To all Cecile's clients.... just wanted to hear your experiences with the sleep training | ExpatWoman.com
 

To all Cecile's clients.... just wanted to hear your experiences with the sleep training

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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 30 June 2011 - 15:19

Went to Cecile yesterday. Lovely lady. She wants to me to do the dont pick up but soothe approach for DD who is 16 months and needs to be rocked to sleep and needs to be soothed back to sleep multiple times a night.

Last night was awful where she cried the whole 45 mins of the 'dont pick up' approach. I was instructed to abandon if she cried for 45 mins. Today at nap time (which has always been a struggle), she was ok but did not sleep in the 45 mins so we had to pick her up and rock her again.

I just wanted to hear your experiences. Obviously I know this is not going to just work the first time, but how long did it take for you ladies to see success using her methods? And I need the encouragement too. I was surprisingly not as upset with the yelling asi thought I would be and the wonderful Ashc basically told me "She is not hurt, she is not hungry, she is not cold, she is crying because she wants you to pick her up" and that made me feel better.
Note: I am not leaving her in her crib to CIO.

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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 08 September 2011 - 03:46
Thanks to cecile, my LO has slept soundly 7ish to 7ish since around 10weeks. In his own room since he was 4months, which I never thought I would do, but its given me back some lovely time with my DH, which I was really missing. He hasnever waking once during the night since he was 12 weeks old, and he's been exclusively BF for 6months. (I pump to go out and for his 10pm dreamfeed that his dad gives him, whilst I pump for the next days outings). My supply has been great even though Ive not woken for a feed after 10pm in months. Actually I have too much milk stored in the freezer for when I return to work, so Im starting to throw it out. Although I do admit he takes alot more first thing in the morning and last thing at night when he's not so easily distracted. But I hear thats normal. Cant comment on weaning with Cecile as I havnt started that yet, so Ill let you know. I must admit Im totally new to all things motherly, so I have found cecile supportive when Ive had no friends in with children, no maid, and no family around. The main lesson Ive learnt from being a mother, is that all babies are different & everyone has different views and opinions. Im sure you're all trying to do your best for you and your family & I bet you're little ones love you no matter what.
Anonymous (not verified)
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 07 July 2011 - 13:37
As long as she doesn't see either of us when she wakes up in the middle of the night, she tends to go back to sleep (I think). So we just ignore her (and hide under the covers while laughing about the noises she makes) We'll just have to wait and see how it goes. oh I can relate to this!! this is normally the time that one of you will want to sneeze as well!! DD has 'words' with a teddy every morning.. so cute!
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EW GURU
Latest post on 07 July 2011 - 13:01
Thanks ladies. Last night she woke up at 2:45, did some oohing and aahing and then went back to sleep. Don't know when she woke up but when I woke up at 6:40 she was busy "scolding" her mobile. LOL. As long as she doesn't see either of us when she wakes up in the middle of the night, she tends to go back to sleep (I think). So we just ignore her (and hide under the covers while laughing about the noises she makes) We'll just have to wait and see how it goes.
