Tuesday, June 9, 2009

We Ferberized Them

Shout out to fellow triplet mom, Megan, who directed me to her description of the Ferber Method on her website: http://johnsontripletgirls.blogspot.com/2009/03/sleep-training-update-ferber-method.html My husband and I owe you a debt of gratitude, not only for saving us cash and hours of reading Ferber's sleep training book...but for giving us the gift of sleep!

We ferberized the shit out of our girls this week. It all started last Monday when I told Paul "ef it...we're putting them to bed at 8:00. I don't care if they cry. We'll just walk back in a few times and reassure them that all is good." Well, the joke was on us because both Lauren and Makenna wanted to eat again by 10pm. Same thing happened Tuesday night. Wednesday night the girls stayed at Paul's mom's house and although she tried to put them down by 9, they all kept waking up until midnightish. On Thursday Lauren and Makenna cried for an hour straight, but finally slept until 6am. On Friday, they drifted off to sleep without fussing, but woke up for a 3am feed. On Saturday I realized that something wasn't working and I asked the triplet moms for help. Alas, Megan showed me the light. She directed me to her website, which gives a brief description of the Ferber Method.

Saturday night they went down at 8pm and fell asleep without a fuss. Then, when they awoke for a 3am feed, we ferberized. We went in after 1 minute of crying to reassure them, then went back after another 3 minutes, then went back every 10 minutes therafter. It took about an hour and a half. They finally fell back to sleep until somewhere between 6 and 7am. Then Sunday night they went to bed with about 15 minutes of fussiness, but slept all night. And last night they went to sleep with about 2 minutes of fussiness and slept all night...actually, they slept for about 11 1/2 hours!!! It's amazing...and it took only about a week. And since this is my blog and I can say whatever I want to say, I would like to say "why in the hell don't more of you mothers try this?????????????"

I just read about a mom who "doesn't believe in 'cry it out'" so she lets her kiddos climb in bed with her every night if they wake up. She's prepared to allow them to do this until they sleep through the night on their own. I suppose I don't really believe in "cry it out" either, because I would never just let my kid sit there and cry and cry and cry without addressing her needs. But I sure as hell would try the Ferber Method if it meant my kids would get a great night of sleep nearly every single night...and I would get a great night of sleep, too.

So, yeah, we're all very happy in our house with this new schedule. Just thought I'd share...

11 comments:

Trish said...

11 1/2 hours???? I'm very impressed. Will be needing to learn this method very soon! Am going to check out the blog you mentioned!!

Tracey's Life said...

Good for you - and ya know what, a kid that has to climb in bed with Mom as a Toddler will still be doing it 10 yrs later.

Haymonds said...

WONDERFUL. I don't think most moms mean they actually let their kids scream forever--we did this only with longer increments of time, since Creed was older and had previously been sleeping well at night. I agree--who in their right mind would let their kids sleep with them every night? I would never get any rest!

Rose said...

Just lurking, but my belief is that one of the best gifts you can give your child is sleep. I think this every day (night and nap) when I lay my 20 month old down and he tells me night night, and then goes on to sleep 11-13 hours at night and 2-3 hours at nap. As a result, he is happy, easy to please and ready to learn and grow. And there is no way my tot remembers having to cry and cry. Although sometimes he tries that now but is chattering to his animals in his bed by the time we shut the door.

Unknown said...

I just have to say your awesome!! I have a 2 1/2 year old who still sleeps with me and wakes up for milk. Maybe I'll look into this Ferber method thing...couldn't hurt.

Anonymous said...

Good job Crystal and Paul Im glad our girls can sleep 11 1/2hours. The pictures are so nice your mom picked up. Hope all is well. Give the girls a big kiss and hug and sing them their favorite song. tricia

E. Merritt said...

We've been doing baby wise, but the boys corrected age is only at 5 weeks. I am really interested in learning more about this method. Thanks for sharing.

Debbie said...

I am Noah's grandma and I have been looking at your blog since the girls were born. Way to go with the Ferber method! I am familiar with it. I teach a parenting class and I think believe that often parents meet their own needs when they let little ones sleep with them as a routine. And, you are SO right about babies needing their sleep. Sleep is key to brain development (so is fat in the diet.) You guys are amazing!!

Lloyd Family said...

Amen to Ferberizing. It's the only way to go.

Lani said...

Good for you!

Lana Mersman said...

Amen Sister!! I couldn't agree more. We did something similar with Tristian and after two nights he was sleeping through the night. We have the occational wake up, but don't have to go in there at all anymore and he puts himself right back to sleep. We had a terrible sleeper mostly when it came to naps but this truely works....

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