How do I make my dog sleep through the night?
Fori
6 years ago
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Book re. sleeping through the night
Comments (12)Ok - now let me save your life. It is not any of the things mentioned above. These are all excuses that we make when our children will not sleep. It is all in the timing. PLEASE take this advice. Click on the link below and buy the book, "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" by Marc Weissbluth. He is a Dr, he works with children, he has studied at sleep centers, he specializes in SLEEP - not parenting like most other authors of sleep methods or sleep books. My first child was extremely fussy, and didn't even take a nap without me holding him much less sleep through the night until I read this book. He would fall asleep but never stay asleep. He was six months old when I read this book. Within two weeks he was taking 2 two hour naps a day and sleeping 10 - 12 hours at night. I breastfed him exclusively until he was 9 months old. I do not like my children to cry himself to sleep at night (I have two boys, pg with #3). That is why I didn't like the other methods. With his method, they don't have to. The secret is all in the timing. They will have to cry A LITTLE - but not cry themselves to sleep. It is amazing. I wish I would have had this book when my first was first born. Thank God and a very good friend who recommend it to me that I have used it with number 2 and now will use it with number three. It is never too late. Get it now!! Good luck! It is hard but you will NEVER feel better than you will after a couple of weeks of a GOOD NIGHT's SLEEP!! And, your child will feel much better too! BTW - I started with the naps for about one and a half weeks and then waited until the weekend when DH was home to do the night sleeping. Here is a link that might be useful: Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child...See Morebook re. sleeping through the night
Comments (2)Don't know of a book, but when my dr. recommended the Ferber method--not letting them cry it out, but not giving in either. Wait 5 minutes before going in, the next time wait 10, etc. until it just isn't worth the child's effort. I'm sure if you looked up Ferber on the web, you'd get lots of info. It suited my parenting style, too--lovingly consistent, letting a child know they can "count" on me, but trying not to be manipulated, etc. It seemed good middle ground stuff and it worked. I started having a problem around 9 months, too, during cold and flu season. What started out as sympathy on my part ended up as routine for DD--several wake-ups with mommy running in. Within a week, the Ferber method greatly improved everyone's sleep. She's now 2.5 and I have had to go back to it occasionally (after a vacation, illness etc.) but it's not taken more than 2 nights to get her "back on track"--with the exceptions of nightmares, of course, which do require cuddles. Good luck and hope you get some rest....See MoreOur puppy won't sleep through the night among other things
Comments (10)I just would like to do a couple of follow ups to the questions people have had for me. I am hoping this helps answer mine as well. One- they both get leash walked, however, Sampson doesn't go very far and he doesn't care for the cold much (thank God, it's starting to warm up). Truman goes on a lease and a harness b/c he's about 100 lbs and he does so much better with his harness. The puppy goes for a couple of short walks a day and Truman goes for a lengthy walk each day (usually when we get home from work). Second- I used the word "only" to describe where we were at that day, purely so that people could see that he has gone outside to potty. Using the word "only" doesn't mean I don't want to fix the problem, it means it's not fixed yet. Third- Usually my fiance and I are off by 10:00 every night, so we certainly aren't sleeping during the day. I am up , among other times to clean the crate, by 8:00 am at the latest every day. The dogs are taken out to potty and then fed right then. The second time we feed them is at around lunch time, although sometimes they decide not to eat...annz, I think you are right, if he decides to skip it, then I should too. That is where I have messed up, b/c I feel bad and so I want to feed him later b/c he ate his lunch later...We do have a gal that comes by when we are both at work to let them both out and wet their whistle. Usually neither of them eat at that time. The youngest dog is about 16 weeks old. I am certainly not comparing my dogs to dobermans by any means. I was just making the point that some dogs, even the ones who haven't been on schedules their whole lives can be very well behaved and trained. I am so trying to find better ways so that my dogs are happy and so are we. We love them dearly and just want to find a way for all of us to make our new house a home. Thanks for everyone's advice. If anyone has anything to add, please feel free. I know there isn't a magical pill to fix things- I will try anything (but neither of us can quit our jobs. Our schedules are just backwards from most...when others are working during the day we are home, when they are at home in the evening, we are working. Plus, we do have the gal come over to let them out (which Truman doesn't need but likes her coming over anyway). Michelle...See MoreHow can we get a puppy to sleep through the night?
