CIO-so many ppl are bashing me for doing this..please tell me it is ok..

Ugh, nothing like a ton of opinions...i am having a really hard time with it but i dont think i have a choice..i have a sleep trainer who has helped me through how to do this but to make a long story short, i think i have cried more than the baby....she has been in there since 7pm, took her about 30 min of screaming last night to sleep and then off and on through the night..i was told never to go in until 7am this morning...
My daughter has serious sleep issues...waking for the day at 345 alot and it has been brutal, hard on the marriage and i am a walking zombie..i know i have no choice as she is miserable half the time but oh wow, i had no idea how hard this was going to be....and last night was only the first night....

Re: CIO-so many ppl are bashing me for doing this..please tell me it is ok..

I don't know what your sleep trainer told you but I followed Dr. Ferber's book and did the
wait 3,5,7,10,10,10 minute approach and it worked great for us.

BUT - and this is a huge but- Summer (Sumlynmad) has a post floating around that was KEY to the success for me. When he was crying, I would ONLY go in if he was HYSTERICAL. So for instance..

I put him down at 7:30.
7:33 he was still SCREAMING. I went in, rubbed his back, told him Mommy's here, and left. Less than 1 minute total.

He screamed for a another 2 mnutes and then started to calm down.

I didn't go in. The calmed down portion restarts the clock. So I ended up not having to go back in. Every time he'd almost get to the 5 minute mark, he'd stop or slow down.

It took 3 hard nights and 4 easier ones go get through the sleep training. But it was SOOO worth it.

My son now sleeps 11 hours at night. From 6:30pm until 5:30/6am AND he naps in his crib.

I hope that helps. try looking up Summer's post.

OH! And don't tell people you're doing it. It's none of their business and if they bash you for doing so you'll question if it's right for you. I had my mom come stay with me while we did it because my husband didn't agree and he was away on business. When he came home, we had a different baby!

Re: CIO-so many ppl are bashing me for doing this..please tell me it is ok..

CIO is tough! We did something similar for DS. Initially we checked in on him in intervals and discovered that was only making things worse. His crying cycle would start up all over again the minute we left the room, so we decided not to enter his room at all at night the next time. I checked in on him all night with a video monitor to make sure he was okay. The first night it took 3 hours straight of solid crying before he conked out. Each subsequent night the crying decreased and now he goes to sleep the minute we put him in the crib. The first week's the hardest, but it will get better!

Re: CIO-so many ppl are bashing me for doing this..please tell me it is ok..

We did it how you are doing it, and could not go in when he was crying. For us, if he saw us the cry got that much worse.

Your DC will be better off in the end and hopefully it will only take a few nights. How old is DD?

Message edited 8/10/2009 7:22:14 AM.

Re: CIO-so many ppl are bashing me for doing this..please tell me it is ok..

First of all stay strong, don't put up the white flag yet. Our dr told us to do the same lay him down at bed time close the door and don't walk back in until it's time to get up. He said when your DC see's u it makes it worse. Some people did the method of 20 down of crying then pick up this made our situation soooo much worse so we stopped doing it. It took three-four days but eventually he understood it was time to sleep and he just went to sleep. Good Luck

Re: CIO-so many ppl are bashing me for doing this..please tell me it is ok..

Posted by teddysmama1021

First of all stay strong, don't put up the white flag yet. Our dr told us to do the same lay him down at bed time close the door and don't walk back in until it's time to get up. He said when your DC see's u it makes it worse. Some people did the method of 20 down of crying then pick up this made our situation soooo much worse so we stopped doing it. It took three-four days but eventually he understood it was time to sleep and he just went to sleep. Good Luck