Sleep Training - Elgin,IL

You are going to get so many different answers but this is what I did and it worked:

1. Set aside 3 days/nights where you can plan on being in hell. Block them off on your calendar.

2. Get a big bowl of candy to help deal with the anxiety because it is heart breaking to hear your kid cry endlessly.

3. Put her (or him, I don't know what you have) to bed and let her cry for 5 min, go back in after 5 min but DO NOT take her out of crib. Give her a kiss and leave. Let her cry for 10 min, go back in, give her a kiss, do not take her out of the crib and leave. Let her cry for 15 and do the same. Then either try for 20 minutes or just let her cry until she falls asleep. Do this for 3 nights in a row. It is not easy but in the end it is SO worth it. She will not remember it, she will not be mad at you in the morning. You can do it!

Note: For my older one, it took 3 nights. For my younger one, it only took 2. Stay strong. Get candy!! Good luck. :)
~R.

There are so many sleep training books out there, that I would suggest looking at them all and deciding which method would be good for you. I was a professionally nanny for twenty years and train all my charges differently. Every child is different and not one method will work. however the clues are the same. I would chart your 9 month old for about a week. What time he wakes up, any naps and times, and what time you put him to bed. This is the best way to figure out, 1 is he getting enough sleep, 2 are the nap times "good times", and 3, figure out morning wake up and bedtimes work for your family. I had a family that wanted their child up late because they got home at 6:30 and wanted to spend time with her, so she didn't go to bed until 10 and slept until 9:30, her after noon nap was from 2-5. Simple rules: 9 months old should be sleeping around 14 hours each day. 11 at night and around 3 hours for naps, one morning about an hour and two in the afternoon. Best times for naps are around 9 a.m. and again at 1 p.m. Usually in the morning after breakfast after about an hour of play time and they about an hour after lunch. For a nine month old I would but the down no later than 8 p.m., but I would start the bedtime routine at 7. That way lights off and door shut at 8. Waking up at night is always the harder part, you need to decide if you are going to do the cry it out method, or go in every other minute, five minutes, but I can tell you if you leave your baby in the crib and not take them out and comfort them by hugging them in the crib and laying them down and rubbing his back and just saying "sshhh" nicely, it helps you and them. I would invest if you haven't in a sound machine, a small led nightligh(2-pack for $8) so you don't have to turn on the light when you go in. It will take about a month for a great schedule to develop. I love Dr. Weissbluth, healthy sleep habits, happy child, he offers several different styles. The Happiest Baby on the Block by Harvey Karp and The no-cry slleep Solution by Elizabeth Pantley. Sleep Training is not something you can jump into you neeed to find the right method for you.

Good luck!

As a mother of two, who really protects my childrens need for sleep, I highly recommend ,"Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child," by Dr. Marc Weisbluth. Excellent and helps to guide you for different ages. Best wishes and be consistant.

Please go to www.askdrsears.com and read the article on infant sleep. It helped me a lot to know why some babies just don't sleep as well as others. I have 3 children and all 3 have had difficulty staying asleep at night until after 18 months. Now 2 of the 3 sleep 10-11 hours straight and I'm hopefully on the "homestretch" with my 15 month old. Best wishes for more rest.

Try reading the no-cry sleep solution. It's a good guideline. I tried CIO on my DD... It sounded great in theory, but it just didn't work for us. (it doesn't help that we have no choice but to have her sleeping in our room... CIO doesn't work if they can see/hear you) The no-cry book helped me understand infant sleep, so I was able to gradually get her into a sleeping pattern that works well for the both of us. :)