Okay I just want to know who's tried the "cry it out" method and did it work? If so...how long did it take? I've been told 3 days. I'm just curious as I'm exploring options now!!

We haven't here and won't. Em still vomits and chokes in her sleep sometimes :( and she gets HYSTERICAL if left to cry.

My mom did cry-it-out with us when we were babies and she has even told me not to try it with Em. Emma SCREAMS and just gets madder and madder. My mom said we never cried like that....we kind of just cried a bit...and then it slowly winded down to a whimper and then snuffling, and then sleep.

Sorry, I wasn't much help. :oops:

Yea...that's why I said "who's tried it?" LOL... :P

Anyhow Zac get's histarical too...but doesn't puke. I ended up having to do that tonight and it lasted 20 mins which wasn't bad. He didn't even cry that hard. A couple times he'd get quiet, and w/in a minute he'd be screaming like "why aren't you picking me up !?!?!" He calmed down again and went to sleep. I feel so bad for my baby but I know I'm doing no good if I keep going in there and picking him up, that's what started this whole mess of up and down up and down.

My DH and I have done the CIO method and it worked wonders for us. Not everyone agrees on this method and it works for others and doesn't work for some. It did only take us 3 nights. The first night she cried for an hour, the second for 45 min., and the third for 15 min. Now, I can truthfully say that Lauren is an excellent sleeper. If you opt for this method, make sure it's for you first. It's hard to hear your child cry. You just have to make sure that's she's not sick or hurting, which is the case with most refluxers, and check on them every 10-15 min. to make sure they're ok.

We decided to try this method because the only way Lauren would sleep at night was if she was laying on her father or I's chest. Everytime we laid her down, she'd cry. Today, she loves her crib and she loves to sleep.

It's definitely not for everyone, and there are a lot of differing opinions on the method, but DH and I felt that if she knew we were right next door and were checking on her, she was going to be ok.

It's been about a week now, and we've definitely made some progress. We're down to two wake-ups, which is tolerable because of their timing. First is about 11:00pm and the second is about 4:00am. She seems like she's not only sleeping longer but also sleeping more soundly. The downside is that she's not eating as much on a 24-hour basis and is puking more. I think because we're cramming her so full of food during her waking hours. Nap times only generate 20-25 minutes of screaming now versus 45 minutes to an hour a week ago. CIO has worked wonders here!

Thanks!
I didn't think it was for me at first, however I HAVE tried other methods that haven't worked. It seems like the more often I go in there to try to help him, the angrier he gets when I leave. The more times I pick him up to soothe him, the angrier he gets when I lie him down. First night he cried for a little over an hour, tonight...20 minutes and less forceful!! I'm hoping we've found what will work. I cannot keep picking him up and rocking him 5 times a night. It has to stop eventually and the sooner the better in the long run.

Glad to hear it lesley! How long is she crying now?

I guess my next question would be, if he wakes in middle of the night? DO I not go in there? I think I'd have to check him after giving him time to calm, then he'd really get ticked again for me leaving again.

Also, I've heard that you shouldn't do this for naps until they've got the nighttime down pat...any thoughts?

Catherine didn't cry but maybe 5-10 minutes tonight. I think she's getting sick again. She took TWO 2 1/2-hour naps today, which is more than she normally naps in a week, and she puked enough to fill the bottom of her car seat in the grocery store tonight. Stinky real vomit, not primarily formula-scented puke like it normally is. She's also more clingy than she has been lately, which I didn't think was possible.

It worked really well with my first son. We couldn't use it with our GERDling though b/c of the vomiting, choking and aspirating that would have happened. I hope that it works for you, Sara!

What about how long did it take, janette? :)

THankfully zac has never vomited or aspirated...only upchucks during the day.

What about how long did it take, janette? :)

THankfully zac has never vomited or aspirated...only upchucks during the day.
Brandon's 6 now, but I'm pretty sure that it just took a few days and certainly no more than a week. The first night was the toughest. It really pulled at my heart strings! We started by letting him cry for 5 mins., and built it up until he was able to fall asleep on his own.

