CIO question.

Why do people say to wait until they are older to do it? My DD is 10 weeks and she will not nap or fall asleep on her own.

She will usually fall asleep in the swing (thats because its movement) and at night i have to rock her to sleep. Do i have to keep doing that until she is old enough for her to CIO? And what age is appropriate for her to CIO? I dont even know if i could do that to her. Im such a whimp!!!!

Its hard because I am back at work and my mom is watching her and she doesnt have the same swing, etc. as i do and yesterday she didnt nap at all.

Re: CIO question.

I would not let my 10 week old baby cry it out. I would hold that baby and rock that baby so they were happy. You may well have to rock her until she is ready to not be rocked. I would not assume that CIO will be the answer to all your problems. Some babies just need to be held!!! And you know what I say, babies were designed to be held! Thats why they make them so small and cuddly!!!

Crying for long periods of time is not really good physically for small babies with small nervous systems...their blood pressure goes up and its hard on them physically!

This is coming from someone who held their baby for the first 8 months...but you know what...I would give anything to be able to hold him like that again!! THe little wiggleman!!!

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They say to wait until they are older as a child this young is not mature enough to handle CIO - IMO no baby is old enough but thats a whole diffrent topic!

I had a baby who resisted naps also and it is difficult especially when you hear from other moms who have super nappers! not fair!! but you know you just have to ride it out for another while....she wont not nap forever!

I found white noise to be a great help.Even now that my DD is 14 mths she will nap for longer if I have the fan on in the kitchen while she sleeps. you can buy these white noise Cd's too. I found that driving her around the block also helped as did taking her for a walk in her stroller.

hang in there

Re: CIO question.

DS is 5 months old and fights his naps. I've found that he falls asleep if I carry him in a sling for a while, then I can put him in his crib. When he was under 3 months, he only napped in the swing or a bouncer. If your baby needs to be carried a lot look into getting a sling. They really help.

CIO is not for me, so I don't know much about it, but I think that Dr. Ferber says not to use it with a baby who is younger than 6 months old -- I personally wouldn't use it on a baby younger than a year if I used it at all, because right now I think it's better to focus on setting up good sleeping habits and helping them to enter sleep peacefully.

ETA: It's OK to use a swing or rocking to help them fall asleep at this age -- if you can put them to sleep drowsy, but awake at this age that's great, but many infants just won't do that.

Message edited 4/10/2007 12:23:27 PM.

Re: CIO question.

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I think 10 weeks is way too young

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10 weeks is too young for CIO, but it's not to young to let them fuss for while. I don't believe a baby needs to be picked up the second they make noise. We tried CIO when DS was 3 months and even that was too young, he just didn't get it. So we started doing our own version of CIO. We let let him cry for 15-20 minutes. If he's dying out we will let it continue, if he's just getting more amped we will go to him. You will start to feel out the difference in cries in a few more weeks. DS has also never been an easy napper, or even easy to get to sleep at all. When I know it's nap time I usually go into my bedroom because it's a little darker, I hold him close and rock him a little. He uses his fingers to sooth himself and when he's fairly settled, but not fast asleep, I put him in his crib and he sucks his thumb. He doesn't keep his thumb in his mouth when he sleeps though. Once he's in a good sleep it falls out and he's fine with that.

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I wouldn't even think about CIO at 10 weeks. OMG my heart breaks even thinking about it.
That baby is so young and helpless. I needs to be held, rocked and comforted. Usually if it is crying it has a need that needs to be met and that need might mean being held.
I had to pretty much hold my daughter 24/7 for months but that's what it took to help her be calm and feel safe and secure.
I know it stinks when your baby isn't a good sleeper but being a parent is hard and you just have to work around your baby for a long time. They don't work around you.
There are also studies that have been done on babies that have Reactive Attachment Disorder from being left to CIO from a young age. I'm sorry but this would not be a thought that would even enter my mind at 10 weeks old.

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Because at 10 weeks, it's not an mature emotional state where they "want mommy" & are crying to be manipulative. At 10 weeks, they need mommy & are crying because they need that comfort.

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I figured it was too young to do this. Thats why i come to this site. Its just that everyone has opinions and they alway make me think about things. Everyone says you can spoil and some say you cant. I just dont want her to get into bad habits. Thats all.

Thanks!!!