I've known Luca since he was quite little. I met mum and dad at my pharmacy job at Basger's in North Bondi. They've been coming along regularly for a chat and a weigh and measure.
Luca is a very precious baby and mum and dad went through a lot to get him.
He developed some sleep associations which made him wake up a lot and need to be breast fed to get back to sleep.
He's now 10 months old and suddenly that lovely Swiss ball that they used to get him off to sleep had started to not work. The protests where out of control and life with Luca was getting tricky.
Mum went for a 5 day stay off to sleep school with Luca and unfortunately he came out of there not fixed at all. Mum felt desperate. If sleep school couldn't fix him then how was she going to do it all by herself?
You can just imagine how that must have felt. Not good.
So when I heard this story I couldn't help myself. I had to help them and give them a special present of a baby who slept.
Now most of you know that Karen does not usually do overnight stays. I much prefer my own bed. But on this occasion I swapped my bed for a couch and an overnight stay to help Luca learn to love his cot and do a sleep through.
Night one and Luca went to bed fairly easily, bit of protest for half an hour. He woke at 11pm and then at 3am. No more booby feeding or Swiss ball. Just a nice gentle checking routine.
I felt Luca was most definitely fixable. We had a little chat at 6am when he woke and he agreed he was going to make it easy on the parents!!!
He slept for 1 1/4 hours for his day sleep. Totally unheard of in Luca's day sleeps!
On day 2 he slept for 1 hr 40 min in the afternoon! Then he went down for his night sleep at 7pm and only protested for 5 mins! Dad was still skeptical! I can't blame him!
Day 3 he cried at 9:30 pm for 5 mins then at 10:30pm for 5-10 mins, no intervention needed. He slept till 6am.
Day 4 he had a 50 min sleep in the morning.
Night 4 (when you often get escalation with behavioural sleep training) was different and he woke at 9:05 pm and 9:25 pm and resettled himself quickly. He then woke at 1:30 am and 4:30 am no intervention needed, resettled. At 5 am he needed his nappy changing and slept till 6am.
Then his teeth started coming through! He was biting everything in sight even his daddy! There were messy nappies and a snotty little nose! And he still slept for 2 hours in the afternoon!
Night 5 he went to bed at 7pm. He played happily until he went to sleep 20 mins later. He woke hysterical after 40 mins, sat up and rubbed his eyes. Mum went in, laid him down, told him to go to sleep which he then did until 6:10am!!!!
Night 6 he had a massive protest. He had a bad afternoon and was very clingy and didn't sleep well. That night he was overtired and took a while to settle.
Night 7 he woke an hour after going to bed. He only took a few seconds to resettle himself and then slept till 5am. Mum didn't get him up till 6am because if you do 6am then becomes 5am and that's their new get up time. I think 5am is never get up time!!! LOL.
Night 8 he slept through from 6:30pm till 6am. A big YAY for Luca. The parents are thrilled and dad is no longer sceptical!!!
He has continued to sleep through. There was only one night in the past 2 weeks where he hasn't. He had been to swimming that day and they do underwater swimming with the babies and he hadn't liked it on this occasion. He got very upset in the pool. Often day events translate into unsettled nights. Day and night are very interlinked and just something to be aware of.
Very well done to Djuna and Luca. Gold star, top of the class and an official super sleeper. Bliss. There's nothing better than a baby that sleeps. I'm sure all you parents agree. Mum feels amazing, Luca is so happy and so is dad.
It was so worth an overnight visit. A present well deserved. The gift of sleep.
Luca is a very precious baby and mum and dad went through a lot to get him.
He developed some sleep associations which made him wake up a lot and need to be breast fed to get back to sleep.
He's now 10 months old and suddenly that lovely Swiss ball that they used to get him off to sleep had started to not work. The protests where out of control and life with Luca was getting tricky.
Mum went for a 5 day stay off to sleep school with Luca and unfortunately he came out of there not fixed at all. Mum felt desperate. If sleep school couldn't fix him then how was she going to do it all by herself?
You can just imagine how that must have felt. Not good.
So when I heard this story I couldn't help myself. I had to help them and give them a special present of a baby who slept.
Now most of you know that Karen does not usually do overnight stays. I much prefer my own bed. But on this occasion I swapped my bed for a couch and an overnight stay to help Luca learn to love his cot and do a sleep through.
Night one and Luca went to bed fairly easily, bit of protest for half an hour. He woke at 11pm and then at 3am. No more booby feeding or Swiss ball. Just a nice gentle checking routine.
I felt Luca was most definitely fixable. We had a little chat at 6am when he woke and he agreed he was going to make it easy on the parents!!!
He slept for 1 1/4 hours for his day sleep. Totally unheard of in Luca's day sleeps!
On day 2 he slept for 1 hr 40 min in the afternoon! Then he went down for his night sleep at 7pm and only protested for 5 mins! Dad was still skeptical! I can't blame him!
Day 3 he cried at 9:30 pm for 5 mins then at 10:30pm for 5-10 mins, no intervention needed. He slept till 6am.
Day 4 he had a 50 min sleep in the morning.
Night 4 (when you often get escalation with behavioural sleep training) was different and he woke at 9:05 pm and 9:25 pm and resettled himself quickly. He then woke at 1:30 am and 4:30 am no intervention needed, resettled. At 5 am he needed his nappy changing and slept till 6am.
Then his teeth started coming through! He was biting everything in sight even his daddy! There were messy nappies and a snotty little nose! And he still slept for 2 hours in the afternoon!
Night 5 he went to bed at 7pm. He played happily until he went to sleep 20 mins later. He woke hysterical after 40 mins, sat up and rubbed his eyes. Mum went in, laid him down, told him to go to sleep which he then did until 6:10am!!!!
Night 6 he had a massive protest. He had a bad afternoon and was very clingy and didn't sleep well. That night he was overtired and took a while to settle.
Night 7 he woke an hour after going to bed. He only took a few seconds to resettle himself and then slept till 5am. Mum didn't get him up till 6am because if you do 6am then becomes 5am and that's their new get up time. I think 5am is never get up time!!! LOL.
Night 8 he slept through from 6:30pm till 6am. A big YAY for Luca. The parents are thrilled and dad is no longer sceptical!!!
He has continued to sleep through. There was only one night in the past 2 weeks where he hasn't. He had been to swimming that day and they do underwater swimming with the babies and he hadn't liked it on this occasion. He got very upset in the pool. Often day events translate into unsettled nights. Day and night are very interlinked and just something to be aware of.
Very well done to Djuna and Luca. Gold star, top of the class and an official super sleeper. Bliss. There's nothing better than a baby that sleeps. I'm sure all you parents agree. Mum feels amazing, Luca is so happy and so is dad.
It was so worth an overnight visit. A present well deserved. The gift of sleep.
- Tags: 6 months 7 months 8 months 9 months 9 months baby baby sleep Baby Sleep Consultant baby sleep cycles Baby Sleep Expert Baby Sleep Help baby sleep learning baby sleep patterns Baby sleep problems baby sleep rescue baby sleep routine Baby Sleep Schedule baby sleep training Baby Whisperer fil_Baby Sleep and Settling
