BTDT parents who did CIO for night wakenings----please HELP (a little long but I need advice)

My DD is 4.5 months old and we are really trying to make these night wakenings better. DD goes to sleep around 8PM and then we do a dream feed bottle at 11PM (before we go to sleep). DD still will wake up so often during the night. Last night she woke up at 2AM. We don't do another feeding until at least 5AM. Here's the thing though....usually we soothe her back to sleep each time she cries until 5AM (we give her a bit to see if she can fall back to sleep on her own but usually she can't). So anyway, in a few weeks I go back to work and I can't keep getting this terribly interrupted sleep all through the night. Last night we tried to let her CIO but it was forever. She cried from 2:15-3:00 (until DH went in and flipped her onto her belly & gave her the paci). She calmed for a few minutes but then flipped on her back again & was back to the crying. She was back at the crying until I went in at 3:45 and flipped her again/did the paci and she eventually fell back to sleep. Then she woke at 5:30 for a feeding.

My question is this----should I keep soothing her? I feel like this is why she still wakes up...habit & then we help her go back to sleep. Should we be trying to get her to do it on her own like this? How long did it take your DC to stop the night waking if you did CIO? TIA

Re: BTDT parents who did CIO for night wakenings----please HELP (a little long but I need advice)

Re: BTDT parents who did CIO for night wakenings----please HELP (a little long but I need advice)

Posted by aliwnec10

Posted by Lucky

My question is this----should I keep soothing her? I feel like this is why she still wakes up...habit & then we help her go back to sleep. Should we be trying to get her to do it on her own like this? How long did it take your DC to stop the night waking if you did CIO? TIA

Well i can only speak from my experience. Ds was waking 5 times a night for 2 months straight. Both me and my DH work FT and we had enough. At 5 1/2 months we did CIO for his naps (he was a horrible napper) and we also did it at night as well.

Jacen was always swaddled before and therefore he never really learned how to self soothe on his own. Like you, this was part of the problem. We'd either swaddle him, put him in the swing or bounce him around the house until he fell asleep before putting him down. He needed motion to fall asleep instead of on his own. We couldn't do it anymore and we had to stop the swaddling, so it was a nightmare.

I'm sure many would disagree, but for us... jacen was working us. He wasn't waking out of hunger at all. It was all for comfort and to be soothed back to sleep, but we could only stand so much you know?

Anyway we did it at night and the first night was rough. He cried for an hour and 45 minutes after the first time he woke up. But that was it. The 2nd night he only woke up once (we agreed that we didn't mind getting up once to feed him, but that was it) so we fed him. And the rest was history. Of course we've had to do CIO a lot more since then (after being sick or vacations, etc) but luckily it only took 1 night for us.

If you're going to do it, don't lay in bed listening to it. A minute seems like forever if you do this. I'd suggest getting the video monitor if you don't already have it. But go downstairs, do laundry, clean, go on the computer, watch tv, etc... anything but sit there and listen to it. CIO is SO hard to do, but definitely worth it for you and the baby.

Re: BTDT parents who did CIO for night wakenings----please HELP (a little long but I need advice)

Re: BTDT parents who did CIO for night wakenings----please HELP (a little long but I need advice)

Posted by Lucky

Posted by aliwnec10

Posted by Lucky

My question is this----should I keep soothing her? I feel like this is why she still wakes up...habit & then we help her go back to sleep. Should we be trying to get her to do it on her own like this? How long did it take your DC to stop the night waking if you did CIO? TIA

Well i can only speak from my experience. Ds was waking 5 times a night for 2 months straight. Both me and my DH work FT and we had enough. At 5 1/2 months we did CIO for his naps (he was a horrible napper) and we also did it at night as well.

Jacen was always swaddled before and therefore he never really learned how to self soothe on his own. Like you, this was part of the problem. We'd either swaddle him, put him in the swing or bounce him around the house until he fell asleep before putting him down. He needed motion to fall asleep instead of on his own. We couldn't do it anymore and we had to stop the swaddling, so it was a nightmare.

I'm sure many would disagree, but for us... jacen was working us. He wasn't waking out of hunger at all. It was all for comfort and to be soothed back to sleep, but we could only stand so much you know?

Anyway we did it at night and the first night was rough. He cried for an hour and 45 minutes after the first time he woke up. But that was it. The 2nd night he only woke up once (we agreed that we didn't mind getting up once to feed him, but that was it) so we fed him. And the rest was history. Of course we've had to do CIO a lot more since then (after being sick or vacations, etc) but luckily it only took 1 night for us.

If you're going to do it, don't lay in bed listening to it. A minute seems like forever if you do this. I'd suggest getting the video monitor if you don't already have it. But go downstairs, do laundry, clean, go on the computer, watch tv, etc... anything but sit there and listen to it. CIO is SO hard to do, but definitely worth it for you and the baby.

Thanks so much for your feedback and for sharing your experience. You are right it is hard to listen to but DH and I are in bed at 2AM so we have no choice but to listen...her room is right next to ours. I just hope tonight is better. Question for you----during that first CIO night did you go in at all during that hour and 45 minute period?

Just an aside, I don't want anyone to think that my DD is hysterical for the whole period of time. She does have moments when she calms down and will be okay for a couple of minutes.