BTDT moms who had success with CIO, PLEASE come in!

So my wonderful, amazing sleeper, who would sleep 10-11 hours straight, has disappeared. Pretty much me and my DH haven't slept in i dont even know how long. Because he was sick and teething and so uncomfortable... we have been sitting on the rocking chair with him, letting him sleep in our bed, rubbing his back, staying in his room, etc. and he developed bad sleeping habits, which i totally admit is our fault, but we live in a condo and i can't have him crying the whole night. So he is finally starting to feel better and we decided it was time for CIO last night. Well it half worked great. He would fall asleep within the first 5 or 10 min crying session, but he wouldn't stay asleep. He went down at 8:30, and got up at 9:30, 11:30, 12:30, 2:30, 4:00, and 6:00 so yes, we broke him of us being the room with him to fall sleep, but i think b/c his teeth are bothering him that he cant stay asleep.
We have been giving him motrin and that doesnt seem to be helping much. So my question is will he eventually learn to not wake up so much(since that was only the 1st night we did it) or should we just abandon CIO since hes teething so bad anyway, but then we are back to having to be in his room with him. and on the nighs we do that he deosnt wake up as much, but when he does get up, he is up for 1-2.5 hours intervals (vesus last night he would fall sleep within 5-10 min), so my DH and I dont know which is the less of two evils.
I am at my wits end and so exhausted, any advice is appreciated
TIA!!!

Re: BTDT moms who had success with CIO, PLEASE come in!

I don't have a ton of advice for you, but DD is 16 months old. She was a GREAT sleeper from 3-6 months. Then all of the sudden the night wakings started, like yours every hour or 2. Again, like you, we felt sooooo bad thinking that it was teething, etc. that we would rock her back to sleep and got her in to very bad sleep habits. At 12 months I decided to do CIO. Within a week she was sleeping straight through the night. Then about a week ago she started waking up in the middle of the night again. I didn't want to get her back in the habit of rocking so I would just go in there and calm her down. She went right back to sleep. Then last night, although she slept through the night, she screamed for an hour at bedtime before she finally fell asleep.

So, in conclusion to my whole long story, I think some kids just go through phases with sleeping. I don't know if there is too much you can do besides not getting them in to bad habits. I have found that if I stick to my plan, it usually seems to work, (ex. I let her cry for an hour at bedtime before I'll go in there and calm her down). Sorry I don't have better advice for you, but it will get better. By the time their in college, you'll be able to sleep through the night again!

Re: BTDT moms who had success with CIO, PLEASE come in!

Something is in the air around here lately b/c a lot of LIF babies are not sleeping good!!

We just went through 2 weeks of this! DS was up a few times every night, crying for us, didn't want to be alone in his crib etc. It was horrible and I was running out of things to do for him!

I finally called the ped and she said to give him tylenol before bed b/c it might be his teeth waking him. Then she said to leave him in his crib. Let him cry 10 min and if he doesn't stop go in. Comfort him, tell him its OK and walk out. If he continues to cry go in every 10-15min and do the same thing. It didn't work at all the 1st night! But it worked the 2nd night and the last 2 nights he has slept like a champ.

She really thinks (and I agree with her) that he is just crying to get me in there and get me to stay with him-- and it was working and he knew it.

Hope you get some sleep soon!

Re: BTDT moms who had success with CIO, PLEASE come in!

I did the very same thing as you with DD. She too was a wonderful sleeper and then those darn teeth begin to cause pain and the great sleeping went right out the window

I would bring DD into bed with me (DH usually works the overnight shifts). She would fall right back to sleep in the crook of my arms while trying to eat her PJ's for more relief. When she was finally peacefully asleep - I would put her back to bed and that was the end of the world to her. So I would just let her stay in the bed with me so I could get some rest - but I just cannot sleep if she is in bed with me.

I finally realized she's doing this more because she's becoming familiar with the routine of sleeping with mommy to feel better and had to put an end to it. I just stopped picking her up one night. I would put my arms around her when she woke up crying, gave her a hug and gently put her back into the lying down position. It was a struggle and there were 2 nights I stood over her for about 20 minutes with my hand on her back to make her comfortable, but it paid off in the end. She will still wimper when the teeth are bothering her, but she's able to comfort herself again to go back to sleep - even in pain (she still bites on her pj's).

I may be lucky that her CIO didn't last long and in total it took 3 night to really get her adjusted. But Mommy is better rested these days because I just became so determined to break the cycle.

HTH and good luck!