Please help me sleep train my 14mo..need advice...

So, G is now 14mo and we rock her to sleep every night and up till now she was sleeping through the night..she just started waking every night for the past 2 weeks and wants us to rock her, but when we put her down she listens for us(yes, even the creeks in the floor) and wants us to stay in the room until she is asleep...this could take hours...so we want the best method of CIO out there that will be the fastest and most effective...I think for the past 2 night we have been doing it wrong...we rock her and when she's drowsy we put her down and she cries her head off..after 5 minutes or so we go in and rock her again to make her drowsy and then do it again for 7 min.....and so on...but I feel like we're torturing her...is there a better way...please help!!!

Thanks!!

Re: Please help me sleep train my 14mo..need advice...

Rock her, put her down, and im not trying to sound mean, I promise...do NOT go back in!
The whole key is not to go back in!
I won't lie...It is HARD.
I sat outside my DS' door crying with him.
Each night it did get easier and easier.

Best of Luck.


Does your DD have a white noise machine or anything to help "distract" her?

We have THIS ONE and DS LOVES it (he's 3 and still uses it).
We just bought another one for DD

Message edited 4/6/2010 10:26:56 PM.

Re: Please help me sleep train my 14mo..need advice...

The fastest, most effective way is to put her down awake, say good night, and leave. She will scream - for hours possibly, but don't go back in. She will eventually fall asleep. Each day she will cry for less time, and then she will understand she has to go to sleep on her own.

It is SO hard to listen to, but it really does work.

Re: Please help me sleep train my 14mo..need advice...

Re: Please help me sleep train my 14mo..need advice...

Prefacing this by saying that I am not a CIO parent.

What worked for us when DS was 12 months old and still needing to be rocked to sleep was this:

I sat in the rocker with him, we read a book, I dimmed the lights, and put on the white noise machine. I put him into his crib awake, but really sleepy, then I got a chair, turned off the lights,a nd I sat with him until he fell asleep. Each night I moved the chair further and further to the door of his room. Eventually I was able to just stand in the doorway so he could still see me.

It takes time this way, its NOT a "quick fix", but it does work. Within a month I was able to sit with him in the rocker, read a book, put him in the crib awake, and say goodnight.