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 07 July 2011 - 09:22
@ Stovetop Just a bit of my 2 bit advice :) DD was a fab sleeper as well untill 5 months. I would put her down at 7, she'd sleep till 3, up for a feed and down till 8 ( sigh!!!! ) When the sleep regression happened, my mistake was to take a 'whatever it takes for you to sleep' approach. I rocked her in the bouncy chair and that was the only thing that got her to sleep. This slowly became a habit and I had to do it EVERY TIME she woke up which was every couple of hours. Not nice! I finally sleep trained at 8-9 months to break the cycle!! ( Mission pat and sush was my thread where I chronicled the whole thing. I couldn't have done it without the support of some great ladies on here!!) So if there were one piece of advice I would give you it would be begin as you mean to go on through this phase. And also, a little child at 5-6 months is a lot more malleable than an older more willful child. Good luck! <em>edited by ashc on 07/07/2011</em>
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EW EXPLORER
Latest post on 06 July 2011 - 23:18
Thanks for all the tips and feedback! KC hope it gets better - there are a lot of positive stories on here so eventually it'll all work out I'm sure. Well we put her to bed at 6pm today and she was fast asleep within a couple minutes. HOwever, she has already woken up 5 times since then!! Each time is only for a minute - she is generally standing in her crib and fussing, so she is picked up for a minute and then put back lying down in her crib while still awake but drowsy and shushed and patted and she goes back to sleep. As her last feed was a bit early today (at 6pm), I fed her at 10:15pm as she fell asleep and woke up again right away so I figured she may be hungry! Now she woke up again and was sitting up in her crib so I just lay her down without picking her up and shushed her and she's gone back to sleep. She's still grinding her teeth a lot so am assuming her teeth are also bothering her, but she's waking up more than ever now!!! Stovetop - DD was a great sleeper up until around 4 months (she would even go for 8 hour stretches sometimes!), but that 4 month sleep regression does happen. Hopefully your DD will go back to sleeping well once she gets through this.
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 06 July 2011 - 19:36
I went to cecile bec we were really tired, ds waking up 5 to 8 times a night. The main problem was that he used to fall asleep in his bugaboo in the morning around 8 am than beeing fussy around 11 and again around 2 .. And at 5. It was all wrong, she said he had to learn how to sleep, to put him down in his bed not the pram. It worked he sleeps two hours in the morning 8 to 10 and 2 in the afternoon 1 to 3. In the night it was more difficult. Every morning and every evening the same thing put him to bed stay 20 min and leave 5 min. Than again 20 min inside and 5 min outside. He was screaming but i was with him. It took 3 days and he would sleep after 2 min and now he sleeps without crying and if he wakes up in the night he goes back to sleep. Here the main thing wait for 3 to 5 min, they settle by themselfs.. It works at 9 months he is finally sleeping from 8 to 6.30 pm. The second one is on the way and its really important to get rest. It did break my heart to hear him crying for 5 min. But i was right there and it did not take longer than 3 days. I have friends who were doing what cecile adviced them to do and they were sleeping from 7 to 6 from 3 months or less only breastfeeding. Her supply never went down and she is still breastfeeding at 10 months. I think cecile looks at every baby and tells you than what to. Hopefully the second one is a bit easier :-) ahh one more thing, no more sleep 4 hours before he goes to bed.. This way he is really tired.. <em>edited by Layool on 06/07/2011</em>
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EW EXPERT
Latest post on 06 July 2011 - 18:38
DC and the other ladies who managed to successfully sleep train - did you run into anything like this? She's definitely rubbing her eyes and yawning by the end of her bath routine and then gets very drowsy with the feed and earlier when she was held she would fall asleep in moments, but now we seem to be going the other way!! I'd say she's getting to the overtired stage at this point, so as pentel says, maybe start the whole routine a little earlier? You may only need to do this for a few days before she catches up on her sleep and then you can gradually go back to your original bedtime. Re the afternoon nap, I found unless DS slept waaaay beyond 5pm he'd still go down at his normal time of 7ish. I figured he must have needed the extra sleep in the afternoon and was just adjusting himself. If he woke at 5.30pm or 6, then we'd have to tweak bedtime a little, but only on the odd occasion. I found the more overtired he was, the worse his night-time sleep would be. kc, I think it's that much harder when they're a little bit bigger :(. But as you say, she's learning - it'll likely take a little longer as she's way more independent and strong-willed than a 7-month-old, but she'll get there. Hang in there. <em>edited by DubaiCat on 06/07/2011</em>
Anonymous (not verified)
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 06 July 2011 - 17:39
stovetop.... 4 words... 4 month sleep regression! go with it, it's a developmental brain leap, it'll pass eventually!
