CIO question

DD sleeps through the night, from about 8 - 5:30, give or take. However, on occasion, she will get up at 3am and start crying. I think what is happening is that she wakes up, and after a few minutes, she realizes she is hungry, so she starts crying. The few times she has done this, we have given her a bottle and she's gone back to bed. But our Ped said since she is 4 months old now, she can CIO.

We tried this last night, but she cried for 30 minutes and we just couldn't take it anymore, so we gave her a bottle. But I don't want her to get used to that bottle! As our Ped said, don't reward negative behavior.

My question for moms that have used CIO - how long do you let them cry? Do you go into the room to check on them? How many nights did it take to work? Anything else I should know about CIO?

thx!

Re: CIO question

I think that at 4 months it is still OK for her to have a nighttime bottle. As long as she has the bottle and then goes right back to bed, I wouldn't sweat it.

Re: CIO question

My ds was older then that when we did the CIO but this is what my ped told us to do: Let them cry, the 1st time they start to cry just go in NO eye contact, DO NOT turn any lights on and just check to make sure there is no vomit or that dc's arm or legs aren't stuck in the crib, also don't say anything, then walk out. He said they can cry for as long as 4hrs but they wont. When we did this with our son he was around 1yrs old and the longest he cried was 45min and that was on day 1 the other two days were much shorter. It took about 3days and then it was done. My ped said it can take as long as a week but usually doesn't. He also said only do it if your sure your going to stick with it because if you let your dc cry for 30mins then give in they will cry the next time knowing you will be giving it to them sooner or later. It was very heart braking doing it but is was worth it at the end. But now IMO I feel 4mos is young I know many of people whose children didn't sleep through the night at that age. But what ever you decide good luck.

Re: CIO question

is she getting good naps durign the day? sometimes that wakes them adn htey cant unwind so they cry. try rubbign her back or puttign her to bed earlier may help

Message edited 4/27/2008 8:22:07 PM.

Re: CIO question

DS does this occasionally, not often at all. He often wakes up at night, and usually manages to get himself back to sleep, but once in awhile, no, and I just give him a bottle if he is not soothed by being held, getting a pacifier, etc. Not a big one, a small one, but it puts him back to sleep every time. Since he doesn't wake up like this so often, I am not worried about a pattern forming.

A few people have told me not to do this, and I would be concerned if he did it several times a week, but once in awhile, I figure he just didn't get enough to eat that day. He is also slim for a baby, and doesn't eat unless he really wants food. Whether I'm right or wrong, I don't know, but he doesn't seem to have developed a nightly habit of bottles yet.

Re: CIO question

This happened to us around the same age and DD was no longer eating at night. Do you use a pacifier? I remember we had like 3 or 4 nights in a row of her getting up at like 4 am looking to eat again but I just kept putting the paci back in her mout hand eventually she realized she wasn't getting food.

Re: CIO question

DS has gone through phases where he gets up for a bottle, he will do this for up to 10 days (usually less) and then all of the sudden he is back to sleeping through.
I dont think I could have DS CIO yet at only 4 months. Maybe she is having a growth spurt, is she on cereal yet during the day? And what about her nap schedule. DS sleeps better if he has a good afternoon nap (which honestly isnt too often!)