Sleep Consultant

I have a consultant that I just used a couple of months ago for my 4.5 yr old. She works with kids of all ages. I'll PM you her information.
She's based in St. Louis, but we did a call with her, and her suggestions were 100% helpful. My son is now sleeping through the night pretty regularly!

I understand your dilemma and honestly it is hard to say whether you should go ahead with her or not. But I can tell you my experience. I believe kids need consistent schedule and slowly they start to expect what happens next. I have two boys (2 & 4), and they both sleep in their rooms on their own, through the night. But to get here, I have followed a very consistent schedule for last 4 years.
At 5 months, my boys did not sleep through the night. I would not let them sleep in the evening after 4 pm. His last nap had be done by 4. At around 6 I used to give him a massage, followed by bath, some play time and then feed him. Then we would read a story book and see the pictures together and slowly turn off the lights and start his lullaby CD and then rock him to sleep by 8. He used to wake up at 1am for a feed and then again I think around 5.30am. I had their crib in my bedroom but never co-slept.
When he woke up at night, I would not turn the lights on, I did not talk much, I would feed him and try to put him back to sleep with minimum stimulation. He slowly got used to the night time routine and knew the drill and started settling in that routine. He learned that night time waking is only for bottle. No matter how active he would be, I never played or talked. Eventually with darkness and music he would fall back to sleep.
Both boys started sleeping through the night around 1 year but would wake up at 5.30-6am for a bottle. They both moved to big boy bed and in their rooms at 1 year because they just did not want to be in the crib.
I started this routine when they were two months, it took about 4 weeks for it take affect but they are sleep trained for life I think. Every baby is different though but with that being said I believe that they are clean slate and wecan shape and mould them if we work on it.
Good luck. I know how hard life is when you are sleep deprived...it will get better though, I promise.

I want to start by saying I agree with Geetika K.'s description of the routine she started with her boys :)

Your son's sleeping behavior is very normal and common for a 5mo, especially for a boy. I don't know if anyone has ever told you, but the clinical definition of "sleeping through the night" for a baby under 12mo is 5-6 hours. And his naps are also normal for his age. I remember getting SO frustrated with my kids when they came into that phase! At least I felt a little more prepared for it the 2nd time around.

It's not usually recommended to do any kind of sleep training with a baby under 6mo, and I think that's even too young. Babies go through so many transitions and develop so rapidly that I know people who have done the expensive sleep training with their 5, 6, 7 month olds, only to have it all fall apart at the next stage of development. 6-12 months is a HUGE milestone period, with sitting up by himself, crawling, pulling to stand, cruising and walking, and most of these usually affect sleep in some way (even if it's small).

The better thing to do is to develop a routine with him and adjust your attitude towards his sleeping personality. I know it's hard right now with school and life in general, and I know it's easier said than done to subscribe to the whole "this too shall pass" and "he's only going to be this little..." but they really are true.

You could also try transitioning him into his own sleeping space and see how he does. We started with naps (actually at about his age; when they started rolling is when I got uncomfortable) to get them to used to sleeping in a different bed, their own space. When that went well, I started them in the crib for the first part of the night, then finally moved to putting them back in the crib after a night nursing (or 2 or 3).

There were 2 things that really helped me turn the corner:
- Changing my attitude towards night parenting (Dr. Sears has a wonderful section of this in one of his books)
- Elizabeth Pantley's No-Cry Sleep Solution (because there are so many great suggestions!!!).

Here are a couple of great articles to help with nighttime parenting:
- http://www.askdrsears.com/topics/sleep-problems/8-infant-...
- http://www.askdrsears.com/topics/sleep-problems/night-wea...

It does get better, and one day, you'll look back and wonder when things started to improve because it'll be gradual. But it may get worse before it gets better, and that's when the open mind is so important :)

Good luck with everything, and I hope you do well in school despite your sleep challenges!

Don't know what your budget allows, but I think $350 is a good price for something priceless, a full night's sleep.

Good luck to you and yours.
F. B.

BTW, we used Ferber, it worked for us.