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EW GURU
Latest post on 06 July 2011 - 16:40
I'm so glad this thread came back to what it was for. KC, can I budge in with a few questions too? I'm sort of lost over the last few days. Initially DD used to take many many many short naps during the day with BM, and finally go down with a bottle of formula at 10 and sleep through till 6. If she slept at 11, she'd wake up at 7. And it was like clockwork. 8 hour stretch straight. Now at 4 months, for the past 2 weeks we've been putting her down at 8 (latest, sometimes before), with the breast and then another bottle. Then at 11 I give her another bottle. But she's up at odd hours. 2 nights back she was up at 3: 30, just babbling to herself and slept off on her own at 4:30 and then was up at 6:30 for a feed. This morning she was up at 4:30 and then got cranky somewhere around 5:30 so I just fed her. Any ideas to help her get to 6 or 6:30? I don't understand why her previously perfect stretch had to be messed up :( But I know she gets tired by evening, so don't want to push her bedtime back either.
231
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 06 July 2011 - 15:48
Wow, this thread got super interesting didnt it? Back to the original boring topic! Well its going OK. I spoke with Cecile and she wanted me to ignore for 20, soothe for 5, and ignore for 20. I have not done it. Why? Because DD is lying down and starts to get hysterical if I ignore. SHe is taking forever to sleep (25 to 1 hour), but what I have been doing is minimzing the patting and shushing her instead. So less touching. If she does stand up and demand my attention, I refuse to look at her or interact till she lays down. She does within 30 seconds. Its taking a while but we will get there. Now, the problem I went to Cecile for was multiple wake ups a night. Sigh. That has not gotten any better. We have 5-6 wake ups a night where she just wants to be rocked back to sleep. That is the kicker. Once I have her bed time without touching sorted, I will start with the wakes up and no picking up. Unforunately I have a horrid cough at the moment and it wakes her up so we are sort of in a tough place. I also have to take a huge dose of drowsy cough syrup at night so my poor nanny has been waking up with her. Sigh. Oh yeah. She is teething so am not being tough abt the wakings. I will NOT leave her alone to cry. Its amazing how smart she is. within 3 days she realized Mommy will not pick me up and within a week she has realized, mommy wants me to lie down and sleep. Now i am waiting for her to realize Mommy wants me to lie down and sleep asap. Hahaha! the main thing is I need her to get a good night's sleep for her own sake. Keep at it GQ. DD is slowly dropping her morning nap in favor of a longer afternoon nap. I also let her do it on her own, in that I did not try and keep her up and advance the next nap. She now takes a short 30-40 min nap in the morning and 1.5 to 2 hours in the afternoon. Bed by 7.00 (which is actually more like 8) after the turning and tossing.
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EW EXPLORER
Latest post on 06 July 2011 - 15:19
I don't mind dropping the 3rd nap as long as she sleeps enough during the day. If she doesn't she'll normally go down again around 4pm so I don't know if it's a good idea to stretch her till 5pm. Today she napped for 2 hours until 2:20pm so will put her in bed by no later than 6pm and see how it goes.... So true - the training only seems to come into the picture for sleep! I am so focused on making sure she sleeps enough - she is such an active baby and I know sleep is vital - now if only she'll learn to self soothe!!!
Anonymous (not verified)
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 06 July 2011 - 15:06
kiwispiers makes a good suggestion, maybe try and drop the 3rd nap and have her in bed by 5pm for a week and then stretch that back to 5.30pm, then 6pm you're helping your baby to fulfil her basic needs, funny how we don't use the word "training" when we talk about breastfeeding (which babies need to learn) or giving them solid food, eh?!!
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EW EXPERT
Latest post on 06 July 2011 - 12:52
try putting her to bed at 5pm for a few nights, and also you could give a short 3rd catnap at 3pm if she really needs it, generally the naps seem to work best in increasing gaps, so the smallest gap between wake and first nap and the largest gap between last nap and bedtime. I stuck with 3 naps until around 9 months as mine also took short ones, they we 9am, 12pm and 3pm, and when I dropped the 3rd it moved to 9am, 1am with a 6pm bedtime or 5:30 if the second nap is short for some reason. Tired signs can be very subtle, like getting a bit more active, or needing more attention rather than waiting for the bleary eyes/yawns but generally speaking if they go down easily, even without tired signs then the nap is prob at a good time.
