CIO

stephrodgers07

For those that have done it or are trying it, how long do you let them cry total? I know you go in at different intervals, but how long until you ditch.

I tried about a month or so ago. He cries for A LONG TIME. His time never got any shorter so I quit. He's a persistent little thing. I'm at a loss with getting him to sleep. He has such a hard time getting to sleep.

ASmallWonder

CIO isn't something you just happen onto and try as you think it should work.  You need to read some books on different methods and find what works best for you and your LO.  No way should he have cried "for a long time."

KLL22

If you're asking about how long people have done it, it's pretty obvious you have done no research on this method. How old is your LO? If that's the route you want to take then RESEARCH it. If your LO is under 6 months I would strongly suggest waiting.

stephrodgers07

KLL22 said:

If you're asking about how long people have done it, it's pretty obvious you have done no research on this method. How old is your LO? If that's the route you want to take then RESEARCH it. If your LO is under 6 months I would strongly suggest waiting.

You assumed wrong. I have researched it. Read the book. Online resources galore. But nothing says how long is too long. Everything says that it's up to your discretion, but I wanted to see what others thought was too long. My pediatrician said 2 hours. That seems too long to me. He's 5 months. I'm asking opinions... Chill.

LisaLisa1980

Ya 2 hours is absolutely wrong. If he's crying for that long, something is WRONG.

stephrodgers07

elmoali said:

CIO isn't something you just happen onto and try as you think it should work.  You need to read some books on different methods and find what works best for you and your LO.  No way should he have cried "for a long time."

Again, I HAVE researched it, read multiple books. There's no time limit that they suggest. Just increments to keep checking on them.

Everyone's "long time" is different. That's why I was asking. Please don't assume.

loveslife

My son was 6 month old, when we did it.  You also need to know your child's temperament.  For us, we did not do the periodic check in because it would just make him more upset - seeing us and us not picking him up.  BTW, I did read the entire Ferber book.  Our pediatrician told us it was ok to let him cry for a long period of time - they advised us that no long term harm will be done.  It took us 1 night to see significant improvement in middle of the night wakings (he used to wake up 6 times a night and stay awake for hours) and 10 days for him to be able to fall asleep on his own without any crying. He did cry for a very very long time the first night when he woke up in the middle of the night, and he did not wake up in the middle of the night after the 1st night but continued to cry before falling asleep.  He now sleeps from 8 pm to 5:30 or even 6 am.

jensriot

DD1 would scream for hours when we tried to get her to sleep while we were holding, rocking, walking, etc. It was so rough. We decided to let her CIO. She cried for 45 minutes the first night, less the second and maybe 5-10 in the nights following, if at all. The 45 minutes were tough, but after 2 nights we knew we made the right choice for us. She still needed MOTN feedings and we didn't let her cry through those, just the initial bedtime at 8pm or so.

I don't run to the crib if the kids wake up and cry. So often they will just fall back to sleep in a few minutes. If it doesn't appear that LO will settle back to sleep after 5-10 minutes, then I go in.

08summerbride

Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child gives some guidelines to limits.