[KCMomma]

OK ladies, I'm about at my end with this sleep stuff. THIS IS NOT A DEBATE ABOUT CIO OR NOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OK so for those that use the CIO method...do you use it for naps too? Or just for night time sleeping? When you start are you just supposed to let them cry forever? Or for a certain amount of time? I'm concerned right now because I'm not sure if she's crying to be crying or if she's crying because she's in pain with the teething stuff?!?! I don't know what to do? In the morning she takes a nap with no problem at all, but by afternoon and evening....it's soooo hard to get her to take a nap at all. She used to be sleeping through the night, but now she will go to sleep around 7pm and up at like 3 or 4am....UGH!!!!!!!!!!!!

[courtneytcu98]

I think it is a really hard decision to make, and of course, I don't want this to be a debate, either. As I have said before, we moved to CIO out of desperation. I tried absolutely everything possible before going there. We basically followed the recommendations from the "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" book. First we made sure he wasn't hungry or dirty. Then we braced ourselves and made sure we were committed to the task. We went by the one hour rule. The first night it took 58 minutes and the second was 11 minutes. We did not use this for naps, as at that point he was staying with my mom and that was too much to ask of her. The CIO stuff only lasted about 4 nights for us because then Elliott had it figured out. Our routine now is get into pj's, have a bottle, read a book, rock and sing a couple of songs and then lay him in the crib. He typically talks to himself for anywhere from 3-10 minutes and then goes to sleep. HTH, Gwen. You know that I feel your pain!

[xanada101]

I have another question... what time does everyones baby go to bed at night?

[downunderchick]

aww Gwen sending you hugs, ive no idea on CIO.
Toni- B ges to sleep between 8 and 8.30 most nights, sometimes later, it al depends when she falls asleep, we aim for 8 though

[courtneytcu98]

Elliott is in bed between 6pm and 7pm each night. That was not us setting his bedtime, but following his cues. It got gradually earlier and earlier. When he starts yawning and rubbing his eyes, we know it's time!

[Lo_and_Behold]

Well you know where I'm at with this one, Gwen. I was just about to x post a thread from my PR. I followed what Courtney did & let Allie cry for (up to) an hour. It took about 45 mins. I did, however, go in twice to check on her.

Allie had been going to sleep between 7-7:30 like clockwork. We follow her cues but also try to be consistent. However, lately she's been pushing it to 8 or later. Last night she finally fell asleep at 8:45 but that was also the first night we used CIO.

[Heatherjfitz]

I just posted something about this in MomtoJacks thread. I'll copy paste it in here! LOL

I'm a big CIO advacate. I know that sounds horrible, but it's the only thing that worked for us. After I knew my girls had been fed, changed, etc. I knew that there was nothing else they needed other then attention... I have them CIO with every 10-15 min I go in and pat, or soothe for no longer then 60 seconds and then I leave the room again. I repeated that until they were asleep! I read that in a book, and it worked for us. Sort of like...Mommys here....mommy loves you....go to sleep.... walk away... cry cry cry cry..... That way they don't feel AS abandoned, you still are comforting them, but allowing them enough time to get sleepy and bored of crying... KWIM? I don't know... Worked for us though X2!! LOL.

My girls go to bed by 8 each night. Most nights it's 7:30. They sleep until 7:30 each morning. I feel very lucky. I have an occasional night or two where one baby wakes up crying. I feel that it is do to teething and usually I use the soothe/cry method I stated above. Most of the time a little soothing is all that is needed now.

Good luck! With CIO it's always hard at first! Pays off in the end!

[Tima]

I used the CIO method too but followed a book in South Africa called 'Sleep Sense'. They give you one of 2 options and i chose this one:

You rock baby until they are drowsy, put them down (not head first) and leave the room. If they cry you can go in and you sit next to them with your hand firmly on their chest and say 'sshh'. Do not make eye contact. Do this until they sleep. You will do this each night but you mus eliminate one element each time ie. on night 2 you won't say 'sshhh', on night 3 you won't put the hand on the chest, on night 4 you will just stand at the foot of the crib and on night 5 you will stand by the door. Husna cried for an hour on night 1 and fortunately i didn't really have to go back in on the other nights. A sleep therapist also suggested that if they start crying during the night, give them a few minutes to self soothe before going in.

They do get the picture after a while.

Good luck!

[courtneytcu98]

Tima. . . is that you, Fatima?????????? I've missed you!

[FatimaD]

Yes it is me Courtney! Was having login issues again! I miss you too How is Elliot? Must be a big boy now. How are you?

[KCMomma]

Thank you all very much!!! Tonight was CIO night uno....not too bad at all...I think the worst part was keeping DH from going in and calming her!!! Anyway, she screamed for 16 minutes then asleep for like 10 minutes then screamed for a few more minutes then down!!!!! I think we have a winner!! Thanks for all the suggestions...I really think this is gonna work. Now we just have to work on the naps...any suggestions with this???

[courtneytcu98]

Gwen, I would say tackle one issue at a time. Once she is getting good, quality sleep at night consistently her naps may improve on their own. I'm a strong believer that "sleep begets sleep."

[Lo_and_Behold]

Originally Posted by courtneytcu98

Gwen, I would say tackle one issue at a time. Once she is getting good, quality sleep at night consistently her naps may improve on their own. I'm a strong believer that "sleep begets sleep."

that's for sure! Good luck Gwen! Glad it went so well!!

[KCMomma]

Thanks guys!!! Again last night she went to sleep at 6:55pm and woke up at 3am...why can't she just sleep longer??? Good advice Courtney...I'll worry about night sleeping for now and then move on to the naps! Thanks!!

7pm to 3am is a good stretch Gwen! You haven't started solids yet have you? I bet she will start to sleep longer through the night when she starts them if she hasn't already.

One thing to remember is that babies get thirsty too, and nursing is how they quench it. So hunger isn't the only reason to wake up! I hope CIO continues to work for you though, it is good to hear good success stories in case I ever decide to use it

[courtneytcu98]

An 8 hour stretch at her age is fantastic, Gwen!!! There are babies in my PR that still don't do that and they are all at least 9 months old! I felt like once Elliott was only waking one time per night, it was so doable as long as we went right back to sleep. I would say around 6-6 1/2 months is when he did the all-night-thing and it is DREAMY.

[Lauren S]

8 hours of sleep is amazing for her right now!!!! I know it feels like it should be longer but when you think about it, it's like you sleeping from 11-7. It's a great night's sleep!

[KCMomma]

Yeah, you guys are so right!!! 8 hours is good...now if I could just get myself to go to sleep at 7pm and then we would be all good!!!

Thanks for the reassurance guys. And Michelle, I bet you are right, once we start solids I bet she'll sleep longer. We plan on starting that on Thanksgiving!

[Oreobaby]

sorry, I'm only 11 weeks pregnant...what CIO???

That will be so cool to start solids then!

CIO = cry it out. The sleep method.