A couple years later when our daughter was born, I realized I'd felt jipped in a way because I'd always put our son down to sleep and never had all the snuggling I wanted. So, when #2 came along, I snuggled her more and also carefully read the Baby Whisperer and tried to use that on her. Our efforts were slightly curtailed, though, because at 3 weeks, she came down with RSV, which landed us in the hospital for five days. After that she got reflux -- perhaps partly a result of the RSV -- something to do with the mucous left over from the RSV? So, #2 got lots more snuggling, and we'd do anything to get that girl to sleep and not scream her guts out! If a baby's sick, I wouldn't use these techniques on them.
A few years later, when #3 came along, we mainly used the Baby Whisperer, but she was just an easy baby as it was. Everyone says how #3 is the one that throws you a curve ball. In our case, though, 2 kids was hard, 3 was fairly easy -- all dependent on the kid.
I didn't re-read the books before #4 came along, but when she got here, she sure was (is) a mad, temperamental little thing (at least she's cute!). This baby has the problem of falling asleep then waking up about 2 minutes later. She's done it anywhere between 4 - 14 hours in a 24 hour period. It's caused her to sleep up to 9 hours a night (only once) because she's soooooo tired from being up for so long and crying so much. I'm not so sure if so much sleep is a good thing at 2 weeks! She's obviously tired, she just can't stay asleep. She's also had the problem of sucking on the binky, but when it falls out, she wakes up and cries and wants it again. I think I gave it to her 7 times this morning around 5:00. Yesterday she took a 45 minute nap in the front-pack and a 2 hour nap later in the afternoon -- after an hour of coaxing her to sleep. After 4 hours had gone by since her last feeding, I woke her up. I feel like I haven't gotten that "sleepy newborn grace period" with this baby. Two weeks is apparently when they get more alert and colic starts. I'd say she was colicky from the get-go. She's also a noisy sleeper -- lots of grunting -- maybe it wakes her up? It doesn't help that the 3 older siblings want to see her ALL THE TIME. That can't help her relax.
I'd heard a lot of good things about The Happiest Baby, and thought I'd give it a try. I really wanted to find out how to get this baby to STAY asleep. It seems like with the other kids, once they got drowsy, I'd put them down and they'd konk out. They'd also get up on their own every 2-3 hours to eat. Not with this one! Anyway, after reading the book, I realized it's more of a how to calm your kid book, rather than a how to get them to be a good sleeper. After being somewhat of a Babywise/Baby Whisperer convert (I guess I'm a control freak, and I find it a fun/freakish challenge to see if/how/when I can get the baby to sleep), I think I have a hard time believing that I can cuddle my baby so much now, and then convert my kid at 3-4 months to being a more independent sleeper.
I was talking to my sister about this today. With her 2nd, a girl, who was also a bad sleeper, she did anything to get that girl to sleep (rocking, swinging, holding...). Now that she's just over one, she's still a bad sleeper! That's what I dread. What if I do the Happiest Baby techniques now, and I end up with a lousy sleeper later? My other 3 kids sleep great -- so I do have a little faith in the other books.
I did like the concept of the "4th trimester" (baby needing a more womb-like atmosphere) the first three months of life in The Happiest Baby. I also appreciated the calming techniques (swaddling, side/stomach, shh, swing, suck) described in the book. I feel pretty confident in getting a baby to calm down because of what I'd read in the other books, but just was stumped at what to do when you put the baby down, she wakes up, and cries, cries cries -- again, again, and again!!! (She's actually doing better today -- she's fallen asleep 2 times on her own. Maybe it was just a bad first two weeks.)
What's your experience with the above mentioned books? Did Happiest Baby work for you? Were you able to get baby to sleep on his/her own around 3/4 months? Were you able to discontinue binky and white noise use? Any suggestions on what to do when baby just won't stay asleep?
