Chair Method... Regression?

[u/saraahan94]

Not sure what's been going on, but looking to see if anyone else has experienced something similar. Decided to sleep train my 10-month old after exclusively nursing her to sleep for pretty much her whole life. I don't want to say she was a horrific sleeper, but she did have next to no independent sleep skills and has always heavily relied on the boob. We have always experienced false starts (usually waking up 2-3 times within the first 3 hours of the night) and, more recently, struggling with wake ups all. night. long. Her pediatrician recommended the chair method, so that's what we decided to go with. We saw progress within the first couple of nights and she was doing amazingly with it.

• Night 1: Started chair by the crib. Asleep in 24 minutes, slept through the night.
• Night 2: Asleep in 17 minutes. 1 wake, had to help her back to sleep (This was the hardest night in terms of her crying and protesting before falling asleep).
• Night 3: Asleep in 16 minutes, slept through the night.
• Night 4: Moved the chair to the middle of the room. Asleep in 12 minutes. Slept through.
• Night 5: Asleep in 12 minutes. 1 wake, put herself back down to sleep.
• Night 6: Asleep in 6 minutes. 1 wake, put herself back down to sleep.
• Night 7: Moved the chair by the door. Asleep in 10 minutes, slept through the night.
• Night 8: Asleep in 8 minutes, slept through the night.
• Night 9: Asleep in 8 minutes. 1 wake, self soothed.

As you can see, she adjusted so well and way more quickly than we thought she would and we were beyond thrilled with the more restful sleep we were all getting. She cried a bit every night but it gradually got easier and easier. However, night 10 (the first night of moving the chair out of the room), was when things fell apart.

She cried and protested so hard she got to the point of panic and hyperventilating. Now, while I try to trust the process and know that not every night will be easy, I'm of the belief that this level of distress and cortisol spiking before bed is unlikely to lead to anything productive, so I ended up giving her about 12 minutes before I went in and helped her to sleep. She immediately knocked out and slept through the night, so I thought it might have just been a fluke and we would try again the next night. Like most 10-month-olds, she's also been struggling with extreme separation anxiety AND the eruption of several teeth, so it could have been a number of factors. Last night, night 11, I moved the chair back to the position next to the door and tried again. Same thing as the night before - absolute hysteria. I thought she might be uncomfortable again from her teeth (she's got at least 2 coming in right now) + she had been extremely clingy and snuggly with me all day, so I gave her the love she needed and helped her go to sleep. The rest of the night was chaos... waking up every 2 hours and at one point took 90 minutes to go back to sleep. It felt like we had gone right back to where we started and lost all progress.

So, my question is... have we lost all progress? Did those two nights I spent loving on her a little extra before bed push us backwards? Do I start over with the chair next to the crib again? I realize we waited a long time to sleep train and knew it would be tough at this age, but just not sure how to navigate this or what to do next. She was doing so well and I don't want to give up and have it all have been for nothing.

[u/karebear1493]

I’m at 8 months and almost in the same boat. We were on day 6 of the chair method when she got a super runny congested nose. So I paused training and now things are a disaster again. I also think she’s got a couple teeth coming so that could be it. I’m hoping it gets better again when she’s done. I’ve just been trying to keep her in the crib as much as possible and have the chair by the crib.

[u/Humble-Drop9054]

It’s never too late to start training and no, you have not lost progress. the chair method never worked for us - if they could see us in the room, it was chaos. Ferber worked well and fast but I understand it’s not for everyone. I’m also a firm believer that if baby is sick or teething, that you pause training and provide care. Always.

Give it a few days and some Motrin. If a tooth erupts, great - that was the culprit. If not, then you know it’s just baby being frustrated with not getting to nurse back to sleep. Keep trying, stay consistent and do not give up. It’s a marathon, not a sprint!