We let LO CIO...
jaysgirljulie
member
or we planned to anyway but it turned out to be not so bad.
A month ago we had a Dr's app & we were talking about how we have such a hard time getting Ryan to go to sleep. We were having to rock him for about 1-1 1/2 hours every night and 1/2hr to 1 hour for every freaken nap! She suggested putting him down "sleepy but awake" and letting him cio. She said to go in every five minutes and say a certain word, rub his head and leave. That meant staying in there for about 20 seconds max. She said no matter what we shouldn't pick him up. Before this we tried and tried the 'sleepy but awake' thing and LO would scream so we picked him up after about 10-15 mins..
We braced ourselves for a week or two of torture. The first night we put him down at 8pm. He screamed up a storm. I went in every five minutes and ran my fingers though his hair and said, "shhhhh, go night night" and walked out. I did that 3 or 4 times and he was out! It was about 20-25 minutes.
The next night it took 7 minutes, and since the third night he starts getting pissed if we rock him too much. It's like he's saying, "I'm freaking tired yo, put me down so I can sleep!" He turns on his side as soon as we lay him down and he's out for the night with no crying at all. AND he now sleeps about 11-13 hours every night, waking up once to eat (sometimes twice).
Naps are so much better now too. Before this he NEVER EVER EVER would nap in his crib and now about 50% are in there.
The best thing, he's so much more happy and playful during the day now that he's getting good sleep. We're so much more rested too!
Just wanted to share. I know CIO is really looked down upon but we were at our wits end. It worked for our family. We might have gotten lucky. I've wanted to write about this and about how lovely Ryan is for the past month but I didn't want to jinx us!
btw- two weeks in a row now I've gotten a comment that Ryan "Is the happiest baby I've ever seen!" Yes that's right! New moms at my moms group said this. The moms that knew us when Ryan was so fussy can hardly believe it. I feel like we made it through!!! I know there will be tough times again as he goes though different stages but we've developed confidence now that we didn't have before.
I'll stop rambling now. Thanks for listening! (Thanks for listeing now and for listening the past 5 months when times we tough- really tough for us).
Re: We let LO CIO...
I'm not anti-CIO as long as other methods have been tried (which you did) and if it's done appropriately - putting your baby down to scream for hours on end without even going in the room is all bad in my book, but if you're going in and reassuring him that you're there and that you'll be there if he needs you (as you did), then it's all good.
And I'm so glad things are going better! I was thinking about you earlier today and wondering if things had improved - you just seem happier and more peaceful and positive in your posts lately, so I was wondering if something had changed!
I'm really glad that you found a solution that worked for both you and Ryan - good job, Mama!
Yay for happy baby! Are you feeling better now that he's less fussy?
Glad you were able to get him sleeping. We've kinda let Kaya CIO, too, sometimes. Except we don't go in because we tried it and it just pisses her off more. I think she's the type of baby who needs to cry a bit to wind down. And it's only for naps, because lately she hates naps. Even if we rock her for a while once we put her down she'll cry for sometimes 10-15 minutes and then she's out. At night she usually goes down without a fuss.
CIO isn't for everyone but you gotta do what you gotta do sometimes!
Yes I feel much much better now that Ryan has mellowed out. I'm wondering if I still have a little PPD because I'm always so tired. I seriously can't get enough sleep. They say exercise will help but I'm afraid of getting even more tired!
Have you been to see your doctor? Many women have thyroid problems after having a baby. Might be worth it to check!
And thanks for posting this! I've heard so many horrible experiences with CIO, that's it's nice to hear a good one. My LO won't be rocked if he doesn't want to be - just squirms all over the place - and he's getting too big now to try to really contain. We are thinking about this as well, so thank you.
I'm super tired but I'm in the first tri once again, believe it or not, it's starting to lighten up and I'm slowly but surely getting a little bit more energy.
I know what you mean about exercising and feeling afraid that you'll get more tired... I was like this too and I still use the excuse "I'm too tired" BUT when I do work out, I feel so much more revived and I have so much more energy. So I will say, if you even just take a few short walks a day, you'll feel better and maybe it will help your PPD because you'll in turn start feeling better about yourself too... at least that's what happened when I started working out after having Bella.
Yay for a happy baby! I'm so glad for you!
I agree that sometimes exercise seems like the last thing you want to do when you're tired, but I have found that at least one brisk walk every day has helped my baby blues a lot. I don't have PPD, so I can't comment on that, but I do have down days about every third day or so lately. I often have to force myself to leave the house and walk, but I always, always feel better when I do.
Yay for a sleeping and HAPPY baby!
I don't think CIO is a bad thing, it depends on the baby and what they need. I think in your case, that's what Ryan needed so that he could learn how to put himself to sleep. I'm so happy for him - and YOU - that it worked so well!
It's funny what you said about him getting anxious about the rocking and wanting to just go to sleep already... Alexa is like that now! I sometimes want to cuddle with her a little after her nighttime bottle, but she immediately wants to go in her crib. Geez!
Also, about exercise... I've been exercising 4-5x/week and it was hard at first to get into a routine. I thought there's no way I'll have the energy! But now that I'm in a routine, it feels good. It definitely helps with my mood too!
Malia & Dave & Alexa
Happily married since 2-17-08! Three since 9-9-09!
Baby Blog
Julie
I was in a hurry earlier and didn't get to fully post what I wanted. Anyhow, we did a modified CIO with Bella too...It wasn't what we wanted to do but we had tried EVERYTHING else under the sun and I'd read pretty much every sleep book on the market with no luck. Like you, ours was about 3 nights and by the third night she actually only whimpered for a few minutes and was out cold!
Like Ryan, Bella is a much happier baby when she's fully rested. People don't seem to understand that tired baby=fussy baby. Fussy baby= crabby and tired mama! We've had to do this twice due to developmental stuff, once a few months ago and once last week... both times it was two-three nights of crying/fussing and by night 3-4 she was sleeping with no issues. Our issue wasn't getting her to sleep, it was getting her to STAY asleep. She's a whole new kid now that she's not waking up to take a few sucks of milk and go back to bed!
She's 13 months old now and she should be getting sleep so she can develop and grow properly so I looked at it as if I was helping her grow and develop. Also, we've added her favorite stuffed animal, her glow worm (which she loves), a baby doll (she also LOVES her) and her blanket. So if she wakes up, she has plenty of choices to cuddle with and go back to sleep!
YAY JULIE!!! I am SO glad to hear this - good job, mama!!
huge hugs to you.
Jaime & Brent
Oahu, Hawaii | Sept. 9, 2005
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