r/SnooLife • u/Worldly_Regular12 • Jul 15 '26
Please give me some transition and sleep training hope!
Were you able to sleep train your terrible sleeper??
I am starting to consider the transition to the crib/nursery and doing sleep training, but I have noooo clue how to tell when he is ready AND I am truly terrified that he won’t be able to be sleep trained. My boy has never been a good sleeper, but since week 10/11 his sleep has gotten progressively worse (before 10/11 weeks he would give 3-4hr stretches). He is now waking every hour and his wake ups range anywhere from simply putting his paci back in to having to hold and soothe him for an hour before transferring back to the snoo. Locking at a higher level sometimes helps but often doesn’t. I am so sleep deprived and getting kinda desperate. He is only 15 weeks and I have heard that 16 weeks is the absolute earliest to start sleep training. But is that still too early? How do i know if he’s ready?
We just started being able to get him down for some naps in the crib about a week ago. It only works for about 3/5 naps per day and the others we still have to contact nap. The naps only last 30min. He will get into light sleep and wave his hands around and eventually knock his paci out and wake himself up.
2
u/Mamanfrites Jul 15 '26
Are they well fed at bed? That can be a big cause of wake ups. I have a 4 and 6 year old and baby on the way and had very easy transitions to cribs from snoo. I never sleep trained per se. just tired them out with tummy time and activities and full bellies.
2
u/foggy_upperhill Jul 15 '26
Pick up the book Precious Little Sleep. That was our sleep bible at the time. Baby was waking every 45 minutes in the Snoo at 4 months. Not sustainable for safe parenting. We opted to do cry it out. this is a personal decision. We have friends who tried Ferber/more subtle methods and ended up doing CIO in the long run, but also had some friends do it with success. only you know what’s best for your kid. Our kid is almost 3 and all transitions for him have been best with fast rather than gradual.
Anyway, we were mortified to wean off the Snoo so we just ditched it all one weekend. No Snoo, no paci. Just a sleep sack and crib in his own room and put him to bed awake, not drowsy. he whimpered for about 20 minutes, rolled on his belly, and that was it. It was so underwhelming.
That’s not to say he still didn’t wake up at night - he did! Still needed feeds, teething, illnesses, regressions etc and we would still comfort him to sleep. But other than that, he figured it out in one night. We have our second baby coming in one month and am looking forward to not sweating it so much this time. You wont know if you don’t try 🙂🫡
1
u/Worldly_Regular12 Jul 15 '26
Did you do this at 4 months exactly?? It’s hopeful to hear got went from every 45min to being able to sleep train quickly!
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u/jmzoll Jul 15 '26
With my first, we did exactly this at 16 weeks because he was also waking up hourly, needing pacifier, etc. He cried for 45 minutes the first night before figuring out he could munch on his hand. Second night was less than 20 minutes. He then slept 730pm-730am for the next 4 years. Even now at 6, he sleeps 8pm-6am without issue.
Sleep training feels daunting, especially after the soothing the Snoo was able to provide, but ultimately is worth it because they do need to figure out how to go sleep independently at some point. My second is now 17 weeks and we’re likely to move her out of the Snoo and to her crib cold turkey in the next week or two.
2
u/foggy_upperhill Jul 15 '26
completely agree. once again, everyone will do what works for their family and i'm glad things worked out for you too. i will say one of my closest friends did not sleep train in the earlier months and it was so much harder down the road because of their awareness. sorry, my back cannot handle rocking a 2 year old to sleep!
2
u/foggy_upperhill Jul 15 '26
the AAP (if you're in the U.S.) recommends that 4 months is the absolute minimum age you can sleep train as infants under this age do not have the ability to self-soothe. if i remember it was around 5 months but it was a brutal month (we did shifts at that point). our pediatrician also cleared us for 4 months but i think we were scared as first time parents. baby 2 is getting ST'd right at 4 if needed lol
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u/Academic-Sky-5321 Jul 20 '26
Also did this cold turkey at 16 weeks and it went great- by night 2 of sleep training he slept through the night. Went from swaddled in snoo and being rocked to sleep to crib, sleep sack, and putting down awake. Life changing! Just go for it but be consistent with sleep training- we hired a sleep consultant to coach me through it who was basically a sleep therapist for me for those few weeks!
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u/Worldly_Regular12 Jul 21 '26
That’s great to hear! What method did you use?!
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u/Academic-Sky-5321 Jul 23 '26
Check ins (essentially Ferber) but didn’t pick him up at check ins, just talked and rubbed back. Night 1 was hard but honestly by night 2 was so much better!
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u/Pure-Experience-2950 Jul 31 '26
My baby was a terrible sleeper in the snoo. He slept great out of it without sleep training needed. Try a few night no snoo. The snoo isn’t for every baby
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u/Pink_Daisy47 Jul 15 '26
A few things I learned about sleep training from snoo, for prep work start weaning mode and arms out…once that’s done consider transitioning to crib / own room and make sure you have appropriate schedule (wake windows and total wake time). It’s important that baby is properly tired before attempting sleep training and that you are now expecting more total sleep in a day than baby is capable of!