The Ferber Method

Ok This is my second post for today...I wanted to explain what ferberizing is.  THAT is MY word but the actual name of it is "The Ferber Method"  AND for those of you who want to see Nicks bed...I am going to take some pics...I will add them here soon.

What exactly is the Ferber method?

In a nutshell, Ferber says you can teach your baby to soothe himself to sleep when he's physically and emotionally ready, usually sometime between 4 and 6 months of age. He recommends following a warm, loving bedtime routine and then putting your baby in bed awake and leaving him (even if he cries) for gradually longer periods of time. Putting a child to bed awake, says Ferber, is crucial to successfully teaching him to go to sleep on his own.

Parents are instructed to pat and comfort their baby after each predetermined period of time, but not to pick up or feed their baby. This routine is called "progressive waiting." The suggested waiting time, which Ferber charts in his book, is based on how comfortable you are with the technique, how many days you've been using it, and how many times you've already checked on your child that night.

After a few days to a week of gradually increasing the waiting time, the theory goes, most babies learn to fall asleep on their own, having discovered that crying earns nothing more than a brief check from you.

Now this says it could take longer but it took us TWO days (the big thing is DON'T give in) and the third night he went in his crib and did not say a word...just went to sleep!  We were amazed and now he's such a happy baby at bedtime...but we had a routine with him...and this is very important so your baby doesn't feel scared at bed time.  We always gave him some water/brushed his teeth/and last read him a story (in his room) and tucked him in with kisses. 
ONE MORE THING...when I was pregnant I had a fan on me EVERY SINGLE day of my pregnancy...we used a fan before I was pregnant too...anyway, once Nick was born he was a little fussy at bedtime...we didn't use the fan anymore because I was scared he would be cold and he stayed in our room his first month...I decided to turn on the fan to see if it would help and man did it ever!  Kids LOVE white noise.  Now we use a fan EVERY night in his room and have always used a fan just for the noise. If your child does not sleep well or wakes up with every noise, try this!  It really works!!!  Just turn the fan, so it's not blowing right on him/her.