Sleep logs and no-cry solutions

Ok, so I thought I'd start a thread for those of us using no-cry sleep solutions to share our logs, ideas and encouragement.

I'll start by sharing my first log in a minute, but first a few rules:

Some of us are starting from fairly crap situations. I know that some of us have created some of our own problems, but for me at least, allowing this to happen was critical to our ability to survive the last 8 months. So lets not harp on about how we got here - the focus is where we go next.

Feel free to share ideas and suggestions. They don't to be limited to those in Elizabeth Pantley's book. Try to be encouraging though

Finally, NO CIO/CC suggestions. I appreciate that such techniques may have worked for you, but we have chosen not to use them, so please don't suggest them. This isn't a place to argue their merits or otherwise. They are simply off limits.

Right ladies, lets get some babies sleeping

Baby T-Rex, 8 months, 21 August 2010.

Nap log:
3 naps - target is 2
4 hours sleep - target is 3-4 hours

All naps required 20 mins of rocking with a dummy to get her to sleep, and she was on Daddy's lap for the entirety of all naps - he tried the cot a few times and she flat out refused.

The rocking and dummy are currently our naptime routine, but the timing and duration of naps is very inconsistent between days.

Pros - getting enough sleep
Cons - only if she stays on our lap, so not ideal!!

NIGHT LOG:
Asleep time: 8.05pm
Awake time 6.15am
Awakenings: 5
Longest sleep: 2 hours
Total sleep: 8hours, 10 minutes (target 11-12 hours)

Most wakenings required feeding back to sleep.
We have a good, consistent bedtime routine, and bedtime is usually between 7.30-8pm.

Pros - she was in her cot all night!! (thats a big deal after nearly a month of co-sleeping).
Cons - where do I start?!

TOTAL SLEEP:
12 hours - 2 hours less than target of 14 hours.

STRATEGIES:
I will do these for 2 weeks, and then complete (and post) another sleep log.

1. Every day nap will be in the cot, not our laps (ok to get her to sleep on our laps though).

2. No co-sleeping - she will spend all night in her cot.

3. I will reinforce the pull-off the breast before falling asleep trick at night.

4. I will have her ready for bed by 6pm with the aim of having her in bed by 7.

5. No dummy in the night.

6. Her lovey "horse" will join all our night cuddles.

So, thats me. Who is next? Dammit, she's awake! Gotta go.

I used to feed DS to sleep but decided to wean him off it so tried the taking him off when he was still awake/drowsy thing and gradually increased the wakefulness til he was settling by himself...worked really well!

I don't have a sleep log but I was thinking about starting a routine since we don't have one so maybe I will try that as well and post it once I have it figured out!

Hope the top dresser didn't waker her!
That is great that she has been having her naps in the cot, well done! Give yourself a pat on the back for deciding to do something and sticking with it!

Heh, yep, it did wake her up, or at least something did. So the cot nap only lasted 15 minutes, but we'll get there.

I've been doing well on getting her ready for bed by 6(ish!) and she's gone down by 7 for two nights in a row. It's amazing to have a bit of spare time in the evenings! I haven't had that in 8 months

Looking forward to seeing some other (lack of) sleep logs

Ok, here's last nights sleep log:

In bed asleep 7.00pm.

Awake 10.45pm - few mins
11.40pm - 20mins (maybe asleep 12am)
12.20am - woke again, re-wrapped, asleep without dummy straight away
4am - woke, grizzled on and off for really short periods (under a minute) but over 15 mins every couple of mins - tried to leave but wasn't going to sleep.
4.20am - brought into our bed, fell asleep straight away.
5.15am - brief cry for dummy
6.15am - Awake for day.

So last night he didn't actualy wake for long periods of time, and one of the better sleeps was without the dummy. I probably should have tried to get him back to sleep in his cot at 4am but I knew he'd wake hourly from then.

I don't get why he often wakes in the late evening? He used to do bigger sleeps than that when he was 6 weeks old!

What frustrates me is that DS goes to sleep on his own easily enough but then during the day if he wakes up during nap time, they he won't go back to sleep so his naps usually end up being only 1 hour. So what am I doing wrong?? So confusing, I thought when they self settled they were supposed to be better at going back to flippin sleep as well!

hehe T-Rex.....great mental picture there!

Im sure that DD ongoing ear infection has been one of the main issues with her sleeping lately!

none of you are doing anthing wrong. tali 1hr may be all that he needs each time, ben will usually slepp 1h or 1h15min for each nap. 45min is a sleep cycle so my assumption is that if they wake after 1h then they have resettled at 45min then had enough at 1h. not sure if i am right!

didn't keep a sleep log last night as I had a playcentre meeting. however ben only woke twice. dh put him in our bed with him at 9.30pm when he woke the first time. i changed his bedtime routine and after we went into his room i read diff stories and gave him a back rub. he went to sleep so much easier. will try again tonight and see what happens. got the ideas from pinky mckay's book 'toddler tactics' she is having a teleseminar on thursday if you are interested, go to her website to register, i have

sorry for poor typing, jack is asleep on my lap and i am typing 1 handed!

Millyz I read on the sleepstore website if you go into their room about 5-10mins before they wake and give them a little prod, enough for them to stir, not wake them up of course! They'll restart the sleep cycle and thus sleep longer. I don't prod Lily though, we have a noisey door handle that squeaks so I just turn the door handle and she stirs and goes back to sleep.