Moms who didn't do CIO

JanuarysBaby1 · October 2016

Hi Ladies, I'm popping in from January 2016 group hoping for some reassurance. My LO is 9.5 months, currently rocked to sleep and not sleeping through the night. I have said that I was going to do CIO but just can't bring myself to do it. I'm just curious for you mamas who haven't done cry it out, at this point in age, are your LOs sleeping through the night without any training or are they still waking?

Thanks in advance!

tlc11934 · October 2016

We didn't do CIO with any of ours. DD1 is 7 and still comes into our room in the middle of the night. DD2 is 5 and has slept through the night since she was born. DD3 is 13 months and sleeps well as long as she's with us in our bed. She won't stay alone all night.

akdewald · October 2016

I didnt do cry it out with any of mine (i have 3) and i can say that my lo is able to go to sleep on her own for nap time and bed time. I just get her routine the same. Lunch at 1230 then straight to crib with a sippy cup of water. She lays down on her own but i dont let her cry. If she is fussy i will rock for a few minutes and try again. Bedtime is bath with some lotion massage then crib. She sleeps from about 830 to 7am and that started at about 9 months. Prior it was twice a night. My older two i had to rock to sleep but they slept through the night starting at 11 or 12 months. Just try and keep a bedtime routine which i understand can be difficult. I never let any of mine cry for more than a minute or two. They may fuss a little but i never cio. Good luck mamma!

wilcoxev · October 2016

I would say we did a modified cio. I would let him cry for a few min and then comfort him, 5 min and comfort him, etc. I think we only got up to 8 min. My LO always struggles at sleeping. He would start to sleep through the night and then a regression would hit and we would be back to motn wakings. I really think even if you do everything right, some babies are good sleepers and others are not. Being able to self soothe and put yourself to sleep is a very important skill for our babies to have.

JanuarysBaby1 · October 2016

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I feel like I'm doing something wrong at times that I have a baby thats almost 10 months old that doesn't sleep through the night yet. This gives me hope that it'll work itself out eventually!

jen83mn · October 2016

We laid our little guy down completely asleep (after rocking him to sleep) until he was 10.5 months old. The past month before that it was becoming almost impossible to lay him down already asleep since he would wake up immediately once we laid him down. I knew I should have tried that whole "drowsy but awake" thing earlier! After nothing else we tried worked, we decided to try a light version of CIO with lots of checks. The first night, he burst out crying but by 5 minutes he was barely crying and at 7 minutes he was sound asleep! I was shocked!

The next night it took 10 minutes, then sound asleep. The night after that, 8 minutes. Within a week, no crying at all!

The first night we tried this, we also had childcare (his grandmas) do the same for naps the next day and all the following days. I wanted it to be consistent so he wouldn't get confused (and the grandmas were also have a hard time getting him to bed).

I was completely against cry it out and hated hearing him cry for even a second, but considering the only way he would actually asleep at that point was if we kept holding him (and considering we also needed sleep!), we had to give it a try. We were lucky in that our little guy took to it great which made it so much easier on us! I know others don't have this same experience so it's not for all people or all babies. But, I guess you never know how your LO will handle it until you try. I realized after our LO put himself to sleep so quickly that he was probably ready and waiting for awhile for us to let him fall asleep on his own.

Now, at 14 months, he's still putting himself to sleep at night and during naps and hasn't really had any setbacks since he started at 10.5 months. (Knock on wood!).

Just wanted to give you a positive experience in case you decide you do want to give it a try

I figured if I couldn't handle it or he'd been crying too long for my comfort, I could always abandon ship and try something else out! Prior to this, I did try the whole lay outside his crib on the floor while he tries to fall asleep, but that failed miserably. Knowing I was there but wouldn't pick him up was torture for him.

Hope you can find something that works for you!

ReneeJ2011 · October 2016

I never did CIO and LO just started sleeping through the night all of a sudden at 11 months old. One night he woke up at 2am his regular time and the next night he slept straight through and has slept through almost every night since then except may even 2 or 3. Good luck!!

ems028 · October 2016

I don't rock, but I stay next to my LO on our bed until she's asleep then transfer her to her cot. Some nights she wants me to hold her, some nights she just falls asleep next to me. She sleeps well, maybe waking once in the night. Sometimes she sleeps all the way through. It's a work in progress hahaa. But I don't see the point in me doing CIO with her since she goes to sleep well, and stats asleep for a long amount of time

theglitteredpterodactyl · October 2016

I was in a similar boat with @jen83mn and it went okay. I will say I don't think CIO would work with our LO until the 10ish month mark, and it worked okay the first few days we tried it. Eventually it became really apparent when she really needed us to comfort her and when she was ready to try sleeping on her own. We went at her pace and listened to her with all of this. Now she gets a bit of a cuddle before putting her down, no more than thirty seconds from walking in the room, and she's good to go. If she pops up we ignore her until she cries, then just lay her back down with a gentle pat on the back and leave.

