cry it out is so stinkin hard

PenWedding

So hard to listen to baby cry during her naps not knowing if she's teething and that's what's waking her or if she's just waking b/c she wants me to pick her up and rock her. This method really worked well with my first child but it seems a little harder this time around. Any words of encouragement? How did you know when it was teething that was waking him/her versus something else?

lorahbora

Oh yuck Have you looked at the Dunstan Baby Language translator?

 https://www.mybabysleepguide.com/2009/08/dunstant-baby-language-interpreting.html

This helped me realize when my DD was crying just to let out tension versus when she legitimately needed me. It's amazing how you can hear the little nuances in their cries if you really listen. Of course, I'm not 100% with this and I'm also often sitting outside her room biting my nails, wondering if she's wondering why her mother suddenly hates her, so I don't blame you one bit for worrying! 

shabamwam

Look into the Ferber method. i tried it for the first time tonight. It took me about 40 min, but DS is sound asleep, on his own!

avbliss

Try different methods and see what works. I'd say try it for 3-4 days before giving up on a method. There's Ferber, Baby Wise (basically CIO), No Cry Sleep Solution, Happiest Baby om the Block, and I'm sure many others. DD1 refused to sleep if someone was in the room with her so CIO was our only option. If we went in, whether we picked or up or not it just made her angry. And if we tried to rock her to sleep she's just quietly hang out for 2hr+ with out falling asleep. DD2 is a completely different story. If she doesn't just fall asleep on her own with her paci, she has to be held/rocked till she's almost asleep then put down or else shes hysterical. Don't let anyone tell you that the method you finally find that works is "bad" for your child. If it results in a happy sleeping baby, and a sane mama, then it's good. And BTW if hearing your child cry is hard for you then CIO probably isn't what's best for your LO, listen to your heart and gut and goes with what feels right to you too. You know your LO better than anyone else so follow that mama intution

cara117

I hear ya.  We don't have to do this for naps but bedtime is pretty rough in our house.  I used to be able to nurse DS to sleep, but now he requires lots and lots of bouncing, and when he FINALLY falls asleep in our arms, we put him in the crib, bam, he is awake and crying.  So we have been trying this, but if it doesn't work in about 10 minutes, we let him cry it out for 3 minute increments.  As long as I know he is fed, dry, and tired enough to go to sleep, it makes it "easier."  But it is still awful to hear him cry.  He gets really worked up, but it honestly doesn't really help to pick him up, because it just delays his sleep even more.  It hasn't taken more than 12 minutes so far of 3-minute cio increments for him to fall asleep.  When he does finally fall asleep I always feel really awful and guilty that he had to fall asleep on his own, but he is probably getting more sleep because of it.  So, not sure if that's much help but it IS so stinkin hard.

Rachel Stella

I'd look at her when she is awake and see how much her teething seems to bother her. Consider medicating her before she goes to sleep to help rule out that as an issue with sleep while you are trying to figure out what is causing what.

 CIO is going to be different with every baby, but there are the wonder weeks and other developmental times that can make cio easier or harder so you might want to look into that. The link above has that info about these things in the index.