We did cry-it-out with Kaylin when she was baby. It was hard, but it worked. For her...she's naturally stubborn...it took 10 days to 2 weeks. With the first crying session lasting about 1 hour, then gradually dropping down and finally no crying. It worked really well. Very little sleeping problems after those two weeks.

I've wanted to try it, but I know I never will. Emma and Noah sound sooo much alike on this issue. His cries are different, so I've been told by other moms. His cries turn from irritated to painful if I have to let him cry, like when its just me and him in the car. Then he does the gag cough thing... I'm fairly sure that if I let him cry, he would never ever stop. I've signed away all rights to sleep w/this decision, but I think its our only choice.

I've wanted to try it, but I know I never will. Emma and Noah sound sooo much alike on this issue. His cries are different, so I've been told by other moms. His cries turn from irritated to painful if I have to let him cry, like when its just me and him in the car. Then he does the gag cough thing... I'm fairly sure that if I let him cry, he would never ever stop. I've signed away all rights to sleep w/this decision, but I think its our only choice.

Maggie..I feel for you! We'll be sleepless moms together. :(

I have to admit that I was sort of jealous with all the cry-it-out talk the other day b/c I know that all of those babies will be sleeping better than Emma. Emma will have to learn to self-soothe, but I have to be there. I use the pick-up/put-down method...it will just take longer I guess.

Emma was sleeping the other day, in her elevated crib, and I was just waching her...(you'd think I would have been doing laundry or something! :oops: )...and then, all of a sudden I heard this gurgling sound and I SAW her belly reflux. Not kidding. She immediately flung herself onto her back and the formula was bubbling in her mouth. I had fed her an hour before. :(

Needless to say she woke up crying, (who wouldn't?!!?), and naptime was over.

As I've researched, though, I'm finding that cry-it-out may have benefits, but there are negative aspects as well.

Amanda--I actually have that book that has the pickup putdown method in it on my to-buy list. I hope I have some luck with it like you. I'm so tired, my eye balls hurt. But, Noah's been napping now for TWO hours in the packnplay at my moms. I keep pacing around her house not knowing what to do w/ a sleeping baby!

But, Noah's been napping now for TWO hours in the packnplay at my moms. I keep pacing around her house not knowing what to do w/ a sleeping baby!

That's great! :D

I know! It feels strange when they actually nap! It's hard to believe that babies are supposed to nap for several hours each day! It's a rarity around here! :lol:

We tried CIO with Alexys for about a week, and it kind of worked. She would still cry for about 15 min every time we put her to bed, but then would fall asleep and sleep all night. She was also in the habit of me holding her until she fell asleep, but then waking when i laid her down and it was getting old really fast....Also she wanted to be in our bed all of the time. I didnt think it was really working because she still screamed like a crazy baby for those 15 min and puked like crazy, so even though she fell asleep she was sleeping in yucky puke all night if I didnt go in and wake her back up to clean up. Kind of pointless I guess. So now we started a really bad habit, we give her a bottle to go to bed....it has worked wonders and she NEVER cries when we put her down now, just drinks 2 oz and goes to sleep. I'm sure I will regret it eventually, but for now its working so I dont even really care. Do whatever works for you, you need your sleep just as much as he does!

Amanda,
Zac gets woken up from his naps from "regurgitation" as well, it sucks!

As I've reserached, though, I'm finding that cry-it-out may have benefits, but there are negative aspects as well.
I think there's some sort of negative aspect to any "technique" if that's what they call it. Before Zac was born I was telling myself I'd NEVER do that to him. He would end up losing my "trust" and feeling like his needs weren't met so I've read. After talking to lots of other mom's who's children are toddler age now...there were/are no longterm effects from putting their kids to sleep by cryign it out for a few nights on their own after 6 months of age. Normal, happy, loved children. I would not have dreamed to try this when he was younger. It's just that for me...this seems to be the only way to do it with him now. It seems to be working aswell. Tonight we cried 11 minutes. Not too bad. I went in once (it was killing me) to give him back his blankie and paci. He settled after that.
On the other hand, if he were still crying for an hour or so and screaming his head off, I'd have to look for another solution.