If I were you I would start by doing a little research on the various "sleep methods" and find one that fits your needs and parenting style. Check out the book about that method from the library (or buy it if you prefer) and read it and do what it says. If it is $350 for a consultation and phone calls you are still doing all the work. You would just be paying her to tell you what you can read in a book for free. It is not like she would be coming to your house and "magically" making your baby a great sleeper (THAT would be worth every penny!!). I would at least start this way, if you get desperate you could consider her, but again it sounds like you would be implementing all of her rather expensive advice yourself, and you don't know for sure that what she recommends is something you will be comfortable doing or if it will work for you and your child. I personally would do the research myself and save the money.

I often referred to the babysleepsite.com when my kids were a bit younger. They offer online sleep consultations. I never purchased a package, but read through many of their articles and blogs. I also read a few books on various sleep training methods.

I think that 5 months is a little young yet. Between my own two kids and running a daycare, I've found that most kids don't really follow a predictable schedule until around 6-7 months. Plus I liked waiting until after their 6 month appt to make sure the Dr said they were healthy and not teething and no health issues that would make them cry, etc.

I'm not sure what you mean by 'gentle' as I don't think letting a kids cry is cruel...but either way, I will say that if you want fast results...using a more dramatic approach such as cry-it-out will get you there a little faster. I'm not even advocating it over other methods as I've tried both. Just stating a fact. I understand wanting to not let your kid cry (and at 5 months I wouldn't let my kid cry)...BUT non CIO methods typically require alot more work from YOU...meaning if you are tired now, you will be even MORE tired while sleep training. Sleep training itself is TIRING work.

That being said...I think $350 is probably in par with the website I mentioned. However, I don't think I'd shell out the $$ just yet. Try gathering some info on your own first, read a book or two, then in a few months if still no dice, then I'd give that nice lady a call. If you just don't have time to dig through the info and want the lady to show you and you have the $$ laying around..then absolutely go for it.

The book "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" by Dr. Weissbluth, was extremely helpful. I read numerous book, and this one worked the best for me. You have to be consistant and keep a sleep log. They develop more of a schedule at 5-6 months. I nursed all my kids for over 1.5 years.

We had the same problem until about 8 months, so my husband insisted on putting him in his own bed. I was so against this, but he slept straight through the night, 8p.m. until 5 or 6 a.m. every night once he was in his own crib!

We also used a cosleeper (the Dr. Sears one) which attaches to the bed, so he is right there to nurse but then you plop him right over into his "own" space.

Good luck!

I have helped many a daycare parent get their child sleeping through the night and having solid naps. Maybe I should start being a consultant, I've been giving my talents away for free!! LOL.
I find that using the Baby Whisperer's EASY schedule, combined with the Happiest Baby on the Block's 5 S's makes for a wonderful sleep situation. I get asked about this so often I even put up how to do it on my daycare website. I'll copy and paste it here though since I'm not allowed to link on these responses.

First, being overtired can be a HUGE factor in these issues. For that reason I will tell you that the amount of sleep is :
*newborn to 4 months old - 19 to 22 hours in a 24 hour period

4 months old to 12 months old - 12 hours at night, (may have a feeding after the first few hours when Mommy is ready to go to bed for the night), two to three naps of 2 to 3 hours each

EASY - when the baby wakes up it Eats. After you feed it, then it has Activity - bouncy seat, tummy time, sitting up and playing with toys, swing, exersaucer, etc. When the baby gets fussy check the B's - boredom, butt or burp. If it's none of those then off to Sleep. Don't wait for the baby to do more than get the tiniest bit fussy, then see what is causing the fusses - if it's just that they needed their diaper change do that, but if it's not the activity is boring, the butt is dirty or they have to burp, then put them down. This may happen after as short as 45 minutes, don't freak, it really means they are tired.
Now, to get them to sleep use the 5 s's. Swaddle the baby, hold the baby on their side and sway as they suck on something (paci, your knuckle or their finger/thumb) and make a shush noise. This will calm your baby. When the baby is calm, but not asleep yet, keeping them swaddled lay them in the bed. I like to pat them instead of sway after a minute or two cause you can still pat after they are put down but you can't sway, so pat the baby and continue patting gradually decreasing it as you put them in the bed. Also continue the shushing as you put them down, again gradually getting quieter.
If you do these two you will find a well rested, easily managed baby in no time. If a baby wakes before 1 1/2 hours then wait ten minutes before going in, most babies settle in that time period and go right back to sleep on their own.

I have many articles on my site about scientific studies about all sorts of sleep related things, but this is a quick summary. If you stick to it, and actually DO it, then it is something you can do by yourself.