Those who have done CIO...

sarbear2

Our LO is 6 months (ignore ticker- it is a week off) and we feel like he is definitely ready to self soothe and needs some sleep help (desperately!!) I had the book but it was awhile ago I read it, and don't remember these questions being answered.

Couple of questions:

1) You leave the room and start your intervals (lets say 5 minutes) and then go in and soothe, then leave again and start your second interval (7 minutes). But during the middle of the second interval your LO gets quite for awhile. Then a few minutes later starts crying again. Do you start your 7 minutes all over? Or just go in when that interval was suppose to be over?

2) If you LO gets more angry when you go in, do you just not go in at all? Or still go in to reassure you are still there and then leave again, even if it gets them all riled up?

It seemed like there was another question, but I can't think of it. I am sure I will tonight in the middle of the night!

crystina06

I didn't do the intervals because they would get more upset if we went in there. Mine responded really well to straight up CIO, but I don't necessarily think that it is the solution for all babies. If you find that going in to soothe just makes things worse, then you might want to try just putting LO in the crib, leaving the room, and not going back in til the morning. The first night, mine cried about 45 min, the second night about 10 minutes, and now they typically don't cry at all.

Mustang Sally

1.  I can't remember what Ferber says to do, but for me it depended on how long he was quiet.  If it was longer than a minute I'd start over, but under a minute and I'd just keep counting down that same interval.  Remember, you can do whatever you think is best, no one is judging you.

2.  DS1 got super pissed off when I did intervals, so I just ended up doing straight CIO.  I'd put him down, kiss him good night, and then leave.  Any time after 6am when he cried I'd go in, open up the blinds and feed him.  I wanted there to be clear signs about night time and morning so he knew that I was only coming in when it was time to get up.  It took 4 nights and that was that.

DS2 is fine with intervals and seems to be comforted by me going in there (we're doing it now).  I only have to go in once, and actually I think he's getting into a habit of waiting for me to come in before falling back asleep so I might have to re-evaluate...

The key is, do what you think is best and what seems to work best for YOUR baby. 

ams8099

crystina06:

I didn't do the intervals because they would get more upset if we went in there. Mine responded really well to straight up CIO, but I don't necessarily think that it is the solution for all babies. If you find that going in to soothe just makes things worse, then you might want to try just putting LO in the crib, leaving the room, and not going back in til the morning. The first night, mine cried about 45 min, the second night about 10 minutes, and now they typically don't cry at all.

I have thought about doing this as well. Nadia always has a hard time going down. Typically once she is down, she stays asleep. Scarlett goes down w/o issue, but has started waking up again at night. Luckily, they don't seem to wake each other up!

RMiranda09

We just started CIO last week after speaking with Jackson's doctor.  She said that if we didn't do something now, it would only get worse.  She told me that if I could let him cry for 30 minutes, I would see results in three days or less and she was right! The first night he cried hard for about an hour on and off (ten minutes of crying, ten minutes not).  He woke up a couple times in the middle of the night and cried for about 10-20 minutes.  The second night he cried for about 15 minutes at the start of the night and then only once in the middle of the night.  Now, a week later, he slept from 7:15pm last night until 5am this morning without waking once! I previously wasn't a believer in CIO (it just hurt too much to hear him cry), but I know this is the best thing for him and for us.  I'm a much happier momma these days!