- Pregnancy
- Baby & Toddler
- Parents
- Getting Pregnant
- Baby Names
- Product Reviews
-
Registry
- Community
-
More
Want a personalized experience?
Download the free app
Babies: 9 - 12 Months
Question if you've done CIO
DH really wants to do more of a CIO bedtime routine. DD will be completely asleep and wake up when you put her in the bed. As soon as you pick her up she is completely asleep. On the day's DH is home with her, if she wakes up when he lays her in the crib for a nap, he leaves her in the crib and says she goes back to sleep within a few minutes. He says she'll cry for minute, then lay down and fuss for a minute, then go back to sleep.
DH wants to use this routine at night also, but I have always been so against CIO that I'm hesitant. If it's the same situation he's having at naptime, then I could probably handle a few minutes of it.
How many days did it take you to get a routine?
How long did your LO cry?
Do you do the exact same routine every night before bed or is it a seat of your pants routine?
TIA
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Question if you've done CIO
How many days did it take you to get a routine? 3 nights the 1st time
How long did your LO cry? the 1st night, 1st time on and off for 45 mins, but your LO sounds like she doesn't cry for very long for your DH so maybe she'll get it right away.
Do you do the exact same routine every night before bed or is it a seat of your pants routine? When I put DS to bed it's the same routine, I do it 95% of the time, it's a bit different if DH or Grandma does it.
We Ferberized (which, as best I can tell, is not ACTUALLY the same thing as CIO, more gentle and controlled), but it took four nights, about an hour the first night, half an hour the second night, about ten minutes each the last two nights.
We don't actually have a real elaborate bedtime routine, he gets a bottle, a book, then bed. He might wail once or twice but then all is quiet for the next ten to twelve hours.
It took about 3-4 days of real CIO, then every now & then a waking. We're down to once/night a few times/week. Some nights are worse than other, it will take awhile for her to fall back asleep, others its just a quick 2 minute cry & then she's back down. But, I can deal with once/night. The getting her to FALL asleep on her own thing is completely extinguished, and was within the first few days.
Initially, we did 5, 8, 10, then 12 minutes. We gradually moved it up to 10, 15 & 20 minutes, and that's where we are now. After the 20, we just keep going back in 20 minute increments. It almost never takes that long.
Bedtime routine HAS to be a routine if you want to CIO. That is really important. The only thing thats different is bath nights, which is pretty much every other night, but besides that, its PJs, bottle & lullabye in the rocker, then bed with her little noise machine.
By "routine" do you mean routine or how long did it take for the CIO to work? It took about 3 nights.
We let her cry for a while. The first night was 2 hrs on and off before she fell asleep.
We just turn off the lights, turn on her fish/song thing, put her in her sleep sack, and lay her in her crib, then leave. That's it. She falls asleep within 5-10 minutes with zero crying.
Here's how it worked for us:
1. I took away her paci. I think this is key, because it had become a sleep prop where she absolutely needed it to fall asleep. We gave her a winnie the pooh stuffy/blanky thing for her to cuddle, hold, etc. Books I read say this isn't a sleep prop but is rather a "transitional" object. Like, we have pillows and blankets to help us fall to sleep comfortably.
2. Not picking her up. Some people (not Ferber) say to pick up till they stop crying and then put them back down. This seems weird to me. She got visibly angry when she realized we werent going to pick her up, and for a few days, she cried everytime we neared her room. But she's gotten so much better, and doesn't cry at ALL anymore.
3. We used the Ferber idea of intervals. The first night, we went in after 3 minutes of crying, then 5 minutes, then 7 minutes (it took about five additional 7 minute intervals of full out crying to get her to sleep that first night). The second night moved to 5, 7, 10 minutes. The third night was 7, 10, 12 minutes. Etc. The intervals are slightly different than in the book, but Ferber says to do what feels right and that's what worked for us.
4. At night time, we let her CIO / fuss as long as it took for her to fall asleep.
5. In the middle of the night, we didn't go in immediately upon her crying, we just started over with the intervals. Sometimes she fell back asleep before we even had to go in. Sometimes she didnt fall asleep. If she was still fussing/crying at 6 am, we got her up to start the day even though it's earlier than usual.
6. For naps, we use the same intervals. This is where we used a second CIO method (not ferber) for naps. She says to let them fuss/CIO for 1 hr 10 minutes. If they havent fallen asleep by then, take a break and pick them up for 20-30 minutes, giving a bottle if necessary. Then try again. If they havent fallen asleep after ANOTHER 1 hr 10 minutes, it's a "nap emergency" and you are to take them for a stroller or car ride to get them to fall asleep since they need sleep. We never had to do this. She fell asleep some time in the second 1 hr 10 minute wait.
7. If she woke up in the middle of a nap (i.e. after anything under one hour), we waited for, again, the same intervals. If after 25-30 minutes she still wasnt asleep, we ended that nap, and moved up her next naptime to earlier.
8. We also make sure she's not over or under tired, by keeping a close eye on her awake times (which includes everything awake, like feeding, diapering, playing, and the time it takes for the baby to fall back asleep). It's been amazing how her sleep has gotten better resulted in her being able to stay awake closer to her suggested awake time based on age.
Guideline for Awake time for babies
Newborn 50-60 mins
1 month 60 mins-hour and 15
2 months 1 hour and 15 - 20 mins
3 months 1 hour and 20 - 30 mins
4 months 1 hour and 45 - 2 hours
5 months 2 hours - 2.25 hours
Late 5 months/early 6 months 2.25-2.5 hours
6.5 - 7 months 2.75-3 hours. Some are getting more.
8 - 10 months 3 - 4 hours. Some are getting more.
11 - 12 months 3.5 -4.5 hours. Some are getting more if moved early to 1 nap
9. We make sure her bedtime is reasonable: i.e. between 7-8 pm, no later. Babies actually wake up sooner the later they go to bed, since they are often overtired.