Help me with CIO!

drozio

So my little one has been waking up at 10:45 and 3:45am every night for the past two weeks. At first I thought it was because she was a bit congested, but now I am sure it is out of habit not need. I am so nervous to do the CIO method or Ferber, as I have done it before and she will scream for over an hour. IT is SOOOOO hard to listen too. Any advice as to how to handle these nightime issues?

 

Also, I must add that she goes to sleep at around 6:30pm. I am trying to hold her up till 7 but with her waking before 7am every morning and taking poor naps, it is so hard. Basically I need any and all advice on how to handle this! She has slept 12+hours a handful times, so I know she is capable. She is eating 3 solid meals a day, plus nursing. Help! I am so tired and exhausted..... 

shuaytos

We did the Ferber method and it worked for us. I would buy/rent/barrow the book and read it before you do anything. I had way to many questions and the book was a big help.

autumnmichele

We did a modified Ferber method, and started with nighttime sleep only and once that was going well we moved to naps.  Basically, you need to follow LO's sleep cues and get a sense of when she is tired.  A 6-9 month old can stay awake for about 2.5-3 hours before needing sleep.  So, if her last nap is at 5:30, she should be able to stay awake until 8, if you want her to go to bed at 7, don't let her nap past 4:30.  Once I started to work with that time frame, life was much easier.

For nighttime, it's important to get a routine (we start with a bath, then nursing and then stories and then we put LO down on her belly awake).  The first few nights are bad, but it does get better and will be worth it.  LO would cry and we would go in and comfort her at 5 mins, then 10, then 15 and then every 15 after until she fell asleep.  Ferber tells you not to touch LO, but we rubbed her back and would give her paci back.  For the first few nights, I would take a shower and DH would take care of going back in to comfort LO so I didn't have to hear her cry.  Eventually, she would only cry for 5 mins and then she would just fuss for a less than a minute. Now she still fusses some nights (she is 8.5 months old), but I think that is just her way of putting herself to sleep.

 

You should start on a weekend.  Also, I think it's important not to start sleep training until LO is ready.  For us, it was when she didn't want to be rocked to sleep anymore (Around 4 months old). 

Good luck.  Just know it is really hard but is best for your baby and you in the long run...you will be happy to did it!

junebride060306

I've read all the books and went to a sleep class at a local parenting store. I've tried CIO and the fade/interval/ferber methods a few times in the past but wasn't consistent and always gave up. 

last night I decided to try it for the middle of the night wakeup. LO's pedi said he did not need to eat at night anymore - that it was just a habit. LO cried for 1 hour 51 mins. it was HARD! this was form 1  - 3 am. but then he fell asleep and slept until his usual 8:15 am. tonight I decided to go all in, and stop the very brief rocking I usually do after his bottle, which usually results in putting him down asleep. I put him down awake. he cried for maybe 10 minutes, maybe a little less. and that was it!  he is usually ready for bed around 7ish and I tend to do a bath and then botlle before hand. 

good luck!!!!!!!! 

drpayne

When we started Ferber, he dropped his first night feeding automatically.  He still wakes for the latter one (around 4).  At that point, he comes to bed with us.  I was so worried that allowing this would negate all of out work earlier in the evening but it has not been a problem at all. At first we tried to do intervals at this point but he would not go back to sleep.  Lately he goes to sleep right away, might wake up around 12 but goes back to sleep on his own, wakes up at 4, nurses/sleeps with us.  Best of both worlds for me