Calling CIO experts-- I have a few questions. (of course, a little long)

Quick rundown from my posts over the last few weeks... I started sleep training (Ferber), the next night, we had to vacate our home so we stopped.

At my mom's Sasha was a terrible sleeper and I felt like the bad habits were getting worse, so after thinking it over, I started again since the routine was the same, she had her own room, same mobile as at home, etc. We were there for 2 weeks. We have now been home since Thursday and have continued, with a little more attention given on the first night home.

Her sleeping improves on some nights, but she is not consistent. Many of the times, she is out of the swaddle-- which she does once she wakes up and fusses, she doesn't wake up BECAUSE she is out of the swaddle, but it does keep her from getting back to sleep. Also, since we are now back home-- I was wondering if the change of scenery affected anything-- and because of this, I have been going back and forth with the "waiting times", because of changes, etc.

So, here are my questions...

- Do I just "reset" and start again with the early waiting times (i.e. 5, then 7, etc.)? I honestly have gone back and forth-- I don't even know how long I should be waiting at this point. We have been doing this for about a week and a half now, but first at my moms and now at home.

- When I see she is out of the swaddle, should I still wait the full waiting time, or go in right away and then wait. I know there is no way she will settle herself down without being in the swaddle. I will wean off the swaddle, once I know she is capable of sleeping through the night. But, I feel like waiting when she is out of the swaddle is pointless.

- Lastly, my rule was if she woke up after 5AM, I would not let her cry, but feed her. But, latetly she has been waking at like 4 30, 4 45--- OK, so close to 5, she is definitely hungry as it has been close to 11 hours since she last ate. I have tried soothing, but she just wakes up every 15 mins and I think now-- just going in and feeding lets both her and me get back to sleep faster. But, I am breaking my rule-- HOWEVER, I made this rule before she was waking up so close to 5. Like last night, the first time she woke up was 4 30-- so, I just fed her. I felt like she deserved it.

Can someone with experience help to answer my questions? Thanks so much!

Re: Calling CIO experts-- I have a few questions. (of course, a little long)

I would try to ditch the swaddle. I give Sadie a burp cloth or one of those blankets with the animal heads and she holds that and plays with it till she falls asleep...After she is asleep I go and take it away from her. She was completely fine with that and I thought she NEEDED the swaddle. It is so much better now that we got rid of it.

When she wakes up, does she cry at 445 or whatever time? Sadie wakes up at 5/530 and we never get her before 630 ish...she just plays in her crib.

Re: Calling CIO experts-- I have a few questions. (of course, a little long)

Re: Calling CIO experts-- I have a few questions. (of course, a little long)

IMO I think if you CIO with the swaddle you will wind up having to do it all over again anyway after you get rid of the swaddle. If you are going to CIO, IMO, just go all the way and ditch the swaddle. She WILL be fine.

Re: Calling CIO experts-- I have a few questions. (of course, a little long)

Randi - I agree about the swaddle..

I was convinced Samantha would not sleep without the swaddle, well last night, we bit the bullet and gave it up, and put her in a sleep sack instead...it did not phase her one bit. I think she just likes to have something "on" her, and I wasn't comfortable putting her lovey in the crib with her just yet.

Re: Calling CIO experts-- I have a few questions. (of course, a little long)

I know the swaddle needs to be weaned, but I just don't think it's the right time for Sasha based on when I try to get her to sleep without it. She has a strong startle reflex and I think she needs it for a while longer.

Aside from that-- any advice on my other questions?

Thanks.

Re: Calling CIO experts-- I have a few questions. (of course, a little long)

I can't speak on the timing question as my DS was worse when we went in & out. As far as the wake up time, I had the same rule (5am)---but I always found myself caving if it was 4:30 or 4:45----DS was hungry, he didn't know the difference of 15 minutes or so and I didn't cause him to wake earlier like I was afraid too. For us, this was the last feeding to drop, he would go to bed at 6pm, wake around 5, go back to sleep again until 6 or 7. For me this was tolerable after getting up in the middle of the night for so long, so I didn't force it. Eventually when he was much older and was showing signs he really wasn't that hungry I stopped going in before 6am and it worked. GL!!

Re: Calling CIO experts-- I have a few questions. (of course, a little long)

I wish I had some advice... but Chloe is still waking up twice a night to eat and sometimes a few extra times just to be comforted. We will be starting CIO in the next few weeks if things don't get better. Good luck!

Re: Calling CIO experts-- I have a few questions. (of course, a little long)

ok-- I decided to try the sleep sack tonight for shites and giggles-- so far, she's asleep (it's only been 20 mins, and I had to go in once). I think she's a lot more mobile than she appears when on the activity mat.

I think we are better off the last time I tried this since I know she can sleep for a longer period of time, as she has demonstrated over the last few nights, AND I know she really doesn't need to eat til 5ish.

So, we shall see how tonight goes. She's got a paci and a lovey thingy.

Re: Calling CIO experts-- I have a few questions. (of course, a little long)

we had to ditch the swaddle cold turkey with Jonah when we did CIO. he started rolling all over the place when he got upset.
He is still working on the sleeping thing but is doing much better.

DD is still addicted to the swaddle, but she is a great sleeper, she falls asleep on her own immediately and then sleeps through the night until 4-5 when I feed her, goes back to sleep, and then wakes up for the day at 7:30-8. I have tried the one arm out thing and she is quite bothered by that so I'm letting her get rid of it at her own pace.