4-Month Regression
11 months- taking a long time to go to sleep with restless nursing, rocking, fussing; 5+ night wakings and nursing several times over night; very early morning wakings; finicky with food and milk during the day and struggling to gain weight. Parents chose my in person, 60 hour Sleep Learning session of 3 20 hour shifts, giving us time to practice bedtime, overnight, naps, schedule and feeding. Over the 3 days, we accomplished total night weaning, falling asleep independently, eliminating all night wakings but 1 early morning attempt on day 3 that was resolved by verbal encouragement. At our 2 week follow up parents reported baby sleeping an average of 11 hours 45 minutes per night, more focused feeding with notable weight gain, and a more content and pleasant mood during the day.
Toddler Transition
I took my time bonding with and getting to know this 3 year old and how she works. I wanted her to be comfortable with me, having someone besides Dad put her down for the night.
Night 1, I stayed in the room until she was asleep, allowing her the space to figure things out with a reassuring presence. Night 2, I was able to step outside her room into the bathroom with my profile being visible. By night 3 I was able to step outside the room completely with only a hand visible on the door frame for reassurance as needed. I was even able to do 2 successful pop outs lasting up to 5 minutes, while she remained calm and waited.
Over the 3 days I saw her confidence build regarding sleeping independently and watched her pride grow as she accomplished each night successfully. She was able to utilize several “tools” independently to help her relax and calm on her own. Giving her ownership of these really empowered her and added to her security.
We used lots of positive reinforcement, casually talked about sleep, made up social stories and played out pretend sleep scenarios.
I made sure to have plenty of coaching time with the parents to encourage them, explain things, and come up with strategies to continue progressing forward. We also did some troubleshooting for potential issues that might arise and conflicts in schedule with the baby.