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EW EXPLORER
Latest post on 06 July 2011 - 12:31
Typically she still takes 3 naps - first one around 8:45am, second around 12:30pm and the third around 4pm. I say 'around' because they still vary in duration and as a result the next nap is very often affected. For example, her morning nap is GENERALLY 1.5hrs long and so if she wakes up at 10:15ish, she'll go back down around 12:45pm. However, sometimes the morning nap is only 45 minutes (like today) - she was definitely tired but refusing to sleep, very wired (over tired obviously) and has just gone down for her second nap at 12:20pm. If she now sleeps for 1.5 hours and wakes up at around 1:45pm, she won't show any sleep cues (that I am picking up on anyway!) early enough to put her down at 3ish but naturally if I miss out on her 4pm nap then I feel it is too long a stretch for her to make it to 6pm or 6:30pm. As I mentioned earlier, some days she takes a 1.5 hr nap in the morning, and then again 1.5 hours around 1pm and then she seems ok to go until 6:30pm. Today she's been up since about 5:30am (took her out of her crib at 6am as she wasn't crying before that) and has been completely wired - obviously over tired but fighting sleep :(
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EW EXPERT
Latest post on 06 July 2011 - 11:54
the nap until 5pm could be a problem, and I agree, get her down well before she starts rubbing her eyes, once they get a second wind it is very hard for them to settle, sleep training or not.
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 06 July 2011 - 11:31
Thanks Pentel - bedtime used to be 7pm but we have moved it up to 6:30 (theoretically that is, as by the time she sleeps for the past few nights it's past 7:30 pm!!). She does sleep but is restless and needs re-settling at times and then is up again by 10:30pm or 11pm for her feed (we try to give that as a dream feed before she wakes up). The 'problem' normally starts around 1:00 - 1:30am when she'll get up and it's difficult to put her back to sleep (she doesn't cry mostly but just wants to hang out with mum and dad :\: ). I should also add that we probably have not picked the best time to start the sleep training as she's also teething (she cried quite a bit the second night and we put it down to sleep training or being over tired, only to realize that she was grinding teeth in the morning and sure enough, when I checked, it feels like 2 teeth are coming through on the top!!). Oh and she only wakes up from her third nap at around 5pm so it's hard to start the bed time routine any earlier than 6pm. Sometimes she will nap for 1.5 hrs in the morning and 1.5hrs in the early afternoon, other times it's only 45 mins in the early afternoon so then she'll take a third nap at around 4pm to wake up at around 5pm. edited by GreenQueen on 06/07/2011 Hi GQ, what are her day nap timings? are they consistent or do they vary? The reason I am asking is because maybe you could try making her 3rd nap to end somewhere between 3-4pm. Ideally if it ends by 3.45pm, you might find that she would go down faster at bedtime. Just a suggestion.
