Babies: 3 - 6 Months
jrbailey26
member
Sleep Training Help
jrbailey26
member
Hey. My son is 5 months and I really want him to be able to fall asleep on his own. I am going to try the cry it out method soon and I am wondering how long on average should I expect him to cry before he falls asleep on his own?? What has been your experience?? Thanks!
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Re: Sleep Training Help
I've been sleep training since about 3 months. At that age I would only let him cry for 3 min. (you have to watch the clock too because 3 min seems like an eternity) after that I would pick him up rock him in my arms and he would fall right asleep.
As he grew I would push it to 5 and the first time I pushed it to 10 ... I literally was about to pick him up and he knocked right out!
He doesn't cry for really more than 15 min. 30 max.. But that is not straight crying... cry, fuss, talk.. I can put him down now and he might cry.. turns into a fuss and eventually falls asleep on him own ..spanning a time of no more than 30 min.
If he is crying good and hard and I don't hear it calming anytime soon I won't let that last more that 15 min. I rock him, try a bottle then put him down again when he is drowsy. That usually works.
This is what worked for me, but I've heard of stories where they let them cry it out for longer. I don't know how long I would go if all this didn't work I haven't had to get to that point yet (fingers crossed)
I hope this made some sort of sense, I feel like I babbled lol
We do the cry it out with about a 20 min time limit. It is a hit or miss with my son. He is almost 5 months old. If I am able to catch his sleep signals. He will fuss for maybe 5 min. If I miss the signals & he is too tired then we could have up to a 3 hour battle. I won't let him cry for more than 20 min before I pick him up for a calm down. I don't let him go to bed with a bottle & he does not use a pacifier. His soother item or items are called taggies. They look like a small blanket maybe 8inches by 8 inches. We have several so we are never without one. We make sure one is in his crib for all sleep times. He will snuggle it as he drifts off. Most nights he is in bed sleep by 8pm & sleeps till between 8-9 am.
All of that sad my advise learn his signals that he is tired & respond to them by getting into his bed for bed or nap ASAP. When you have to go to him & comfort try to keep your voice calm & do not encourage any "play" behavior. Just calm him & try to get him drowsy then put him back down awake.This will help him learn to put himself back to sleep he when he wakes up during the night. This is a skill that takes a little time to learn.
She asked what worked for us. This is what worked for us... Not every baby is going to go by the "book"
Gross! I didn't want to write a book. She is at the beginning of her journey. So I wrote about what was going on at the beginning, and what we did. Done!
Im picking up The Sleep Easy Solution book today. Its a modified CIO method. I've been researching which method I want to go with for the last week, and there is tremendous amount of success with this book and method.
Check it out.
I agree that using a book or specific method is best rather than just letting baby CIO. There are gentler methods that include some crying, but also some consoling. The Ferber book has a lot of info on this method and also shares a lot about sleep issues. It's called Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems. And while CIO is a pretty unpopular method around here, Ferber is the founder of the pediatric sleep department at Children's Hospital in Boston. So, he knows a thing or two about a thing or two.
Good luck.