That's great that you're having some luck, Sara. Its good that he has those security objects to help him sleep. Noah won't even take a pacifier...I am the pacifier around here. Has the crying been decreasing every night?

Has the crying been decreasing every night?

DEFINITELY! First night he screamed as if to say "GOSH DARNIT COME BACK WHERE ARE YOU!?!?!" haha... that was the worst...since then the cryign is just whimpers and a bit of crying that subsides a lot quicker than it normally would have w/my half a$$ attempts.

That is great Sara! I am glad it is helping you :D He is such a cutie!

Those security objects are a life-saver. Cady's got her froggy and her thumb and will only suck her thumb if she's got her froggy in her other hand. Never a whimper as long as she has those.

Glad to hear it's working for you guys!!! I've never done it with the boys.. I tried it once with Matthew and he got so distressed it was wosre than if I had gotten up to him. My girlfriend used it very successfully with her 2 boys.
I think I'm lucky because the boys are good company for each other and they comfort one another. I use comfort things with them though as well- Matthe has a monkey soft toy and Stephen loves his lion soft toy.

WELL...I am very happy, yet hesitant, to say....we're on the third night in a row with not even a PEEP!!!!! I'm so thrilled, never expected it! It really does work! I'd have never thought in a million years he'd actually do this from the first night of an hour and a half of "I'm SOOO P*SSED OFF COME GET ME" screaming....to less than a week later... NOTHING! He cried that first night like that, then the next night, 20 min, the next two nights about 12 min....to NOTHING. The first night I thought I had rocked him too long and he was already asleep ( I still give him cuddling and rocking for a couple min. but put him down before he's out). The second night, I made concious effort that he woudl be awake but thought again that maybe he was too out of it. Tonight...I made SURE those eyes were open and he went down peacefully! <sigh> I"m so happy! We've still got a ways to go...I don't want to start this w/naps yet until nights are perfect (re: waking sometimes at 4:30). I DO go in and get him up if he wakes around 430/500 to change him because he may be wet and uncomfy. The night before last night, he was up around 415 whimpering, I left him be and he went back to sleep. I was so happy, yet worried if he was wet but I Figured I better "let sleeping dogs lie". However, he was whimpering again about a half hour later so I got him up to change and rock a bit. We're still playing the wake up and rock me game during the day but I am confident that we'll get there, this was major progress. :cheers:

Yay, Sara! That's wonderful news! I'm glad it's worked out for you...I wish Kaylin had been that easy. It took TWO weeks to get the kinks worked out for her. I'm sooooooo happy for you!

well...he DID wake up again about a half hour ago with one cry and then it was silent. Some nights he does that, wakes up w/in an hour crying. HOWEVER< this was the first night taht I didn't have to go in there!

I'm so estatic that it worked for you. Is it still working?

YAY!!!! Sara and WOOHOO Zac- what a clever little boy!!!! I am so pleased that it has worked for you. ABout the being wet thing... my boys are in new nappies at 6pm and stay in them until 6am- yes, they're wet, but they do not leak and they never have nappy rash. We use Huggies and a product called "Bee Balme" as a barrier cream on their butts.
During the day, they are changed numerous times. I would only ever change at night now, if they had pooped.

I typically dont change him until his 530ish wakeup either. Just thought maybe he was leaking or something, who knows. It seems to still be working, he does sometimes still cry in mid night but he goes down alone w/out mommy interfering which is awesome. Now that his routine is all wacked out its a diff. story because we're not at home. But he's still doing alright.

we're not at home. But he's still doing alright.
I'm glad to hear from you, Sara! Are you guys still doing okay? How long do you suspect it will be until you can return home again?

I have read this post over and over and over again and am reserecting it for some questions........