Growingapepper · October 2016

I can't bring myself to do CIO either. LO does STTN but always has with the exception of the 4 month sleep regression and maybe another random time period. However she is completely dependent on DH and I to fall asleep. Every once in a while if she's in a happy playful but sleepy mood she will flop around in her crib until she passes out, but I can count on my fingers the number of times that happened. We always either nurse to sleep or cuddle to sleep. Honestly, I don't mind too much. She falls asleep pretty quickly and then we just transfer her to the crib where she sleeps until morning or sometimes wakes up around 4 because she's hungry. Now that she's getting older though I find her being more resistant to the crib transfer and she ends up sleeping between DH and I for the entire night. I'm not sure what our next step will be. It has worked out great so far, but I don't want her sleeping with DH and I to become a Habit

ABombard12 · October 2016

We did no sleep training at all really. I have a little routine before bed (go up to nursery with dim lights/after bath if bath night), Pjs/diaper change, read a book, white noise machine on, lights out, nurse he falls asleep. When I place him in his crib he rolls over and gets himself comfortable (I like to think this is drowsy but awake but who am I kidding he is asleep on me ha). He does not consistently sleep through the night but has a lot of times and seems to be more and more these days...13 months. If he doesn't pass out nursing I rock him to sleep. Just what works for our family

chaser61 · October 2016

LO will be 13 months at the end of the week and still wakes up through the night. Up until 11 months, he woke every two hours. He finally sleeps longer stretches but it is inconsistent. I nurse him before bedtime and at 4am. In between those hours, I rub his back or leg to help soothe him back to sleep. He fusses a little but will go right back to sleep.

JanuarysBaby1 · October 2016

@KristiSigma that's very similar to my current situation now just formula fed.

ForeverEverAfter · October 2016

I haven't done any formal sleep training with this baby, she's been a good sleeper from the start. I BF, so I put her down drowsy but awake after feeding. I still do a dream feed when I go to bed at 10-11ish. She goes right back to sleep, then wakes at 4 to nurse, and then is up at 7 for the day. It's not great, but she only nurses twice during the day (before naps) so it's only 6 times in 24h, less if I'm working. If I don't wake her to eat at my bedtime, she wakes me up around 2 and I need a longer stretch than that.

I will say, my 3.5yo was very easy to transition into a bedtime routine, around age 2 (before that she just nursed to sleep). Now we get ready, and it's book, prayer, lullaby and lights out. Never an argument!

missliz53 · October 2016

We didn't do CIO, but we do let her fuss. She's not consistently sttn, but when she wakes up and I do have to go in there, there's always a reason for it. I read something from a sleep expert who said sleep habits are only a problem if they become a problem for you. I know several moms who love to rock their babies or toddlers to sleep because they cherish the cuddles that we don't always get now that they are getting older and more active. I love rocking her too and sometimes it's tough to put her down when I'm not ready, but we are solidly committed to going down awake so we need to be consistent.

chaser61 · October 2016

@JanuarysBaby1 I think around 9 months, I posted on another group like you hoping that the moms would respond, "Yes, my baby is sleeping through the night - just give it another month or two." You just want to see that light at the end of the tunnel and end the sleep deprivation! But of course you never know when LO will sleep long stretches or through the night. I just have to say, hang in there. It is amazing what you can get through. I have found other moms that have reminded me that one day, I will sleep again and when I look back, I will realize that this is really only a short time in life...even though it feels like forever right now. You are not doing anything wrong. Some LOs are just not sleepers. Hope that helps and encourages you.

JanuarysBaby1 · October 2016

@KristiSigma you're right. That's exactly what I was looking for. LO has never been a good sleeper. I just always told myself that it's just something that will happen in time. Now that we're almost at the 10 month mark and I'm at my wits end I was looking for some reassurance. I may try a modified version of CIO as others have mentioned. I have say that in the past though and never followed through. This weekend may be a different story. Thank you for the words of encouragement!

chaser61 · October 2016

@JanuarysBaby1 Good luck!

momofsweetps · October 2016

Hang in there! We didn't use cio and he's sleeping through the night. He kind of put himself in his own routine and we roll with it and make sure he follows it. He started sleeping all night around 11 months.

apiland · October 2016

My LO didn't sleep through the night until we moved her to a big girl bed at 11.5 months. I thought it would be bad, but we're expecting the next and wanted to use the crib for the next. She slept through the night on the 3rd night for the first time in her entire life. We never did CIO.

babycreel · October 2016

I feel like they will sleep through the night when they are ready. Baby girl didn't sleep all night until she was 11 months old. It's just something clicked and she just started sleeping all night. I'm thinking it was because her schedule became more consistent around that time with my new job. We tried cio a few times but it just wasn't for us. I got to the point where if she woke up in middle of night I just nursed her for a few minutes and put her back in her crib awake. Worked for us, but you have to find what works for you guys.

kmcshane0211 · November 2016

I feel like I'm a success story. My baby was a TERRIBLE sleeper and she needed so much help to fall asleep for all naps, bedtime and MOTN wakes. For about 5 months she required bouncing to fall asleep...from day one if we merely rocked/shushed she would just scream and scream. With bouncing her to sleep for every nap, every bedtime, and every MOTN wake, there was a time I never thought it would end. At 6 months for a period of six weeks, she woke at night every single hour or LESS. It was insane and I'm still not sure we'll have the strength to have a second kid. We're seriously still recovering. After night weaning at 11 months (my choice, not hers) she started sleeping through the night 11 hours right at twelve months. She's now 14 months and still a dream napper and sleeper. What a difference! A dream! I believe she did it when she was ready.

We tried CIO one time at 8 months. I caved after 4 minutes and vowed to just stick with it.

I believe in my heart NOT doing CIO is what is best for your child. You can either meet their needs or break their will by not meeting their needs. Sending you lots of encouragement that it will end soon. Stick with it! Just be consistent with bedtime and eventually it will click.

chaser61 · November 2016

Since I have commented last in this thread, LO has been consistently sleeping from 6:30 / 7pm to 2am. Then he wakes up again at 4am. He wakes at 6 / 6:30am for the day, which is when he gets ready for daycare. Obviously not sleeping through the night but that long stretch in the beginning has been unheard of up to 12.5 months. I don't want to jinx it so I have been afraid to post it! But a consistent 7 hour stretch has me seeing a glimmer of hope after one sleep deprived year!

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