how do you put your 6 month or older infant to sleep ( at night)

Now that DD is in her room (FINALLY) and will be 7 months tomorrow! We are trying to get a routine going here!
We give her a bath between 7-7:30 - then bottle between 7:30-8 and usually she falls asleep while eating.
Tonight, she didnt fall asleep with the bottle, and I put her in her crib and ofcourse she started crying, so I took her our, put her back and so forth! tried CIO for 3 minutes and DH walked in and said what are you doing!?
I just feel if I always take her our and rock her she will never fall asleep on her own.
What do you ladies think?
How does the CIO method work anyway?
HELP!
She fell asleep at 9:30 tonight!

Re: how do you put your 6 month or older infant to sleep ( at night)

There are a few variations to cio

one is where you just let them cry, no matter what

another is where you give yourself a certain amount of time (10-15-20 minutes, etc) and go in at those intervals to soothe (pat on back, etc but NOT pick up)

another is the pick up, put down method where if they cry, you go in a pick them up and rock them, the moment they stop crying, you put them back down

THAT said, I could never do CIO with miki, I rocked her into a deep sleep until 12 months and then did CIO (she did not want to be rocked anymore)...she was always a great sleeper so we had little to no issues with this method

now, with KJ, I bathe, feed and then pop him into the bouncy, I will transfer him to the crib as soon as he shuts his eyes or sometimes when he is still awake but sleepy

he will cry for less than 10 minutes and then STTN

I got very lucky with 2 great sleepers (well miki is having some issues now at 3 y/o but she was always a good sleeper)

find what works for you (and HER) there is no right or wrong

Re: how do you put your 6 month or older infant to sleep ( at night)

First, I'd recommend starting a night routine. With us we started a routine from the first week home of: turning off lights around the house to create a calmer environment (we don't need to do this any more, but it may help in the beginning), turning on just a lamp in the nursery, putting on a lullaby cd, putting on the sound sleeper to "womb" (which we had weened him off of, but then he got sick and his sleep was messed up and we went back to it), reading a book, giving a bottle, then putting him down.

In terms of CIO it is NOT easy. Luckily DS was always pretty good at night but we had nap issues. CIO never worked on his naps. For nighttime, we did the intervals. Our ped suggested 5 minutes, go and soothe (never picking up unless completely unconsolable), 10 minutes, soothe, 15 min, soothe, 20 min, then if they're still crying pick up and soothe longer, then start back at 5. We never had to go more than 10 minutes with DS. But I'll warn you - it is HARD to hear them cry! It's not for everyone and it's not easy.

Re: how do you put your 6 month or older infant to sleep ( at night)

DS is 7 and 1/2 months and I just started working on his sleep this week. He was getting up to eat ( or just nurse for comfort ???) 4 times a night and the lack of sleep is catching up with me.

I can't do CIO, so I'm trying the pick up, put down method for nighttime wake-ups. I still nurse him to sleep initially because I don't want to give that up just yet. When he wakes at night, I go in and rub his back if he's crying a little or pick him up if he's hysterical. I only hold him until he calms down. Then I put him right back down. I start the process over and repeat it until he's asleep. He's doing OK with it and only woke once last night and I was able to get him back to sleep in 10 minutes just by rubbing his back. He has not had to be nursed back to sleep at all, which is huge progress in a week.

Re: how do you put your 6 month or older infant to sleep ( at night)

abbys been on the same schedule since she was 6 months. it just got later by 1 hour since the time change though but she adjusted fantastic

6pm dinner
630 bath
7play time
730 bottle then right to her bed, sometimes she will take her bottlle to bed if shes really cranky i know this is looked down upon but it works for us.

she will sometimes cry a little then be sound asleep and some nights she will cry and cry usually if shes over tired

i found that i was REALLY important for abby that we stick to the routine and i mean not stray by 10 min or it would throw things off. at 6 months we did full on CIO. it only took about 3 days and its done wonders. some nights (you will know) when your baby isnt themselves i will rock her if need be or if she just needs a little snuggle time then goes to bed. i also will let her cry for up to an have over an hour i know the difference between frustration of not being held and pain/discomfort/a problem. i will let her cry if its frustration. she sleeps great and is sleeping by 8pm and gets up around 730

if you want more info on how i did things im happy to answer

Re: how do you put your 6 month or older infant to sleep ( at night)

It depends - some nights she wants to cuddle a little, so we just rock in her glider for a few minutes until she falls asleep. Other nights she wants nothing to do with me, and just wants to go straight into her crib to fall asleep, in which case, I put her in with her little blankie and turn on the aquarium, kiss her good night, and walk out. She usually falls asleep on her own within a few minutes.

With that said, I was sleep training this child since the day she came out, so she learned from an early age how to self-soothe...

ETA - I've tried stretching her, but she needs to go to sleep between 7/7:30pm.

Message edited 3/17/2010 8:14:14 AM.