Ferber question (no flames pleases)

dcb157

We are on day 3 of ferber. First night, there was 40 minutes of crying, second was 16, and today was 20. I was hoping there amount of crying would be dramatically less by now. If you did ferber, how many nights of crying did it take?

 No flames please. I know many people are opposed to ferber method. My son was waking every hour through the night and the pediatrician said this was my best option.

IrishBrideND

You might want to tell people how old your son is, because that can make a difference.

dcb157

Opps, he's 5.5 months.

jmlushbough

How are you doing it? Are you going in at specific intervals and comforting? If so, how are you comforting -- words, patting, picking up? Or are you just letting him cry for 40 minutes?

We did modified CIO about 4 weeks ago when DS was 4.5 months.  He was waking up every 45-90 minutes all night. That had been going on for TWO months! All three of us were going crazy! It took me a long time to come to grips with the dreaded CIO. After much research and talking to GFs and my Mom, I decided we had to at least try it. I was prepared for the worst.

The first night, he "talked" for the first five minutes. Then he cried for ten. We went in after each five minutes of crying. The second night he cried for five minutes. Now, he goes to sleep without crying. Sometimes he sings or talks for a few minutes. And he's sleeping anywhere from 6 to 12 hours before he wakes up, and typically sleeps from 7pm to 7 or 8 am.  This method worked for our LO, but I'm sure it doesn't work for every baby...

dcb157

i have the book so I'm checking based on the intervals that he suggests. I'm not picking him up, just patting and talking to him. I am feeding him at night when he wakes up, usually after 6-7 hours of sleeping. After he eats, he will go right back into the crib. I don't think he's ready to phase out this feeding because he eats alot. I'm EBF.

 I'm also not doing ferber for naps. The book says a feeding at night is okay and so is only doing it for night time sleep but I'm afraid this may be confusing to him.

 He has gone from waking continually throughout the night, to only waking to eat so we have definitely seen a tremendous improvement but I just hate hearing him cry.

jmlushbough

I would say just hang in there... Can you call a friend and have them talk you through it when he's crying? Or go for a walk while DH does the checking for a night?

We didn't do Ferber for naps, either. But we did spend time just hanging out in his crib, playing and laughing and hanging out before we Ferberized so he felt like his crib was a nice, safe place to be. We didn't phase out night feeds, either. In the beginning, if it was less than 3 hours that he woke up/cried, we just comforted. If it was longer, I would feed him. Now, he wakes up once per night.

Hang in there, Mama! It's not easy...

dcb157

Thanks! Your post is reassuring! Fingers crossed for a better night!