DD is a little over 4 months and we have had some sleeping issues (like everyone). We co-sleep and I EBF and nursed her to sleep but she has such a strong association that it was causing her to wake prematurely from naps and at night. I was so anti-cio, but I thought that I would let her fuss (complain, whine, fidget) for a bit and see if she would go to sleep because I never gave her a chance before. Well, after two days, she has started putting herself to sleep! We do our naptime routine as usual which ends with a nursing session. Instead of letting her fall asleep at the breast, I started putting her in drowsy but awake and then watching her on the monitor. She would talk to herself and then start a grumble/complain, then back to talking and squalking, then maybe a little more complaining. It never got to a "I'm scared or lonely" cry. She does this for maybe 10-15 minutes and then falls asleep!
I am wondering if this is considered CIO? I really hope not. DH and I talked about this and we both agree that if she were to cry, like a cry that she needed me I'd be there in a heartbeat. But, I'm really paying attention to her cries when I do this and she sounds to me more like she is complaining that I am putting her down and then she's like "hey, my voice sounds cool. I'm gonna talk to myself....UGH! Mom! I don't want to sleep!...hey, I sound great!....Mom!" I don't know why I feel a tinge of guilt. Maybe because I have conditioned myself to answer her every noise? I do not want to create trust issues (what I've read from anti-CIO research) but I also feel like she is okay to complain a bit. Any thoughts?
Re: Fussing vs. crying
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