a lot of sleep.

Using a gentle method ensures that baby feels loved and associate a loving environment with bedtime. As parents, it is our responsibility to help our babies learn new skills patiently and not simply allow them to cry and figure a way out themselves. If we allow ourselves to ignore the baby's cries at bedtime, would we also ignore the cries in the day when we want him to do things our way?

Using a loving method and allowing the baby to develop and reach the sleeping-milestone at his pace also allows him to thrive in various aspects. Many babies also need their night feeds for long so that they can grow well.

My boy was a fussy and light sleeper for months, yet we stayed patient, fed when he needed it and slept with him. Now we see the success and are very happy it happened when he was ready. He grows well, learns very fast, talks well, uses sign language, walks fast and is a very happy and healthy boy. We are his happy parents.

Think about the long-term development for your baby and the importance of your parent-child relationship, then make the choice.

 

[annie]

i think its ok.. from what ive read, its ok to give them breast or carry them to sleep BUT not really to 'sleep'. like wat u said, half asleep/dozing off etc then put them down n let them drift off to sleep by themselves... i always do tat. my girl has no problem falling asleep herself. they need something to help them wind down since they are still so young so by rocking, carrying, giving breast is ok but not all the way till they fall asleep though. just to wind them down...

6 weeks is still very young for any sleep training i would say..imho

 

[Mummy to Baby V]

How is No-Cry menthod for sleep training?
my baby is currently 6 weeks old, and she refuse to sleep if we dont't carry her. I am very frustrated..dont't know when is the best time to start sleep training on her. When i left her crying..I end up crying myself..cos really can't do it to her. At the end...me and hubby end up not sleeping also.
Now I am back carry her to half asleep and put her to her cot after that.

any suggestion to help me? is 6 weeks old too young for sleep training?
I usually get her to sleep after bathing at night..then at night feed, sometime she is woken up becos she poo poo, etc..cry, etc..then i have to pat and carry her again to sleep. She also seems to keep looking for breast for comfort before she can sleep too. I am worry that I do the wrong thing all this time.

Personally, I don't like the term "sleep-training", does not sound humane at all and for young helpless babies? Hmm...

"No-Cry" offers many ideas to help baby get to sleep easier and longer. I like the parts of setting bedtime routine and recognizing when baby needs to sleep. The better baby naps, the better he sleeps at night.

The book is actually very intuitive and assures Mums that many things we do naturally (cuddling, nursing) to meet baby's needs are fine. In fact, it is letting them cry helplessly that is wrong. I was also "advised" by ppl around me to let the boy cry to learn to sleep and my hubby was TOTALLY against it. Luckily I found the book and love the gentle methods.

It is very natural for babies to want to suck for comfort. Cuddling also gives them the "womb" experience. Heard of this: "Nine months inside the womb, nine months outside"? Dr. Sears website also has many good ideas to help babies sleep well.

For newborns, "Happiest Baby on the Block" is also great. All these are gentle methods, aim at reducing crying and making baby happier. When baby is happy, the parents would be happy too.

For a start, try swaddling and white noise. White noise works wonder on newborns!

 

[PinkDiamonds]

Wow, I think I should be worried now. Maybe I should schedule an appointment for my daughter to get her brain scanned to see if I've done any damage to her! Tonight sure cannot sleep already! Will be wondering if I've left my daughter emotionally scarred for life.

I'm having twins in October, so I think I better not do the same thing as I did with DD. Wait I get 3 emotionally scarred children. Think of all the money I will need to spend on counselling and therapy! Never mind if I'm worn out and won't be able to look after my children well. Anyway, most important is that their brains don't get damage and their emotional needs are met right? It's all for building a positive relationship with my children.

Okay gotta go now, need to go and ask around for a good neurologist for my daughter. I think I better bring her to a child psychologist also. Need to start therapy sessions since I think I've probably traumatized her already!