330
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EW EXPLORER
Latest post on 06 July 2011 - 10:27
Thanks Pentel - bedtime used to be 7pm but we have moved it up to 6:30 (theoretically that is, as by the time she sleeps for the past few nights it's past 7:30 pm!!). She does sleep but is restless and needs re-settling at times and then is up again by 10:30pm or 11pm for her feed (we try to give that as a dream feed before she wakes up). The 'problem' normally starts around 1:00 - 1:30am when she'll get up and it's difficult to put her back to sleep (she doesn't cry mostly but just wants to hang out with mum and dad :\: ). I should also add that we probably have not picked the best time to start the sleep training as she's also teething (she cried quite a bit the second night and we put it down to sleep training or being over tired, only to realize that she was grinding teeth in the morning and sure enough, when I checked, it feels like 2 teeth are coming through on the top!!). Oh and she only wakes up from her third nap at around 5pm so it's hard to start the bed time routine any earlier than 6pm. Sometimes she will nap for 1.5 hrs in the morning and 1.5hrs in the early afternoon, other times it's only 45 mins in the early afternoon so then she'll take a third nap at around 4pm to wake up at around 5pm. <em>edited by GreenQueen on 06/07/2011</em>
Anonymous (not verified)
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 06 July 2011 - 09:43
She's definitely rubbing her eyes and yawning by the end of her bath routine and then gets very drowsy with the feed and earlier when she was held she would fall asleep in moments, but now we seem to be going the other way!! move all of this routine forward by 20 mins, yawning and rubbing eyes could be a very late sign of tiredness and she could be becoming overtired (body releases adrenaline) and she'll appear wired/playful and need more effort from you to help her fall asleep. does she stay asleep once she's fallen asleep? try 20 mins earlier for at least 4 days and see what happens
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EW EXPLORER
Latest post on 06 July 2011 - 00:01
KCinthecity - how is it going? Any luck with the sleep training? We're not having much luck here - it's day 5 today and it's still taking 45 mins to an hour for her to fall asleep. She'll have her bed time routine, a feed, and be drowsy but as soon as we put her in her crib she bounces up and is like an energizer bunny!! So she's not crying or fussing, but just playing and not wanting to sleep. Eventually, I end up laying her down in her crib and singing right next to her face while shushing and patting and she falls asleep but I don't feel like we're any closer to getting her to self soothe like this!! DC and the other ladies who managed to successfully sleep train - did you run into anything like this? She's definitely rubbing her eyes and yawning by the end of her bath routine and then gets very drowsy with the feed and earlier when she was held she would fall asleep in moments, but now we seem to be going the other way!!
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 04 July 2011 - 21:26
You should have told her that, surely, she received received too much breastmilk when she was a baby, that' s why She is obese ! lol ( joke) Jumeirajaneindubai you are totally out if line here. It is disgusting insulting someone like that. Totally below the belt and uncalled for. Why are you even on this thread. Just get off and stop wasting other peoples and especially the OP time. Some of us are actually interested in what some of the POLITE Moms have to say about Cecile.
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EW EXPLORER
Latest post on 04 July 2011 - 19:25
Lemondrops can I ask you a question please? Did she give you wrong advices regarding bf ? Again congrats for all what you did for your two girls . For DD1, Cecile's advice was relevant, accurate and up to date. If it weren't for her support, I doubt very much I would have breastfed exclusively as no one showed me what a correct latch was and how to do it. I also had a lot of resistance from my family that my milk would not be enough and that I would need to supplement. Cecile demonstrated that that was not the case, and that I would be able to exclusively BF. DD2 was a whole different story. She was born two months premature and for some reason had developed an oral aversion. Despite consulting two LC's one of which was Ceci and another was an IBLC (?), I could not manage to BF. But CeCi's support did help me to exclusively pump for DD2. BF advice from both was consistent, although I would say that Ceci was more persistent with the BF because she knew how much I wanted it, whereas the other LC helped me to come to terms with the fact that it was not to be. In the end, however, both agreed that I needed to accept that I wouldn't be able to BF and that exclusive pumping was the next best alternative.
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EW GURU
Latest post on 04 July 2011 - 19:04
FWIW, Cecile gave me incorrect information regarding breastfeeding when my first DS was born but i certainly wont go slatting her as i know she has been invaluable to many mummies out there who have struggled. Calling her fat - or implying it at least just shows bad character IMHO
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EW EXPERT
Latest post on 04 July 2011 - 18:23
umm, I do think that jokes about weight are not funny, not neccesary :( and may be best deleted. The suggestion to get the maid/nanny to help is not a bad one though, if I had a maid I would definitely consider this. I have a friend who's maid would start at 5am, and have the baby until 11 am (they gave some formula) so that Mum could tend to the baby until 3am and have a much needed sleep in, great idea IMHO I have never asked DH to get up in the night, and for a long time he slept in separate room an I slept with the baby. This is purely because he is one of those people who simply do not function if their sleep is broken. If he was the primary caregiver, Baby Kiwi would no doubt have been sleep trained by necessity ;). I do insist that he takes DS for playtime as soon as he wakes in the morning and I get 1 1/2 hours sleep in, which is bliss :) If help is available, take it I say.
