CIO advice

Redsox4321 · April 2014

I just wanted to see if I can get some CIO advice from some of the moms that have been successful. I know that there have been a ton of sleep posts but I just want to make sure I am doing this correct. I am kind of at a loss. I have no problem getting my son to sleep. We do the same thing every night and he is out by 8:30. I put him down just as he is about to sleep and we are good to go. He is waking up between 12-2 every night and this is where we are struggling. We have been letting him CIO for over a month now and this is just not working, He wakes up and turns into a little jumping bean and jumps and screams in his crib for hours. We are talking 2-3 hours every night of us going in his room Ferber style trying to get him to sleep. We have been very consistent but he just can't comfort himself. I usually get desperate around 4ish and bring him to Bed with me just so I can get 2 hours of sleep. We have tried changing him, night lights, no night lights, noise machines, no noise machines, We have tried everything possible over the last 11 months and nothing seems to be working. Our dr told us to Ferber but we are just failing in a major way. So as a desperate mom to all the other moms any advice would be great!!!

DiFazette · April 2014

Have you tried feeding him to see if he's hungry? My LO is both teething, and going through a growth spurt I think. It may be a sleep regression and unfortunately you'll just need to ride it out, but I would try making sure there's no discomfort (hunger, teething pain, hot, cold) rather than strictly following Ferber.

Redsox4321 · April 2014

The doctor said not to feed him but we gave up on that and feed him when desperation kicks in. She also said to give him baby Tylenol before bed and when he wakes up to help with the teething. The doctor was so strict with us on what we should be doing. I actually got a second opinion and they said the same thing. They said to just let him cry but I just feel like the worst mom. I hear about these mythical children who sleep and I just want to see what else I can do different.

DiFazette · April 2014

If I were you I'd be changing pedis. There are things to be rigid about, this is not one of them. Sure you can create a bad habit by feeding motn, but when babies grow they need more food. And sure give Tylenol when teething pain is apparent, but not regularly without reason... Your baby's liver can be affected.

To each their own, but I would have told my pedi to F off if they took that stance with me. Good luck with getting him to sleep.

hbrockman01 · April 2014

I once read somewhere that when a baby gets older and starts waking in the MOTN it typically means that the baby hasn't gotten enough sleep earlier in the day. That being said am not any type of specialist to say this is the case, my DD is currently in bed by 8pm and stirs maybe 1x but typically its when she is moving around. Have you tried an earlier bed time? I know what works for us may not work for everyone. Babies are smart, and if you give in even if you are at your wits end they will hold out every single time.

I would try a bath and bottle right before bed and maybe try 30-45mins earlier on the bed time front.

Hope this helps! We had a rough sleeper up until a couple of mths ago.

Bizzy80 · April 2014

:::Lurking::: Sorry I don't have much advice but you may find some good info. here. I've posted many questions on this site and got quite a bit of help with our sleep issues. Also, I agree with others that he may be overtired. How much total sleep is he getting at night? Most babies require 11-12 hours every night.

https://community.babycenter.com/groups/a199215/teaching_your_baby_toddler_to_sleep

coffeeandbooks · April 2014

I think you should try feeding him too...he really could just be hungry. Now that are LOs are getting so active they are burning a lot of calories during the day and they sometimes need to make up for it. A lot of us might have to start doing some MOTN feedings once they start walking.
If that doesn't work...I would try making sure he naps more during the day.
Let us know how it goes.

jmevol · April 2014

Are you doing the bedtime routine over when he wakes up motn? If LO wakes up and needs a diaper change, sometimes she wakes up a lot and I end up doing our bedtime routine over (not including the bath of course) so she knows what's coming next.

smg2302 · April 2014

Just out of curiosity what is your bedtime routine at 8:30? We had the same issue with dd but her bedtime routine was that we rocked her to sleep. We did ferber awake which solved the middle of the night issues because she learned to self soothe. Now we put her down awake and even though she does wake up through the night she doesn't cry and goes right back to sleep.

Schell2013 · April 2014

DD went through a stage where she was always hungry. I just fed her that was always the issue. Listening to her cry when I knew she was growing and hungry didn't feel right. She did that for 3 weeks and has been STTN again. She was also teething too.

pnutg · April 2014

Ferber worked for us within a week at bedtime. The motn is another story. C still wakes up 1-2 Times and refuses to self soothe. He won't go back to sleep without a bottle. Sometimes he will sleep 8 hours straight but that still has him waking up at 4, so I give him a bottle and put him back to bed. I'm at a loss as well. Your baby may be hungry. I'm convinced C is. And his pedi said to give him 1 oz....yea right. Good luck, you're not alone.

huzzahuzza · April 2014

Yep I'm in the same boat as @pnutg. Still waking up MOTN and screams bloody murder if you feed him less than 4oz.. no water for our boy either.

mommatotwo2 · April 2014

My pedi does put a little "pressure" on us to let her CIO a little and to not feed her in the MOTN, since about the 6 month visit. I've always listened to the advice, smiled, and walked out of the office knowing I was going to completely ignore it. My LO is breastfed, I have absolutely no way of knowing how much milk she is getting day to day, I know that I have pumping supply dips around the time of AF, or when I'm sick, etc and I assume there are dips from her nursing supply as well. She has always woken up, I feed her, and we are both back asleep in 20-30 minutes. Last week, she started having breakfast and lunch at school and is now having 1 of her bottles split into 2 sippy cups with her meals. The very first day we started that, she start sttn. I think it was totally calorie related. She was self regulating her calories by waking to nurse and making up what she wasn't getting during the day. Which to me, is a really cool and reassuring system.

Don't get me wrong- I'm so sleep deprived at work that I could lose my mind and my work is suffering...so I'm hoping this is the end of my sleepless nights- but I do know that if she starts waking again, I'll start feeding her again. It's just my comfort level.

I would say, if you've been trying CIO for a month and your son continues to wake up- somethings not right. I'd feed him, if it was me. You could try upping his calories during the day and see if that's makes a difference for you guys. Good luck.

bumpuser3155624 · April 2014

SpankingShank said:
I have to agree that it seems off that your pedi is adamant about not feeding your LO.
When V wakes up I give it 5 mins. Sometimes she fusses and goes back to sleep, but if it escalates to a full on cry ( which it will if she doesn't knock back out) then I feed her. So I don't get too awake, I bring her in my bed, nurse her and she unlatches I put her back in her crib.

I do the same thing minus the quick prayer she will quit fussing and sleep and not wake up.

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