First off I have been trying the soothing, pick up/put down method for naps and night wakings (not hunger wakings) for a month. Sometimes I am standing over his crib patting his butt for an entire nap - 1.5-2 hours! And almost every night from 4:30 am-6:00 I am at the crib with the in/out of the pacifier and butt pat. I am exhausted, as I know most of us are. So I am pretty close to giving this method up for some controlled crying sessions.

The problem is the early wakings........ not the going down. So I saw that someone asked a question about what to do with the early wake ups - like 4:30 am. Do you let them cry with the reassurance every few minutes (which ever time frame you choose?)

I am not sure what method I am going to do next, or just give up and wait a little longer. Maybe he is too young, but he eats enough and is big enough, and in his past he has slept MUCH longer stretches than he has for the past month. When he was 9-12 weeks old he had ONE night waking at around 2 am for a feeding in an 11 hour night. Now it is minimum 2 wakings and then the 4:30-6am butt pat dance. It is horrible.

Thanks for anyone who has any ideas.

He is 4.5 months old.

Meg

We're about to try CIO again. Our upstairs neighbor is a family practice doc, and he and dh were talking at length this morning. One of our issues with letting Catherine cry is trying not to disturb the neighbor, who has some weird hours when he's on call. He said not to worry and pick a Friday or Saturday and just let her scream. He said we were not doing her any favors by continuing to give her bottles in bed because of the greater potential for ear infections and tooth rot. Yes, we're well aware of that, but we (I!!!) desperately need the nearly non-existent amount of sleep I do manage to get. And no, holding her and feeding her at night isn't an option because she fights being held, even in a drowsy state.

So ... tonight we try again.

((Lesley)) sleep deprivation is evil evil evil and we do what we have to survive it.

I hear ya on the neighbors! We are temporarily in an apt and I am a little concerned someone may knock on the door..we'll be home in 2 weeks, but DH and I decided to start seriously after his Dr. appt on Tues - to get his input first - though I am pretty sure he'll say CIO after midnight.

Good for your neighbor for supporting you.

Meg

Crying it out was never an option for Shae b/c of how much she was throwing up and choking. I took the easy way out though and just brought her into our bed. Sleep was all that mattered at that point, and I was going to sleep by any means necessary. I know that co-sleeping isn't for everyone but for us it worked like a charm.

Meg...for us early wake ups is sometimes an issue however, lately he's been cryign himself back to sleep. I have to go in and give him pacifier and reassure him adn leave. He cries for about 15 seconds and that's it. However....when I first started this he cried for an hour and a half! I was just so sick of the pick up and rock me and he'd wake up the second i put him back down> it has worked for us after only a few nights.
During this phase, we are going through some strange crying issues again but I think it's due to teeth or constipation pains...no idea. NORMALLY he goes down fine after the CIO method about 2 months ago. Lately its a bit of a challege. Good luck!
*I'm not getting new post notifications so I'm sorry If I dont check back w/you in a timely manner. I just happened to come across this one back at the top of the page again.

We have done CIO with Molly. We never did with Sydney because she just wasn't a good candidate for it! She's incredibly sensitive and she would cry until she puked (she was never a refluxer) and then keep going. My husband was in grad school full-time when she was a baby so he just grew frustrated and eventually we brought her to bed with us, which is where she stayed for a long time. When she was 2 she moved to a toddler bed next to our bed and she stayed there until she was 4 1/2, then moved to her own room. She did not go to sleep without one of us laying with her until she was 5 1/2 and I was very big and pregnant with Molly and couldn't lay with her anymore! So, even though Molly was a reflux baby, we just couldn't go through that again and did CIO with her. Honestly there were no certain number of days for her that it took...it came and went and we did it on and off for months. Still do it occasionally, but much, much less often. Molly had constant colds/viruses/ear infections her first year so each time she recovered from one, we had to start the CIO all over again. She usually likes her bed with exception to her latest sleep issues which I believe are reflux and/or teething related..shorter naps, waking earlier and fussing. It's driving me batty. Anyway, hang in there. You're in good company.

