Friday, March 26, 2010

Wake To Sleep

For three weeks since my trip to Ithaca, V's been waking up at night. Not every night, but probably 2 out of 3. After a while I figured out the pattern: she'd sleep six hours, wake for about two, then sleep about 3 more. The nights when she did sleep straight through it would be for 11 hours straight - like she was making up for lost time.

So Terry remembered the old "wake to sleep" trick that we learned from Dr. Sears last year for habitual night waking: anticipate the night waking by an hour - gently wake your child up an hour before their habitual time (so this really only works if your kid is waking up at about the same time every night), then put them back to bed. Do this 3-4 nights in a row.

Well it worked before, and it looks like it's working again! We've done it two nights running - when she falls asleep, we set the alarm for 4.5 hours from that point. When it rings, Terry gently picks her up, talks to her quietly, changes her diaper, gives her a drink of water, and puts her back in bed. So far she's gone back to sleep and completed her typical 9.5-10 hours without a peep.

6 comments:

Rachel said...

That sounds like an excellent idea. It makes sense too.

tara said...

does that work for really late morning issues?? say for the 5 am wakeup call? because this toddler just can't make it on 8 hours of sleep a night.

Unknown said...

It might work for early waking - worth a try?

Mike said...
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Commentbug here said...
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ryanandjoesmom said...

I may have to try this, but he is usually up within one hour of falling asleep. It's as if he knows I have just laid down to sleep and wants to keep me company. Usually OK but he has been so restless lately and am afraid of him kicking my belly.

Thank you for swinging by and saying hi!!