I type this message knowing we very well may just be lucky, but I wanted to share our experience of resounding success using the Ferber method.
Tonight was our fourth night using Ferber, and our nearly 20-week old son not only was looking forward to bed, but fell asleep in under 5 minutes without so much as a peep. Every day since we started this a few nights ago he has been the happiest we have ever seen him. I do not believe for a second that this caused anything negative with him despite him being a bit angry the first two nights (this won't be the last time I make him do something he doesn't want to do but for his own benefit). We have been pretty adamant about forcing the crib since he was about a month old and making sure to have a wind down routine every night but his sleep was so irregular and needed a pacifier reinsertion countless times a night as well as being picked up and calmed.
Night one: We kept him up about 1 hour later than usual, but also were realizing that his last wake window had grown recently as well recently. We decided to drop the pacifier for both night and nap sleep. Our usual routine of lights down, massage or bath, quiet talk and cuddles and then into the crib in a dark as can be room. He fussed / cried / was annoyed for about 35 minutes, he quieted down and went to sleep at 40. We followed check in times exactly as indicated by Ferber. He slept for 6 hours straight without any intervention. He was previously sleeping no more than 1.5 hours at a time. He woke to eat and then slept a few more hours. We are still working on the morning half of this equation. But its gotten better each day.
Night two: Same routine. 35 minutes before asleep - 15 total minutes of crying. 5 of fussing. 7 hours straight of sleep.
Night three: Same routine, 12 minutes before sleep, one checkin. He looked at me during it and stopped crying and just seemed to know exactly what was going on. Fell asleep about a minute after I left. He woke once at around 4 hours and cried. Did a single check in but did not feed as he went 7 hours the night before. He was back to sleep in about 10 minutes. Slept 8 total hours before eating.
Night four: can't speak for the entire evening. But he went to sleep in 5 minutes without even a peep. Just a bit moving wiggling and doing his thing after the calmest pre-bed routine we have ever had.
Each morning he has been SO smiley and giggly and just the happiest dude ever. My wife and I are both flabbergasted and SOOOO happy we chose to do this. Obviously this isn't going to work the same for everyone. But I just want to scream "F*** YESSSSS" from the rooftops. There is nothing wrong with co-sleeping or doing whatever else you feel is right. But I know for sure that this has benefited all of us tremendously. I'm still totally creeped out by the concept of people sleep training brand new borns, but I also understand there are certain circumstances that might call for that for the safety of everyone involved.
Hope this helps inspire anyone on the fence! We were obviously nervous about this as well, but honestly, the crying wasn't as bad as expected and again, i must reemphasize just how happy he has been. Cheers y'all! Happy sleeping!
Tonight was our fourth night using Ferber, and our nearly 20-week old son not only was looking forward to bed, but fell asleep in under 5 minutes without so much as a peep. Every day since we started this a few nights ago he has been the happiest we have ever seen him. I do not believe for a second that this caused anything negative with him despite him being a bit angry the first two nights (this won't be the last time I make him do something he doesn't want to do but for his own benefit). We have been pretty adamant about forcing the crib since he was about a month old and making sure to have a wind down routine every night but his sleep was so irregular and needed a pacifier reinsertion countless times a night as well as being picked up and calmed.
Night one: We kept him up about 1 hour later than usual, but also were realizing that his last wake window had grown recently as well recently. We decided to drop the pacifier for both night and nap sleep. Our usual routine of lights down, massage or bath, quiet talk and cuddles and then into the crib in a dark as can be room. He fussed / cried / was annoyed for about 35 minutes, he quieted down and went to sleep at 40. We followed check in times exactly as indicated by Ferber. He slept for 6 hours straight without any intervention. He was previously sleeping no more than 1.5 hours at a time. He woke to eat and then slept a few more hours. We are still working on the morning half of this equation. But its gotten better each day.
Night two: Same routine. 35 minutes before asleep - 15 total minutes of crying. 5 of fussing. 7 hours straight of sleep.
Night three: Same routine, 12 minutes before sleep, one checkin. He looked at me during it and stopped crying and just seemed to know exactly what was going on. Fell asleep about a minute after I left. He woke once at around 4 hours and cried. Did a single check in but did not feed as he went 7 hours the night before. He was back to sleep in about 10 minutes. Slept 8 total hours before eating.
Night four: can't speak for the entire evening. But he went to sleep in 5 minutes without even a peep. Just a bit moving wiggling and doing his thing after the calmest pre-bed routine we have ever had.
Each morning he has been SO smiley and giggly and just the happiest dude ever. My wife and I are both flabbergasted and SOOOO happy we chose to do this. Obviously this isn't going to work the same for everyone. But I just want to scream "F*** YESSSSS" from the rooftops. There is nothing wrong with co-sleeping or doing whatever else you feel is right. But I know for sure that this has benefited all of us tremendously. I'm still totally creeped out by the concept of people sleep training brand new borns, but I also understand there are certain circumstances that might call for that for the safety of everyone involved.
Hope this helps inspire anyone on the fence! We were obviously nervous about this as well, but honestly, the crying wasn't as bad as expected and again, i must reemphasize just how happy he has been. Cheers y'all! Happy sleeping!