Reading Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child and I feel like an idiot! ETA my experiance from the day doing some of this!

Am I just not following this thing

I feel like this book is confusing me and I need the HSHHC Cliff Notes instead!

Can someone who has BTDT with this book OR with napping & sleeping issues tell me what I am missing?!!

I get the concept of sleep begets sleep. We tried to get DS to bed earlier last night & we had a screaming mess who slept 40 minutes once FINBALLY falling asleep who ended up awake & happy until midnight. I ended up sleeping on the sofa with him.

I get the watch for sleepy signs to help in making nap time easier (it worked GREAT yesterday....he napped 2 1/2 hours!!!). this morning though I got him comforted & laid down & he fell asleep with minimal whining & woke 20 minutes later And hour later I had to do the same thing (he has been napping about 30 minutes now).

Message edited 1/19/2009 7:49:47 PM.

Re: Reading Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child and I feel like an idiot!

Bump for anyone?!!

Re: Reading Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child and I feel like an idiot!

I couldn't get through this book either...glad to hear I'm not the only one

Re: Reading Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child and I feel like an idiot!

Im so happy you said this. All those studies and figures...just tell me what the heck to do!
My DD sleeps no longer then .5 hours at a clip

Re: Reading Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child and I feel like an idiot!

So for the girls who this book did help....PLEASE help thos eof us who can't seem to help ourselves!

Re: Reading Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child and I feel like an idiot!

I have to say I skimmed through a lot of the sections that sighted studies and facts/figures. I was able to get a lot out of his "plan" though. It has been a lifesaver. We started at around 5 months. We made sure we put DS to bed by about 7:30 (with a consistent routine). If quickly fell into a pattern of sleeping until at least 7 am. That meant nap by 9am and then again at 1pm. He rarely had a third nap. DS is now almost 10 months and even though the amount of time he is awake has changed, he has benefited a lot from following the plan. He can really put himself to sleep, does not mind being alone in the dark in his crib (in case he does not go right down at naptime). I loved this book.

I did feel like he slept a lot and it was hard to get out of the house. But, for me it was worth it. He always wakes up happy and smiling and rarely gets that overtired whine.... only when we are out like on holidays.

Good luck with it!

Re: Reading Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child and I feel like an idiot!

Thanks July0105!

I was also thinking the whole rigidity of the nap & bedtime schedule m ay be hindering, but I am realizing that the lack of sleep we all get is far worse!!!


My results of attempting some of these "methods today:

1. I recognized his sleepy signals well today. 4 times he went down for naps without crying. The 1rst nap he whined a bit, the other 3 he was quiet & asleep in like 5 minutes or less.

******What I have learned today from the napping: I need to consolidate the 2 morning & 2 afternoon naps better. I thnk he needs to be up closer to 3 1/2 hours before sleeping any length of time in the AM


2. I started bedtime routine MUCH earlier. He had dinner at 5:45 instead of 6:15PM. Bath at 6:10PM and bottle by 6:40PM (bath & bottle about 1 hour earlier then normal).

******What I have learned today from all that IS: I will stick as close to 6PM as possible since I am a FT working Mom & we are not always in the door until 5:45 the earliest. 3 days a week it will a bit tough because of our work schedules, but we will do our best! DS also can not have a bath every night because of his excema, so that will happen only Monday & Thursday when either me or DH is off & can do it more leisurley with him!


ETA the most important part I guess!! I laid him down sleepy at 7PM. Some intense crying for about 10 minutes, then on & off softer crying & whimpering for 20 more minutes. I went in & out several times to sooth & sing to him a bit which helped. By 7:30PM he was asleep!! This is 30 minutes to 1 hour earlier then normal.

Message edited 1/19/2009 7:49:12 PM.

Re: Reading Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child and I feel like an idiot! ETA my experiance from the day doing some of this!

From 5 - 8 months this is how I think the sleep schedule is: (Or at least this is what I got from the book)

1st nap - 2 hrs after DD wakes up
2nd nap - 2 1/2 hrs after waking up from 1st nap
3rd nap - sometimes, depending on how late she sleeps.

Its hard to explain bc I do think every baby is different, as far as length of naps. 30 min before I want to put her down for a nap I start winding her down. I really just hold her, no toys and keep the house quiet and the tv low.

As far as the sleep signs, DD doesnt always show them and DH thinks that I put her in the crib when she isnt even tired, but then she ends up falling asleep. So now I go by clock time more than anything (which he does say in the book) and I follow the schedule above.

Sorry if I am not clear, sometimes I am not good at explaining things. Let me know if you have any questions about what I wrote

Re: Reading Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child and I feel like an idiot! ETA my experiance from the day doing some of this!

