If you did CIO at an early age...

what age did you do it at?

Was your DC swaddled?

Were you breast or bottle feeding?

How did it go?

We did CIO with DS when he was 9 months. We were at our wits end and felt we had no other choice, and that it had just become a habit for him to wake up every night a MILLION times and be rocked back to sleep. It was pretty clear he didn't really need anything.

DD is now 4 months. DH wants to CIO and ped said it was ok. She goes to sleep on her own for naps and for bedtime, but wakes up constantly at night. Every hour or more! I'm not so sure that DD doesn't need somethign though. Sometiems I stick the binky in and she goes back to sleep right away. Sometimes she has a burp. I think her first tooth MAY have come through last night.

WWYD?

ETA: I guess another reason I hesitate to CIO at 4 months is because I thought I read or heard that before 6 months they are learning to trust you, etc. I don't want to screw anything up!

ETA: she is EBF. She only nurses once per night, around 3 or 4 am.

Message edited 2/6/2011 3:28:59 PM.

Re: If you did CIO at an early age...

Posted by mrandmrs12

what age did you do it at?

Was your DC swaddled?

Were you breast or bottle feeding?

How did it go?

We did CIO with DS when he was 9 months. We were at our wits end and felt we had no other choice, and that it had just become a habit for him to wake up every night a MILLION times and be rocked back to sleep. It was pretty clear he didn't really need anything.

DD is now 4 months. DH wants to CIO and ped said it was ok. She goes to sleep on her own for naps and for bedtime, but wakes up constantly at night. Every hour or more! I'm not so sure that DD doesn't need somethign though. Sometiems I stick the binky in and she goes back to sleep right away. Sometimes she has a burp. I think her first tooth MAY have come through last night.

WWYD?

ETA: I guess another reason I hesitate to CIO at 4 months is because I thought I read or heard that before 6 months they are learning to trust you, etc. I don't want to screw anything up!

Message edited 2/6/2011 12:15:40 PM.

Re: If you did CIO at an early age...

Everything I have ever read or heard said you shouldn't start CIO until the baby is 6 mo.

A 2-3 mo old is waking up during the night because they are hungry and need to eat. Some people are lucky and their kids will sleep throughout the night, others won't.

Re: If you did CIO at an early age...

I don't think there is a magic age like 6m where it suddenly becomes okay overnight to CIO. I also don't think CIO is terrible to do to a 2m old. It all depends. I think the way you do it depends too. Everything I've read says trust isn't defined by one event, or a handful of events, but through day to day interaction and attention, its more complex than if you let them cry or not.

I'm not a fan of all out crying non-stop for hours, at any age, but thats JMO. I think, if you are open to it and you think your baby can benefit I think sleep training is definitely called for and will do your child so much good. The better they sleep, the better they learn, the better they develop. Trust can't be broken in the few nights or even few weeks that it takes to sleep train, again JMO. Although, I don't think it has been proven otherwise.

I sleep trained DS at 3m. I did something like what the Baby Whisperer and Baby Sleep Solution say to do. Let the baby fuss up to a point, then pick up and soothe back to drowsy. At some point, don't pick up, just stay close, as long as the baby is just fussing not all out screaming. I did this at 3m, it took a 2 weeks, in conjunction with weaning him off night time feedings. I know when it was all said it done, I kicked myself and felt like I should have just done CIO, why did I spend hour and hours torturing myself and my baby, he would have learned to self soothe with flat out CIO, and spent a lot less hours in torment trying to get to sleep.

But at that point he was not swaddled, he did not need to burp in the middle of the night, he could turn side to side and get comfy, he could hold a lovey. DS was bottle fed 100% at that point, and was still taking 2 bottles at night. I weaned him off one bottle, by offering less and less each night, and more during the day, then I weaned him off the 2nd. Since then DS has been an amazing sleeper. We had to do real CIO at 6m, it lasted 15 terrible minutes, I think it was so easy because he was a pro.

IMO
1. If she wakes because she's hungry, feed her, and put her to bed. Then make a plan to wean her off gently. She needs to learn to eat more during the day and less at night, but it doesn't happen like magic.
2. If she is waking to burp, shes not ready for CIO and still needs you
3. If she's still swaddles, I would not do CIO, a baby needs to feel like they can move themselves in to a comfortable position and sleep.

Teething is tricky, you never know if its really teething or not. If its really bad, then give her some Ibuprofen (talk to your ped) and only sleep train when she has no excuse to complain about anything.

HTH

Re: If you did CIO at an early age...

wow, thank you so much for your responses.

I am still not sure what to do, but I really appreciate your advice, and just sharing your thoughts!

Especially about trust not being broken by a few bouts of crying. =)

thanks ladies!!!

Re: If you did CIO at an early age...

we started CIO with my ds at 2 months- while some people may say that he was waking up because he was hungry- for him that was not the case- he eats 7 oz before bed and would wake up and only eat 1-2 ounces, so we tried letting him cry through his 3am wake-up and after 7 minutes the first night, he went back to sleep

he sleeps straight through now- my dr. spock book even says to let an infant cry for 30 minutes before going in

my ds gets breastmilk but through a bottle b/c I pump now

eta- we never swaddled him- he wasnt a fan and would scream from day one when we tried

Message edited 2/6/2011 3:54:53 PM.

Re: If you did CIO at an early age...

Posted by mommyIam

I don't think there is a magic age like 6m where it suddenly becomes okay overnight to CIO. I also don't think CIO is terrible to do to a 2m old. It all depends. I think the way you do it depends too. Everything I've read says trust isn't defined by one event, or a handful of events, but through day to day interaction and attention, its more complex than if you let them cry or not.

I'm not a fan of all out crying non-stop for hours, at any age, but thats JMO. I think, if you are open to it and you think your baby can benefit I think sleep training is definitely called for and will do your child so much good. The better they sleep, the better they learn, the better they develop. Trust can't be broken in the few nights or even few weeks that it takes to sleep train, again JMO. Although, I don't think it has been proven otherwise.

I sleep trained DS at 3m. I did something like what the Baby Whisperer and Baby Sleep Solution say to do. Let the baby fuss up to a point, then pick up and soothe back to drowsy. At some point, don't pick up, just stay close, as long as the baby is just fussing not all out screaming. I did this at 3m, it took a 2 weeks, in conjunction with weaning him off night time feedings. I know when it was all said it done, I kicked myself and felt like I should have just done CIO, why did I spend hour and hours torturing myself and my baby, he would have learned to self soothe with flat out CIO, and spent a lot less hours in torment trying to get to sleep.

But at that point he was not swaddled, he did not need to burp in the middle of the night, he could turn side to side and get comfy, he could hold a lovey. DS was bottle fed 100% at that point, and was still taking 2 bottles at night. I weaned him off one bottle, by offering less and less each night, and more during the day, then I weaned him off the 2nd. Since then DS has been an amazing sleeper. We had to do real CIO at 6m, it lasted 15 terrible minutes, I think it was so easy because he was a pro.

IMO
1. If she wakes because she's hungry, feed her, and put her to bed. Then make a plan to wean her off gently. She needs to learn to eat more during the day and less at night, but it doesn't happen like magic.
2. If she is waking to burp, shes not ready for CIO and still needs you
3. If she's still swaddles, I would not do CIO, a baby needs to feel like they can move themselves in to a comfortable position and sleep.

Teething is tricky, you never know if its really teething or not. If its really bad, then give her some Ibuprofen (talk to your ped) and only sleep train when she has no excuse to complain about anything.

HTH