CIO alternative?

crystina06

I am wondering if anyone has tried a sleep training approach that worked and does not involve CIO. I have read one book that has this process for gradually weaning from rocking/paci/bottle or whatever you use to get LO to fall back asleep until they are able to fall back asleep on their own. I will probably try this approach, but just wanted to check with you ladies first to see if anything else is out there that has been successful.

schoolsoutbride

We did EVERYthing right (putting down drowsy but awake, feeding on waking instead of nursing to sleep, etc.) 

Nothing worked with two. I just couldn't soothe two at a time by myself.  They can go to sleep just fine, but I couldn't get them back to sleep by myself.

I counted down the days and finally let them CIO.  It SUCKED. I hated it, but we're over the worst (I hope), the babies are napping and only getting up 2x a night, and I'm not tearing my hair out.

preheatedoven

We rocked/fed/cuddled to sleep until they were a year old. Got up with them at night every time they woke up (rocked/fed/cuddled, rinse, repeat).

At about 13 months we let them CIO. I could tell they were ready, and after only two nights, with crying for a grand total of 10 mins each, they were trained. I don't think it would have worked when they were younger, I think it had a lot to do with their age at that point. 

OrangeSmoke

preheatedoven:

We rocked/fed/cuddled to sleep until they were a year old. Got up with them at night every time they woke up (rocked/fed/cuddled, rinse, repeat).

At about 13 months we let them CIO. I could tell they were ready, and after only two nights, with crying for a grand total of 10 mins each, they were trained. I don't think it would have worked when they were younger, I think it had a lot to do with their age at that point. 

Mine are pretty good about staying asleep but there is no way Harry will go to sleep without some serious cuddle/rocking.  How did you cut that out?

 

jalaiaa

We used the sleep lady. I loved her method. There was still crying, but I felt better about it. She essentially does this thing where on night one you stay in the room right by the crib and comfort them while they cry then you gradually get further away from them subsequent nights. They still do cry, but you feel more "there for them." I don't really know if it was any better for them than CIO, but it was better for me.

preheatedoven

OrangeSmoke:

preheatedoven:

We rocked/fed/cuddled to sleep until they were a year old. Got up with them at night every time they woke up (rocked/fed/cuddled, rinse, repeat).

At about 13 months we let them CIO. I could tell they were ready, and after only two nights, with crying for a grand total of 10 mins each, they were trained. I don't think it would have worked when they were younger, I think it had a lot to do with their age at that point. 

Mine are pretty good about staying asleep but there is no way Harry will go to sleep without some serious cuddle/rocking.  How did you cut that out?

It's been a process. We did have to do CIO, but it only took a few days and the crying only lasted about 5 mins (at 13 months). We would just do our normal routine- jammies, story time and sing a few songs- but they go in their cribs awake now. Also, getting them attached to a blanket/stuffed animal has really helped, since they can snuggle that instead of us.

They rarely cry at bedtime now, but every once in awhile one of them will and I usually give in and rock them. As long as it isn't a habit, why not! It's rare that they sit still long enough for a snuggle:) 

omgtwinsfeb11

Have you tried it at all?  I was super skeptical so we decided to go with a "graduated extinction" as discussed in HSHHC/T.  This is where you go in after 5 min the first time, 10 the second, etc.  Anyway we let them cry 5 minutes and went in and soothed.  Then the next time they cried, they self-soothed before 10 minutes and the rest of the night they slept through.  And every night since they've slept 11 hours straight.  So maybe my babies are just really responsive to it for some reason but it wasn't bad at all. 

We just did this a couple weeks ago.  They started STTN at 15 weeks (8 adjusted) after loosely following Babywise but then we went on vacation in early July and all hell broke loose.  We had 2 weeks where we were getting up at least hourly.  Maybe the fact that they had already been sleeping through helped with our CIO.    

 

jdancer5

By six months, i was so tired of being up 5x/night that I felt desperate and ready to try everything (DH is law enforcement so he has to sleep to be safe @ work). Anyway... At 6mo & 1day I got the Ferber book. As I read it, i found were doing 90% of what he recommends (non-crying stuff), so I made a couple of changes to bring us 100% in line with his method before we started CIO. Both DSs were STTN before I finished the book, so we never had to do any crying sleep training at all. There is a lot more to Ferber than CIO. I highly recommend it. I wish you good luck & good sleep!

crystina06

omgtwinsfeb11:

Have you tried it at all?  I was super skeptical so we decided to go with a "graduated extinction" as discussed in HSHHC/T.  This is where you go in after 5 min the first time, 10 the second, etc.  Anyway we let them cry 5 minutes and went in and soothed.  Then the next time they cried, they self-soothed before 10 minutes and the rest of the night they slept through.  And every night since they've slept 11 hours straight.  So maybe my babies are just really responsive to it for some reason but it wasn't bad at all. 

We just did this a couple weeks ago.  They started STTN at 15 weeks (8 adjusted) after loosely following Babywise but then we went on vacation in early July and all hell broke loose.  We had 2 weeks where we were getting up at least hourly.  Maybe the fact that they had already been sleeping through helped with our CIO.    

 

I haven't tried it consistently, so I'm going to say no. I have tried little things that the book recommends (the book is called The No-Cry Sleep Solution), but not full-fledged plan. I was just kind of testing the water with it before, and while I was doing that my girls started getting up only 1 to 2 times a night so I never really continued. And now that I'm back to work, I don't know if I want to try this plan in its full version because it requires a lot of awake time for me at first and only getting up with them once or twice just seems easier than that at this point.