I skipped a lot of the book. I only read the age specific chapters. I'm not much help because DS did not follow any of the patterns in the book.

Re: Reading Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child and I feel like an idiot! ETA my experiance from the day doing some of this!

Re: Reading Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child and I feel like an idiot! ETA my experiance from the day doing some of this!

My older 2 followed the book great...still waiting for a pattern to emerge with baby #3.

Honestly, she'll fall asleep so easily after being awake only 1 1/2 hrs!

Re: Reading Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child and I feel like an idiot! ETA my experiance from the day doing some of this!

There was some crying.....stared about 30 minutes after......lasted on & off for 1 hour........he did cry out twice since but right back to sleep!!!

We are off to bed....wish us luck....we are both

Re: Reading Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child and I feel like an idiot! ETA my experiance from the day doing some of this!

This book is so f'ing confusing to me

It gives 2 completely different plans. One is putting them down awake and the other is rocking or soothing them to sleep. Two TOTALLY different methods with different outcomes, so I have NO idea what he is trying to get at.

He also keeps mentioning severly colicy babies and how they sleep/go to sleep. My DD seems to fall into that category (in terms of how she falls asleep), however she was NOT colicy

I did however get out of it looking for sleepy signs/how long they can be awake for.

However, my DD takes 4 45 min. naps. She is close to 6 months, this is totally not along with his plan, but even if I consolodated them she would not sleep any longer than 45 min.

I also think it is close to impossible to follow this as a working Mom. Am I supposed to not have my parents drive my DD around nap times? They have to drive my nephew to preschool so that would not work.

I keep going back to his chapters but end up frustrated.

Re: Reading Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child and I feel like an idiot! ETA my experiance from the day doing some of this!

We lived by this book.

I think the biggest thing we got out of it was to put your child down after at most 2 hours of wakefulness. I was surprised at how my daugher (and then son) would appear to be wide awake, but then I would put them in the crib and they would be asleep in minutes.

Still, you'll probably have to deal with some crying at first.

Good luck.

Re: Reading Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child and I feel like an idiot! ETA my experiance from the day doing some of this!

None of these things would work for me. My DD naps for 20 min. At what age does this start working?

Re: Reading Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child and I feel like an idiot! ETA my experiance from the day doing some of this!

Re: Reading Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child and I feel like an idiot! ETA my experiance from the day doing some of this!

I live in Chicago and go to the Pediatric Practice that Dr. Weisbluth (the author of book) runs. Sweet Babies . He is not my doctor, but all of the doctors in the practice follow his studies and are well versed in the sleep department. I could not get DD to nap no matter what I did and was getting very frustrated. At our 3 month appt, the Dr said that it was too early to try CIO and to do anything it took to get DD to sleep - hold her, put her in swing, etc. By 5 months she was a rockstar napper in her crib. I just kept trying to put her down (and had them doing the same at daycare). She eventually caught on. Nightime was not as easy though. At our 6 month appt, my Dr. said I could have a sleep consultation with Dr. Weisbluth. His assistant emailed me a few tips prior to setting up the consultation. Put them to bed early (7pm or so), they can have pacifier, don't go in and soothe them or replace pacifier in their mouths, only go in to feed (prior to 8 months old they may still need a 3 or 4 am feeding). We let DD CIO at night for a LONG time (it was awful!!!) but she finally caught on that we were coming back in and would go to sleep. She now sleeps 11 hours at night and takes two 2 hour naps and one 1 hour nap each day.

Re: Reading Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child and I feel like an idiot! ETA my experiance from the day doing some of this!

Dont replace the paci? Oh my I cant imagine!

Re: Reading Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child and I feel like an idiot! ETA my experiance from the day doing some of this!

Posted by july0105

I have to say I skimmed through a lot of the sections that sighted studies and facts/figures. I was able to get a lot out of his "plan" though. It has been a lifesaver. We started at around 5 months. We made sure we put DS to bed by about 7:30 (with a consistent routine). If quickly fell into a pattern of sleeping until at least 7 am. That meant nap by 9am and then again at 1pm. He rarely had a third nap. DS is now almost 10 months and even though the amount of time he is awake has changed, he has benefited a lot from following the plan. He can really put himself to sleep, does not mind being alone in the dark in his crib (in case he does not go right down at naptime). I loved this book.

I did feel like he slept a lot and it was hard to get out of the house. But, for me it was worth it. He always wakes up happy and smiling and rarely gets that overtired whine.... only when we are out like on holidays.

Good luck with it!