Jakabella,
We went to a sleep school in Kooweerup just for a day visit. It was fairly gentle and more about teaching settling techniques than anything else. My dd has silent reflux and because she was held constantly as a newborn, even when she was sleeping because if we laid her down she would wake screaming in pain she struggled to fall asleep on her own in a cot. So we went to sleep school and they first took bubs into a dark room with soft music and did some settling. She went off to sleep with their techniques but only slept for 1/2hr and they had a raised cot so her reflux didn't worry her. We were basically taught however we settle her in our arms do the same in the cot, rock, pat, shhh etc and then gradually decrease it. I was happy with what they taught us but it didn't help her sleep. she could go to sleep but wouldn't stay asleep and wouldn't resettle once she had woken. She sleeps only one sleep cycle during the day even still now. It has pretty much just taken months of patience, consistency and gentle parenting to get her to the point she is at now. She is 7months old and will now put herself to sleep, if she wakes in the night she will usually put herself back to sleep if she's not hungry but she won't sleep longer than 1 sleep cycle during the day. I did the gradual process of slowly decreasing the patting, then would just sit with her with my hand on her chest gently rocking her in the cot. Now I put her in and she goes to sleep. I'm proud that we have never done cry it out, never has bedtime been a distressing time for her except for when she couldn't sleep because of the reflux.
Sorry that was of no help whatsoever because you want bub to sleep more during the day, I don't have any answers for that. And my daughter went through a period around 4 months where she woke hrly through the night, this lasted 6 weeks. Once we started solids she was alot better. She now sleeps through. All i can say is hang in there it will get better and no matter what don't let anyone convince you that you need to do something you're not comfortable doing, health professionals don't know your bub like you do.
Sorry I couldn't help but it will get better
Wow sounds like some awful experiences!
Mine was a good one. We went with Caden when he was just 11 weeks old and it saved our lives (literally I expect, we were both pretty depressed by then). DS#1 just screamed almost constantly when he was awake, and was murder to get to sleep. I suffered this from around 5 weeks, and it didn't stop until we went to sleep school. With doctors prescribing medications that I just wasn't comfortable with, I felt it was the best option.
It was a gentle approach, and maybe easier given that DS was just so unsettled that if he cried in bed versus crying in my arms, what difference? Given I was near exhaustion, and borderline PND, I was willing to take more of their advice.
So we put him in bed, and let him cry for a minute or so. Then I would go in and either pick him up or comfort him in his cot. If he got too out of control (you know that cry) then I would just pick him up. They taught me the difference between a pain cry and an insistent cry as DS would cry as if you were hacking off his arm, but would stop the instant I picked him up. Pain would not switch off so suddenly.
It wasn't easy, and was emotionally draining, but after day three, at home in his cot, he fell asleep by himself WITHOUT CRYING for the first time, and after that was a dream to put down. The kid just wanted space to sleep, and really needed me to back off and give that to him.
So for us the experience was a turning point, and even now DS is an awesome sleeper. I noticed other mums from my mothers group had difficulty later on because they had to go through the same thing with older bubs. It was hard to do it at the start, but easier in the long run.
Make up your own mind of course. I have recommended sleep school to lots of mums with problems. I even went back myself this time as I wanted some tips on letting DS#2 get to sleep. They were very considerate of my desire not to let him cry, and I pretty much did what I did at home, but with him in the cot instead of in my arms (music, rocking the cot, picking him up for a cuddle if things got too intense, etc). So far so good as even that has shown DS that it is ok to fall asleep in the car or pram. That on its own is great because he would shriek like a banshee in the car.
Ok, now I am rambling, but for my two cents, it was a great experience and I thank them for my sanity!
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