So if you didn't use CIO-Ferber...what sleep training habits DO you use that WORK

I'm afraid to keep up with CIO....Alyson soaked herself with sweat and got os worked up she started hyperventilating (and that was after 2 5 minute crying sessions)

Re: So if you didn't use CIO-Ferber...what sleep training habits DO you use that WORK

We used CIO and it worked so I am not much help.

But I think your daughter may be too young to start CIO JMO

Re: So if you didn't use CIO-Ferber...what sleep training habits DO you use that WORK

We didn't use CIO necessarily but we would put her to sleep awake. Once she seemed sleepy and was rubbing her eyes and she rubs her head in my neck and shoulders when she is sleepy then I lay her down. Thats after bathtime and a bottle. If she isn't esleep right away we just keep giving her the paci and turning on the mobile until she falls esleep. It sometimes takes 3-4 times before she's esleep but she never really ends up crying, just fussing and we go in, rub her head and her belly, tell her it's sleepy time in a soft voice and leave her in the crib. if we take her out she thinks it's play time.

Re: So if you didn't use CIO-Ferber...what sleep training habits DO you use that WORK

I never did CIO. Granted, he doesn't SLEEP long, but he does put himself to sleep. I just would lay w/ him and sing a song or rub his back and eventually he fell asleep - peacefully. Now that he trusts I'm not going anywhere he goes down all by himself. And it took some time, but he does put himself back to sleep when he wakes during naps or at night. It just takes patience.

Re: So if you didn't use CIO-Ferber...what sleep training habits DO you use that WORK

I can't do CIO b/c I can't take him crying. When he was smaller I rocked him to sleep and then put him down in his crib. If he woke up mid-transfer I would re-rock him. If he woke up crying during the night I would pick him up and rock him back to sleep. On super fussy nights I would take him into bed with me.

From 6 months and on I started to put him in his crib awake and stay with him until he got settled - but still awake (only a few minutes). Then I would tell him I loved him and goodnight and walk out.

I still continue to pick him up and rock him back to sleep if he wakes up during the night. Just trying to pat him on his back or soothe him doesn't work for me b/c I can't stand to hear him cry (but I'm a huge WIMP!)

Re: So if you didn't use CIO-Ferber...what sleep training habits DO you use that WORK

I did not use a special method. I never did CIO or Feber. I just did what worked for us. Molly and I would cuddle while she had her last bottle of bm. Then she would go down in her crib. Sometimes she needed a bit more of mommy-time, sometimes not. I never felt pressure to have her in bed at certain time or for a certain amount of hours. She and I just worked together to figure it out.

Re: So if you didn't use CIO-Ferber...what sleep training habits DO you use that WORK

I didn't use a special method either. Sorry this is kind of long....

I happened to mention to my pediatrician that Emma drank more than 1 quart of formula a day - he right away asked if she was eating at night - she was - she would wake up at midnight and eat 6oz and then again at 3 or 4am. (My goal was to cut out the 3/4 am feeding).

The first question the doctor asked was "how do you put her to bed at night?" - I said that I gave DD her last bottle in her bedroom - while rocking in the chair. The next question the doctor asked was "do you put her to bed sleeping or awake?" - I said sleeping. He said to keep the same routine, but instead of putting her to bed sleeping - put her in drowsy. So now when I put DD to bed at night her eye's are starting to close, and she puts herself to sleep. He said that she was starting to associate bottle & sleeping and I think he may be right because after 2 nights of putting DD down drowsy - she wakes only at midnight to eat. If she wakes at any other time of the night I let her fuss a little and she puts herself back to sleep.

Trust me - Not every night is perfect - but I do have to say that things are much better.

Good luck!

Re: So if you didn't use CIO-Ferber...what sleep training habits DO you use that WORK

We tried unsuccessfully to CIO with Joseph. He would cry so hard he would throw up, grab us. When he would talk would say things like "Mommy, I crying. You hear me Mommy?" or yell "I need ladder." I admit it I'm a complete wimp. I could never take it.

Finally, he would fall asleep in bed with us at night & then we would move him. I would keep a hot water bottle in his crib so he wouldn't detect a change in temperature on cool sheets or I would use the fleece crib sheets.

With Maddie, since I already learned my lesson, we didn't need CIO. We put her in her bassinet as soon as she was sleepy. Later on she would toddle to her crib & say "Night, night!" Completely different.

Re: So if you didn't use CIO-Ferber...what sleep training habits DO you use that WORK

we tried CIO nad honestly for my son it was torture he would make himself vomit from cyring so hard and he generally is a laid back baby. He sleeps with us no- no problems he prefers to be with us and cuddled to bed- at this point we are fine with it. we have tried lettting him sleep in our arms and then transfering to the crib but he wakes up everytime we put him down- he is a extremely light sleeper. So at this point laying with him in our bed and him falling alseep is what has worked for us.

Re: So if you didn't use CIO-Ferber...what sleep training habits DO you use that WORK

Honestly we just kept her with us in our room until we felt that she might be ready for sleeping in her crib. For us we weren't in any hurry to have her out of our room.
As far as getting her to sleep we used to bounce her to sleep and put her down asleep so little by little we would start timing how long we bounced her for and started cutting back until it go to the point that we were able to put her down awake.
If she woke up crying we would pick her up and bounce her for a exactly a minute and put her back down as long as she wasn't still crying.
Eventually she got to the point that she was able to put herself to sleep.
At 6 months we moved her to the crib because we've finally figured out that she's really a light sleep so any move we make while sleeping wakes her so that was part of our sleep problem.
She trainsitioned well and has many nights that she sleeps through the night but I feel that she's a baby and bound to be unpredictable so we just go with the flow. Some nights I do have to rock her to sleep, some nights she wakes up to eat but other nights she'll sleep 12 hours straight (this is the majority now).
I personally wasn't comfortable putting expectations on my baby to conform to what I wanted but that's just me. I worked with what I felt she needed at the time and we just continue to adjust as she grows and changes.