Meg... I'm probably one of the biggest supporters of the CIO method. It worked wonders for us. Desperate, because Lauren would only sleep on DH or my chest, I bought the book Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child (I think that's the title) and followed what the dr. recommended. It only took Lauren a few nights to get the hang and a day or two more for the naps.

What is most important is that a child nap during the day so that they don't become overtired, which would make it harder for you to get them down. The dr. recommends a bedtime between 6:30 and 7:30, and you are not to get them out of bed before 7 am. When they cry during the night, you can go soothe them but don't remove them from their bed. Give the paci, pat the butt (but not for hours), etc., but don't pick them up.

I would think that 4.5 mos. is not too young to start this. We did at 4 mos. and Lauren is a great sleeper. Email if you have any questions. I recommend buying the book though.
I would say

As I've mentioned before, I tried CIO once and I swore I would never do it again. I used the "pick up and put down" method and I have always just patted the boys butts at night time and never removed them from thier cots. We went through a phase, Meg, where they woke at 4:45am, wanting a feed. I started with this, and then gradually increased the time I would get up to them.. so every week I would push it out 10 minutes. So it took a while, but now they sleep until 6am and I never get up to feed them until 6:15am (sometimes they are awake earlier but they play in their cots.) They have that early bottle and they are staright back to bed until at least 7:30am for a wee nap. We are then up for the day at that time.
I agree with Sandy.. it is very important to have naps during the day, and also that they go to bed at a reasonbale hour. My boys are in bed at 7pm (although sometimes they are exhausted by 6:30pm and go to bed then).

CIO is a personal choice.. you have to do what works best for you!

I've been tempted to try the CIO method after spending so much time up in the night and then trying to get him down, but when he does get crying, he ends up coughing nonstop and the only way to help him is to make him stop crying. So, I've never done it and never will. I've always been too scared to co-sleep, but I will sleep on the couch with him, since I know I can't roll. I usually only have to do this for a portion of the night, but we both get some zzzz's this way without making him upset.

Here's some hope for not using the CIO (although I know many swear by it)... Noah has just gradually gotten used to his crib. The transition has taken lots of patience and time, but he doesn't wake up screaming anymore. I'll find him playing peacefully now that he likes it! Its been a couple months, and we still have a ways to go, but I think he's starting to figure out that its "his bed" and not a torture chamber! :lol: :lol:

Thanks to everyone for your thoughts and experiences. Like I said, we are in an apt for one more week then I think if he doesn't even come close to having the hang of it we will have to resort to some sort of CIO.

Naps are usually way too short and I have been really working on extending them with the pat/shush and I am getting a little better at it. But it never seems to change his night time sleep like the books/experts say it will. He has these wake up times that he just can't get past. I use a pacifier and I thought he was waking up just for that, but he wakes up at bascially the same times every night. Like he can tell time.

The few times he varied his routine was when we had him out too long and he was to the point of sheer exhaustion. That won't happen every night, nor should it.

I am exhausted, depressed over it, and just hoping and praying that one of these days it will click with him and we won't have to worry about it.

I used the Babywise books. It has a CIO method, that I modified for letting Samantha cry for only about 10 min max. After following the schedule/routine in the book, my life was so much easier. I will swear by these books now! The full title is "on becoming Babywise". I am now 'graduating' to Babywise II. We didn't start the routine until about 3 months.

Melissa

I absolutely love the Babywise book! I swear by it also! Frankie has been on a schedule from the moment he came home from the hospital. The only problem we are still having is that he wakes for 1230am feed and then he wakes at like 515am. I put the paci in his mouth constantly to get him to 6am. He also fights going to sleep at 8. I usually allow him to cry for about 5 minutes...no more than that because he gets absolutely hysterical, and to be honest with you, I hate the sound of a crying baby...it breaks my heart. Tonight is better already though. Last night I must have went upstairs for the pat the butt at least 30 times. I promised myself I wouldn't pick him up, unless I thought it was a gas problem. Well...good luck to all with sleep issues....its not easy!