Comments (29)Llama: You obviously have no real idea of canine behavior when they are alone, as you admittedly say you never let your dog from your side. I sense some "that's not the way we did it back when I was young, see...?" Crate=Den (So long as it's done properly and ALWAYS with a positive reinforcer). Where do wolves, coyotes, etc sleep and spend 80% of their day? THEIR DEN! It's a natural thing for them. For most breeds, the outdoors would be a great place to live if we all had no jobs and 20 acres of protected land. That's just not the case, and for that matter, most breeds are so domesticated that outside is NOT the optimal place for them 24 hrs a day. That said, the crate for 8-10 hours everyday isn't optimal either. Furthermore--and to the point of your post--I'd be willing to bet that all those people who can leave their pups out in the yard or a rural setting give the dog a den of some sort: a dog house, a pad under the porch, a nook in the barn, a nice shady spot under a lawn chair...well, I think you get my drift. However, a crate used as a CAGE to house an animal 100% of the time IS cruelty. Crating is MOST CERTAINLY NOT! Let's be sure and make these lines of demarcation perfectly clear: CAGED isn't the same as CRATED (even if the same housing structure is used) as we all know the unsettled nature of a caged animal vs the demeanor of a crated one. The crating method gives ANYONE who cannot watch their dog 100% of the time the ability to set the pup up to WIN at the tough things in their lives, i.e. potty training, not being destructive, feeling safe and secure and thus well-adjusted, etc, etc, ad nauseum. Go to any dog sporting event: Show, Agility, Frisbee, Obedience, Flyball, etc and look at how the best of the best dog owners and handlers house their dogs...wait for it...IN CRATES!!!!!!! Dogs sleep 15-18 hours a day depending on breed, age, etc; thus, one could argue that you forcing your dog by your side every minute of every day isn't allowing the dog the true rest it needs. I'd bet he wishes he had a crate to get away for a moment's peace sometimes...Let's not even mention the safety issues (for both pet and owner) of not crating the dog while traveling. All this isn't so much to attack you (but it was fun considering your lack of knowledge/misinformation on the subject) as to say that with tens of thousands of dogs euthanized in shelters every day, working families have no right to adopt a pet and save its life while enriching their own? Are YOU mad? Where is the good in that dog's life once he hits the autoclave? I submit to you that Fido would pick the crate 100% of the time rather than death, even if it was 8-10 hours a day...but if your master's not retired, then too bad puppy dog. Llama says to hell with you. After 20+ years as a cop, I'm one year from a well deserved retirement myself and I've been lucky enough to have 4 wonderfully unique, well adjusted and socially adept canine companions over these last few decades and each was crated with excellent results and loved their den until the end. All while I worked full time. My current little buddy, Marco, a 3 month old Chocolate Lab is responding well to crate/potty training, too. He gets 40 minutes of walking/offleash play before i go to work, a 10 minute walk by a friend and another 30 minute walk on my lunch break, then at least an hour on the trails or dog park in the evening, not to mention all his potty breaks. As he is a pup and demands my FULL attention, when I can't give it or need a break, in he goes with his Kong and he relaxes. The crate is simply another tool in the arsenal for developing an awesome and well behaved friend for life. All that being said, if you can watch your puppy 100% of the time all day everyday, then there's no need for a crate...otherwise, have fun and I look forward to hearing what all the uncrated pup has destroyed/eaten/soiled... Jay...See MoreFori
6 years agoFori
6 years agoFori
6 years agoFori
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