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EW OLDHAND
Latest post on 04 July 2011 - 14:52
lemondrops, she is a troll. Probably someone with 2 usernames. Thats my bet! :D it will be more useful if you can use all your energy to get a life . Awww, you really think this comment will hurt me? LMAO!!!
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 04 July 2011 - 14:50
Lemondrops replied : As for me, I used Cecile over a period of 3 years for my two girls. Due to Ceci's advice I managed to exclusively BF my first for two years and exclusively pump for DD2 for 7 months and counting. I don't know what advice she's told D.Babe's friend, but with me Ceci was the biggest BF support for me. I do know she supports introducing solids by six months max, doesn't care how whether it's BLW or spoonfeedng, but she does believe that the 6 month to 18 month window is an important age to help babies acquire their feeding skills. This infamous CIO expert was the one who actually advised me against sleeptraining my DD1 at 2.5 years because she felt with all that was going on, it wasn't the right solution for us. DD1 still wakes up a lot at night and even co sleeps with us a few times a week. I know I sound like a broken record now, but what that woman did to our family was invaluable. She was probably the one who kept me from having a nervous breakdown when things were at their worst with DD2. She even insisted on visiting us every week for months until she was 100% certain that both myself and DD2 (who was premature and has a feeding aversion) was all right, even after our package with her expired. Free. She refused to charge me although she was forgoing meeting with paying clients because she was concerned about me and the baby. Now that is what is truly called a labour of love. I will only ever have good things to say about ceci Lemondrops can I ask you a question please? Did she give you wrong advices regarding bf ? Again congrats for all what you did for your two girls . <em>edited by salome on 04/07/2011</em>
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 04 July 2011 - 14:49
lemondrops, she is a troll. Probably someone with 2 usernames. Thats my bet! :D it will be more useful if you can use all your energy to get a life .
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 04 July 2011 - 14:43
Apologies in advance if I am on the wrong track here... but a new poster posting such a 'sensitive' suggestion... hmmmm!!! What do you mean ? I am trying to help the OP. It has worked for me. I give extra cash to my Nanny. I was so sleep deprived , my husband also ... my baby needs attention on night also. We found a solution . Everybody' s happy so what is the problem ? This didn't sound like a joke. Lemondrops, it is easy to say things behind a screen I am still bf my 12 months old baby, day and night, and I am cosleeping. Believe it or not. it will not change my life and my choices. Khallas now :cool:
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EW OLDHAND
Latest post on 04 July 2011 - 14:40
lemondrops, she is a troll. Probably someone with 2 usernames. Thats my bet! :D
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EW EXPLORER
Latest post on 04 July 2011 - 14:38
Apologies in advance if I am on the wrong track here... but a new poster posting such a 'sensitive' suggestion... hmmmm!!! What do you mean ? I am trying to help the OP. It has worked for me. I give extra cash to my Nanny. I was so sleep deprived , my husband also ... my baby needs attention on night also. We found a solution . Everybody' s happy so what is the problem ? This didn't sound like a joke.
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 04 July 2011 - 14:38
lemondrops replied : jumeirajaneindubai wrote: And what ? dis you come to my home to see if this is true or not ? Wasn't that your recommendation? To hand over the baby to the maid, if he wasn't sleeping through the night? Didn't you say it worked for you? Lemondrops it is obvious that this is a joke again ! edited by salome on 04/07/2011 Yeah, i love to joke;)
 
 

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