I Think I'm Stupid!!!

I forget where we got it from but there is a program called Sleep Sense that you can find on the internet, just sign up and I think if you pay a small fee you can also down load their book to read instead of having to go out and find it (which I found places that carried but didn't have it in stock) and finally broke down and got it from their site. I was able to use it to get our 22 month old sleeping through the night within a month of giving him his own room and using the same program our 13 month old has been sleeping through the night since he was 3 months old. :)

Hi B.,

I think having 4 children is a great idea - not everyone is blessed with that desire! So, you should - on that note you need to change some things abuot the sleeping habits or you will go bonkers for the next 6 years and not sleep at all or ever alone with your husband. :)
When you give the child something to help them sleep they will get used to having it and not be able to go to sleep on their own. Your son is used to you being with him when he sleeps, used to a night light (disco thing), and music (songs you play). He needs to learn to just go into his room and go to sleep. I would recommend starting to break the habit - he will cry some and throw tantrums, but I think you need to break him of this before your little girl comes along or you will not remember time with either one when they are little. I have twins and I knew that if I did not get their sleeping habits down I would not ever get enough sleep to enjoy them all the time. From the time they were born they slept in their own crib (well, with each other but not me) without a light and with no music or anything to help them sleep. I never made them scream/cry themselves to sleep, but I always made sure they were put into bed when it was time to sleep. They are now 2 years old (just this month) and when I say it is nap time they run to their room and at night I say it is nite nite time and they go in and put their head down and go to sleep. Train them to want to go to bed and sleep without any type of crutch. I read "baby-wise" and "sleep baby sleep" and used what I thought was good for each of my children. I have a boy and a girl. My son (most boys) loves his sleep. My daughter fights it tooth and nail, but will always go down as she knows there is no "wiggle room" to not go to sleep. You are about to have a little girl, so I would be prepared. I think little girls are the most precious babies, but they will definitely be more independent that little boys. Please email me if you want to talk more - I promise I can help you get your babies to sleep. Oh - also, neither of my babies ever cried when they woke up to eat, they just woke up and made sounds. They were not afraid of the dark and they trusted me that i was going to come get them, so I never had to wake up to crying! That was a blessing. My son started to try that, but I worked him out of it. email anytime through this listserv and I can give you my personal email too.
S.

I think the other mom with the twins has a great point of getting it under control, but i think every child is different. My son (3 1/2) was used to me rocking him from nursing so i took it in phases when i stopped nursing. at first i would rock him until he was completely asleep then take him to his room, then i rocked him until he was ALMOST asleep and put him in his bed to fall asleep on his own, then we just started going straight to his room after bath - this was our tricky part - it started out with me laying in there with him (big mistake) just something else i had to wien him from but what worked really well was laying with him for a few minutes then as i would leave if he popped up i would tell him i was going to go potty or something and i would be right back for him to just listen to his music - he would go to sleep like that A LOT. then our next hurdle was nightmares that got us to the now routine of him watching some cartoons (he has a dvd player but not cable) and then when it was over he knew to roll over and go to sleep (p.s. set the sleep timer on the t.v.) for the most part this is the tv time he has for the day - i think you just need to step back and look at the situation - it took us a while to figure out that his bath got him a little hyper so he needed that wind down time that his cartoons give him. I don't know that this is any help to you whatsoever but i thought i would share what we went through and what helped us.

There is only one thing to do here...you must buy a new bulb for your son's disco lamp! LOL i wish you could get a hold on the May issue of American Baby magazine and read the article 'what I did for love' on page 50. As soon as I read your request that article popped in my head and I had to respond. You just have to get the mag if don't already have it and read this article.

How long has he been in his own room. This is a big move for him. He is use to having you around all night and might be a little scared. Once he gets more use to his room he will start doing better. I would probable lay down with him for a few nights but shorten the time each night and hopefully he will soon learn to go to bed with out you. Did you lay down with him when you shared a room? Are there any other major changes going on? Hang in there is does get easier I have four children all 6 and under and I love it and am trying to talk my hubby into more. We'll see what happens.
M.