oh my...how much longer??

coachswife24

Trying to teach DD to go to sleep on her own.  She is VERY overtired.  Went down about 14 minutes ago after her bottle.  Went back to her room at 5 minutes, tried to comfort her.  She DID stop crying thankfully, but was so overtired that she was tossing and turning - literally!  All over the place...I was trying so hard to get her comfortable.  

It's been 5 minutes again...thinking of waiting a couple more minutes.  I hate this!  These are times i wish she was one of those that just she just went down easily.  It is such an overtired cry.  

And just for the record...she does this even when I try to hold/rock her.  So, I figured...hey, let's go for the laying her down thing.  

 

:( HATE THIS. 

StrikeGirl

DS is crying as I type. I fed him, rocked him, he woke up as I was putting him down, I let him cry for 15 minutes, I went in talked to him, gave him his lovey, and left again. I hate this too...but as of two days ago I realized he'd figured out that when he cries, we come get him. I understand I can't keep doing that for his and our sake!

 I hate this too...takes so much for ME not to cry when I hear him sobbing. Hang in there chica...we'll get through

jmo866

Ladies it is so hard, but it will get better!! I followed Ferber's graduated check ins, but check in when you feel comfortable at first, then try stretching it if you feel like it. DS still cries sometimes on an off night, not for long (don't want to scare ya!) but it still breaks my heart, but keep with it and it will pay off. Good luck to both of you!

angiekillaire

I feel for you. I've totally been there and it sucks!!!! So hard to go through as a mom. LO was TERRIBLE at night until we let him put himself to sleep. It took a while putting him down drowsy but awake (probably about 10 days or so) for him to really get it. Every night got a bit better. He know goes into his crib fully awake and puts himself to sleep every night without even a peep. 

It took us a bit longer for naps, but he now does the same for naps. A bit of talking/fussing for maybe 5mins then hes out. We've only been doing naps for about 2 weeks, so I'm hoping he soon goes down without the little bit of fussing, but atleast its never crying.

Hang in there! its tough, but has totally payed off for us. LO sleeps most of the night, and sometimes right through. If he does wake up I usually hear a bit of fussing and hes back to sleep within 5mins.  Good luck and stay strong! 

amr1218

It sounds like you are ready for some method of sleep training.  We used SleepEasy and I would recommend it.  I really think the method is more about the parent than the child.  LO will eventually figure it out - as long as you pick something you are comfortable and stick with it.  SleepEasy made sense to DH and I and gave us a strategy that we could follow.  

Based on what I've read, intermittent reinforcement makes the crying worse. If you decide to lay LO down - you have to committ to it. It took DD 40 minutes on the first night to fall asleep.  Many of those minutes were hard crying.  I sat in the bathroom floor and sobbed the entire time.  That is an impossible thing to get through if you don't have a solid plan. 

Happy to report that sleep training worked for us!  Good luck!

melissa0726

amr1218:

Based on what I've read, intermittent reinforcement makes the crying worse.

 I can't agree enough with this statement! My MIL insisted that we should try going in periodically to "soothe" the baby's crying - yeah right!  DD was royally P.O.'d at the two of us standing there gently shushing her, but not picking her up.  I know all babies are different, but for ours, going in and out of the room prolonged the entire process.

 Also, holding onto her and rocking her when she is overtired doesn't always work...sometimes I just have to bite the bullet and put her down crying and whining.  She will crawl around her crib for as much as 15 minutes sometimes before she totally tires herself out and lays down and goes to sleep. 

Hang in there!  If she is tired, she should go to sleep eventually.  

superchixor

It is tough.. We let our daughter cry it out about a month ago.. She cried for a while, with us checking on her every 30 minutes. She eventually went to sleep, and has slept through the night ever since. She also naps really good. She fusses sometimes when napping but typically soothes herself to sleep.Do what you feel is right.