We fell into CIO last night....

Preface:
Sidney used to sleep thru the night but starting about 1.5 months ago when she got a bad cold she started getting up 4-6x a night. This continued till I was about to start sleep training her but the day that I started she got yet Another cold. Which she is slightly still hanging onto. So I wanted to wait til she got over this cold to try to fix the problem.

BUT...I had a horrible migraine starting at 2pm yesterday. First of all...how does anyone care for a demanding child with a migraine?? I would have cried if it wouldn't have hurt my head too much. Sooo I put her to bed early for her...6pm. Don't all the books say try putting them to bed early and they wil sleep better? NOT my child...she got up EVERY hour. Now I figured that she would get up at least once for another feeding but every hour?? So when I finally couldn't take it anymore I asked DH to try and rock her back to sleep. This was at 11pm. Now she ONLY ever wants me...and not just me....she has to be latched to my boob so when DH went in she LOST IT! She cried (howled) for 45 minutes straight in his arms. He finally gave up and I went in. I really did not want to feed her so I just held her while she howled for another 15 minutes. (by the way she seemed almost psychotic....I was practiucally crying trying to get her to calm down. I never saw her this way). She finally calmed down so I put her back in the crib. Where she started to cry again. She cried for another hour in the crib. 2 HOURS!!!! But I thought we had success cause she actualy fell asleep on her own. This was at 1am. Well, she still woke up 3 more times after that!!!

So needless to say I think we are in CIO mode. I'm gonna just put her in her crib awake tonight and go from there.

Any suggestions on how to get out of this mess?

Re: We fell into CIO last night....

Sorry you had such a rough night!

The only thing I can suggest is to make sure she has been up for 2 hrs, is fed, changed, and otherwise comfortable before you try to put her down for the night and to CIO. Maybe try some soothing music in her room/crib.

Hope tonight goes better for you!!

Re: We fell into CIO last night....

I just read Becoming Babywise which suggests a schedule in regards to feeding, wake time, naptime. Depending on how old Sidney is....she *should* be doing a 2 1/2-3 hr schedule OR a 3 1/2-4 if she is older.

In this it means she wakes up, eats, waketime (playtime, errand running, reading a book, bath, whatever), then naptime. Nap time should encompass about 1 1/2-2 hours of the cycle.

So if she eats at 7am, she should eat again at 9:30/10am.

This cycle is thought to help regulate the metabolism which in tunr helps the child sleep better at night. It also notes to be aware of WHICH cry your child is crying (some babies cry just to cry.....mine gives a little annoyed cry as she is getting tired) and to satisfy that need, not feed just because she's crying. She may just want some loving.

Another part of the theory is that this routine gives the child and family security and stability in "knowing" what's going to happen therefore making everyone happy and healthy. It gives priority to the husband-wife relationship and supposedly the babies take comfort in seeing/knowing mommy and daddy love each other.


Alyson actually developed this "routine" on her own...wake, diaper change, eat, stay awake, then get drowsy.

Our issue is that she is still falling asleep during feedings (then wakes up-go figure) and does not fall asleep on her own or sleep in her own crib.

Re: We fell into CIO last night....

If you've followed my story you'll know we just started CIO too... we fell into many of the same habits where Alex could only fall asleep nursing or in my arms as I rocked/jiggled her to sleep and sometimes it would take upwards of 3 hours to get her to sleep! My suggestion for CIO is to put her down in her crib the moment she's exhibits signs of fatigue. The second she rubs her eyes or yawns, make sure her diaper is changed, give her a bottle and put her down. With Alex, if we miss that 10 minute zone when she first starts getting sleepy, all hell breaks loose when we try to put her down for the night. If we get her in that 10 minutes, she falls asleep usually within a minute or so...

Hang in there, it WILL get better. I noticed a difference within 3 days, and now, Alex will fall asleep all on her own. Today I put her in her bouncy to watch the Einstein videos while I showered, and when I came back, she was sleeping soundly. Before CIO, she never would have been able to fall asleep on her own like that!

Re: We fell into CIO last night....

My only suggestion is to be consistent. If you have decided that CIO is the way to go for night sleep, then no more rocking to sleep. Make a decision in advance of when feedings should be, and whether you want to stay in her room or not, and then stick with it. Right now it sounds like she is a bit confused about what should be happening when.

Re: We fell into CIO last night....

It sounds to me like she was howling because she was overtired.

I put Talia down awake. I look for that window when she is kind of zoned out and try to put her down then.

I have read that if you wait until they are rubbing their eyes, pulling hair, etc... that they are already over tired (but I must admit many times it does get to that point with us - esp. at night - once I give her a bath she is ready to go to sleep but I need to give her a bottle.)

It WILL get easier - and quickly - 3 days is usually the time where you see a difference. Good Luck!

Re: We fell into CIO last night....

Thanks for all the support. Hopefully tonight will go a little more smoothly. Sidney had a dr.'s appt today and she hasn't gained any weight in the last 2 months . She was vomitting and had diarreah with this last cold but to not have gained any weight at all??? So now I feel like I'm under feeding her and that is part of why she wakes up all night (at 3am she chows down). (guilt, guilt)

Anyway...I am adding more solids to her diet and am still gonna CIO tonight and until she learns that she can sleep on her own.

btrflygrl.....funny - I am just in the middle of reading Babywise. Since we have no schedule right now it is dificult to find time to read the book but scheduling is the goal of my life right now. The part about scheduling that I find the most difficult is starting the day. You'd think that would be the easiest but since Sidney has been eating all night (especially at 5:30am and 6:30am) when she wakes at 7:30 to start the day she's not really hungry. So I never know when her 1st meal actually is. We do have a bedtime routine and she has lunch and dinner mostly at the same time each day...so atleast that's a start. But nighttime is also quite hectic cause DH comes home and gets her all excited....not great when she's heading off to bed.

Question....I thought that if I was trying to get sidney to fall asleep on her own that I shouldn't feed her right before bed. Say Feed her, give her a bath, then read a book bedtime...but it seems like you guys feed last. How do you stop them from falling asleep while their eating?

Re: We fell into CIO last night....

Posted by dree

Thanks for all the support. Hopefully tonight will go a little more smoothly. Sidney had a dr.'s appt today and she hasn't gained any weight in the last 2 months . She was vomitting and had diarreah with this last cold but to not have gained any weight at all??? So now I feel like I'm under feeding her and that is part of why she wakes up all night (at 3am she chows down). (guilt, guilt)

Anyway...I am adding more solids to her diet and am still gonna CIO tonight and until she learns that she can sleep on her own.

btrflygrl.....funny - I am just in the middle of reading Babywise. Since we have no schedule right now it is dificult to find time to read the book but scheduling is the goal of my life right now. The part about scheduling that I find the most difficult is starting the day. You'd think that would be the easiest but since Sidney has been eating all night (especially at 5:30am and 6:30am) when she wakes at 7:30 to start the day she's not really hungry. So I never know when her 1st meal actually is. We do have a bedtime routine and she has lunch and dinner mostly at the same time each day...so atleast that's a start. But nighttime is also quite hectic cause DH comes home and gets her all excited....not great when she's heading off to bed.

Question....I thought that if I was trying to get sidney to fall asleep on her own that I shouldn't feed her right before bed. Say Feed her, give her a bath, then read a book bedtime...but it seems like you guys feed last. How do you stop them from falling asleep while their eating?