Self soothing

[ladymoreta]

I agree 100% with T&S! I did, regrettably, try CIO with my son, knowing it wasn't right for his personality. DH and I just got so tired of trying everything else with no results (he was still waking 4-6 times a night at a year old). It didn't work at all. We gave it three nights, and he cried for 5 hours the first night, 3 the second, and 2 the third before I went in to him every time. It just wasn't a method that would ever work with him, and all the books I'd read made me feel even more guilty because they harp on sleep benefits and dangers of children not getting good sleep (because that's what sells books!)...

We had to do some sleep training with both kids, but what worked for them was a really complicated method I paid an individual sleep consultant for. They cried some, but it wasn't anything like CIO. It also helped tremendously that we waited until they could follow basic commands, so we could explain what we were doing. (I found with my second that they understand a whole lot more than you think a lot earlier than you think!)

[ladymoreta]

I also wanted to add that if you decide to do CIO, it can work great for some babies. No judgement here! I definitely know moms who had that perfect experience of "They cried for 10 minutes and never woke up overnight again!" And the kids whose parents did CIO? - they're all just fine now! You really have to go with your gut on this. DD didn't CIO, but she definitely wanted me gone from the room, and then she fussed a bit before falling asleep.

[alison]

Do what your instinct says and what feels right to you!

For us, CIO worked well. First night 1 hr of crying and ing, second night 1.5 hrs of crying, and third night out like a light. That was for M who was just so irritable and couldn't get the hang of being a baby.

#2 learned how to self soothe mainly, I think, because M was around all summer and always got attention when she asked for it. The baby had to wait a lot, so I would put her in her crib awake just to have a place to set her down, and she was all "ok, what the hell, why not just sleep while my sister dukes it out with mom."

[lovelight]

And this is why I love you all. For the record, anytime he wakes at night I feed him and he immediately falls back asleep (usually only once or twice a night right now). During the day and at bedtime is when he requires rocking so it doesn't really interfere with my sleep at all. And now off I go to rock him to sleep.


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