How old was your kid when you let them CIO?

[bex1973]

Morgan is 7 months - sometimes she fusses when I put her to bed at night. The other night she was CLEARLY tired, I put her to bed and a couple minutes later she started crying. I stood where I could see her but she couldn't see me and after a couple of minutes she quit and went to sleep. But I sorta felt guilty afterwards even though I knew nothing was wrong except Nosy Rosy thought she'd miss something if she went to sleep.  At what age did you let your kid CIO?

[ginap]

CIO didn't work for C. We tried a few times but she would just work herself into more of a lather rather than winding down. Letting your 7 month old cry for a few minutes is totally fine.

[cleo29]

About that old. I can tell the difference between a tired cry and one of discomfort. With K, she usually goes down easily, but sometimes she needs H to go back in and rock her for a few minutes. Yes, H is better at getting her settled for sleep.

[bex1973]

So I'm not a monster mom LOL! I was feeling guilty because she pretty much always sleeps through the night so I felt like I shouldn't complain

[cleo29]

Jul 18, 2013 13:49:06 GMT -5 bex1973 said:

So I'm not a monster mom LOL! I was feeling guilty because she pretty much always sleeps through the night so I felt like I shouldn't complain

don't feel guilty.  Sleep is a funny thing and patterns can change. As an infant, C was an awesome sleeper. When she was about 15 months old, she started waking up a lot in the middle of the night. K was a baby that did not sttn very well as a baby and now, she does unless she is sick.

both go down pretty easily.

[Deleted]

Jul 18, 2013 13:42:05 GMT -5 cleo29 said:

Yes, H is better at getting her settled for sleep.

Mine too. I can do it ok, but H is the sleep expert. Our families all call him the baby whisperer.

[auntie]

4 1/2 months. 

We did Ferber by the book. One hellish night, one not so great night and a life time of independent sleep. Bliss.

Pedi suggests doing it before they can pull up in the crib and call for you.

[circa1978]

Well, he's almost 2.5 now, and we pretty much just started. He's been sleeping in front of the door for the past two weeks. I recommend doing it while your child is still contained by a crib.

[Deleted]

We didn't let them cry until they stopped entirely until about a year, but before that it was every 5-10 minutes of crying starting at around 4 months.

Kind of easier for us b/c inevitably at the younger age one would have to cry a little bit while we soothed the other.

[thatgirl2478]

Jul 18, 2013 13:39:43 GMT -5 bex1973 said:

Morgan is 7 months - sometimes she fusses when I put her to bed at night. The other night she was CLEARLY tired, I put her to bed and a couple minutes later she started crying. I stood where I could see her but she couldn't see me and after a couple of minutes she quit and went to sleep. But I sorta felt guilty afterwards even though I knew nothing was wrong except Nosy Rosy thought she'd miss something if she went to sleep.  At what age did you let your kid CIO?

This is fine.  I think the books recommend 3-4 months (which seems a *little* young).  I think you're fine .

[thatgirl2478]

Jul 18, 2013 13:42:05 GMT -5 cleo29 said:

About that old. I can tell the difference between a tired cry and one of discomfort. With K, she usually goes down easily, but sometimes she needs H to go back in and rock her for a few minutes. Yes, H is better at getting her settled for sleep.

This exactly.  You'll know when your attention is ACTUALLY needed.  Even at 2.5 DD wakes occassionally, cries once or twice, and goes back to sleep.  It's only when she doesn't stop or calls for mommy or daddy that we go in (though, sometimes she calls for her blankie or bunny and we'll go help relocate those items from the end of the bed back to her).

[melodramatic26]

with my oldest, we did it around 4.5 months. She took to it right away. We did a modified Ferber and it only took 3 nights. An hour the first night, 20minutes the 2nd and 5 minutes the 3rd. She's a fantastic sleeper/napper still at the age of 3.

Hazel, my dear baby. We tried at 5, it didn't work. Then a growth spurt/ear infections/teething hit. We didn't try again. She goes down great. No problems. But now, she's waking up a time or two a night "fussing" and then works herself up into a tizzy. She CAN sttn, she just doesn't.

She has her 9mth appointment tomorrow. Assuming the doctor says she's ok, we will be doing it next week (not this weekend because dh and I are going away.) Sorry Grammie and PopPop.

[eb777888]

9 months. But we only had to do it for 5 minutes and for one night, lol. He was good after that.

[bornbaker]

Em is a great sleeper. Always has been. She is currently 7 months.

We've always done CIO - since 'day one'. We started with me rubbing her back while she cried and gradually went to "no-contact" unless she was REALLY upset (like hiccups etc.) I think it's really helped her sleep though the night, which she's been doing since she was 10 weeks.

[lintscreen]

We did Ferber at 5 months. It took about 3 nights for it to work, but he was already a good sleeper, just couldn't put himself to sleep.

[CherHorowitz]

6 months for both of my boys.

[eddy]

4 months for fussing for both boys. If it got to hysterical crying I would go in. Otherwise I started them both early on fussing. I never had to do CIO for middle of the night stuff. I just used it for going to bed.

[ElizabethBennet]

We half tried it a few times, and started when she was about 15 months old. The one time I did it for real lasted 5 hours. She wasn't alone crying that whole time, we did the Ferber method, but she woke up the next day with a 103 fever and we realized she was crying because she didn't feel well and then I felt horrible.

[Deleted]

8 months. We did what we were comfortable with, which was short intervals of crying before we would go soothe (but not pick up). He's an awesome sleeper now and we can tell when he needs is...his cries escalate if he's upset.

[Deleted]

I think he was around 6-7 months. There was only one really bad, heart wrenching night and then he started sleeping a full 6 hours stretch every night.

[bex1973]

Thanks ladies! I know we're really spoiled because more often than not she goes down with no issues and sleeps through I appreciate the feedback!

[lissaholly]

8 months. It was getting to the point where she just didn't sleep during the day. Not on us, not in the car or even in the stroller. We let her cry during her nap or take her nap. We never had to do night time.

Sleep is something we can teach. Good sleep habits can be learned. Sometimes kids don't need this lesson, but sometimes they do. Don't feel guilty!

ETA: She never outright cried the whole nap. It would be strong cry/ tapered down/ we go get her if she started to work up again.

[sugarbear]

/hijacking
If your baby falls asleep nursing, do you wake him up before CIO to go down at night? Or just start with MOTN wakings?

[spk926]

Jul 18, 2013 16:39:21 GMT -5 sugarbear said:

/hijacking
If your baby falls asleep nursing, do you wake him up before CIO to go down at night? Or just start with MOTN wakings?

This is what we're dealing with and I've been doing some reading. Someone correct me if I'm wrong but with this method you don't let them nurse to sleep. Nurse them and make sure they have a full belly but don't let them fall asleep. Then change them, put on pjs, read a book (nighttime routine) then put them in their crib awake but drowsy.

For middle of the night feedings there is no need to wake them if they fall asleep nursing. Then you can just put them in the crib asleep after feeding them.

Again, I haven't done this and am just reading up on everything this week to start CIO next week. DD is a pretty good sleeper BUT she won't fall asleep unless she nurses to sleep. This is for every nap and every night. She needs to learn how to fall asleep without a boob in her mouth, right? I'm nervous and scared to start but want to do it before I go back to work in the fall.