Last night was first night of CIO and it wasn't too bad. We took away the pacifier, too. I posted this on the OK, now what? post. Copied it for here...

I am a first time Mom who made every mistake there was, except sticking to my routine even when it was obviously futile.

I have read every book out there from Dr Sears to Dr Ferber and found soooo far that if you try something for a week and it doesn't work maybe there is a reason. I tried CIO at nap time for about 4 days 3 weeks ago and got nowhere. Now I think he was too young. And I feel bad, but I got a lot of pressure from my sister to do this method, so I did.

Then for the next 3 weeks I did the Baby Whisperer/No Cry Sleep Solution methods and saw some minor improvement at naps. He was still an early waker - would wake up at 30-40 min and need a nap every hour or so.. our problem really hasn't been falling asleep, just staying asleep. It would take me anywhere from 10min to 45 min to get him to fall back asleep and although he was happier for it I was getting a little sick of standing over his crib patting his butt and - wait - here is the key (I think) holding the pacifier in his mouth until he fell asleep again.

SO we decided that last night we would take away the pacifier. I did hold him/swayed with him till he fell asleep and he did pretty quickly. Again, falling asleep hasn't been the big issue. Habitual wake ups at 11:30 and 4:20 (he gets up at 1:30 or so to eat) So when he woke up at 12:04 last night we let him fuss for a few minutes. I made sure he didn't puke, gave just a couple butt pats and left the room. He cried for approx 12 more minutes then abruptly stopped and fell asleep. Then woke up at 1:30 to eat, then not until 6:00!!

Now nap time and he woke up at 40 minutes and fussed for a few minutes, cried a few minutes, checked on him and he was ticked! So left the room and cried a few more minutes and now has been asleep for another hour since the crying stopped.

Okay moral to my story is be consitent with routine for putting down even if it brings you to tears. It has brought me to the brink of devastation trying to get him to sleep - trust me I know...... But keep it up. It can be very simple or as much as you think he needs, but do it every time. We do have a different routine for nap and bed. Naptime is abbreviated. Nap I just pick him up aftere 2hours of awake time, change his diaper and walk him around a bit. He gets very sleepy at this point and I can put him down drowsy.

Bedtime we came up with a routine really to keep him up a little later so DH could have some play time in the eve. It starts at 6:30 and he is really ready for bed by 7:30. Bath, lotion, jammies, bottle, 2 books, bed. DH participates in bath and reads the books.

HTH- I am going to copy this to the CIO post.

I am slightly opptomistic today for a change.

Meg and PJ
7/28/05

Meg, your night routine sounds very much like ours. I agree about being consistent. My whole problem in the begining was I would just give in and take him out of his bed. So the next time, he would think "ok now i have to cry 'this long' but she will eventually come get me."...Finally I just had to stick it out and it really only took one day of agony for myself. We have increasingly gotten to the point now, where I just kiss and cuddle him, lie him in bed and said "nah night". Works like a charm...on occassion I may have to repeat that last step if he happens to be cranky.

OH! I was wondering if there will always be this much of a routine or if eventually he will just go off to sleep at bedtime. I honestly think for him falling asleep will eventually be okay. It isn't our problem now. It is the STAYING asleep thing.

Last night was really great without the pacifier. He just fussed for a minute at 12:24, 12.46, and 1:01. And to tell you the truth I think he was just cold. Sad to say, but when I went in at 2:30 for the feeding he was a little cool even though the room was pretty warm, I thought. The termostat said 70. So if I get his clothing on correctly tonight maybe we will eliminate even that.

Now naps are another story today. He just cried for about 15 minutes on and off after waking up at the 30 minute on the dot point. I still think it is a timing thing. He was up for 2 hours and fell to sleep pretty quickly, but still maybe not tired enough. I have to think of things to stretch his awake time. But he starts to get fussy and tired and I just go with it. I think maybe I need to sing a song or something. I already added that diaper change to extend his wake time.....what to do. I hate that he is crying when I know that I probably just judged him wrong.

I am surprised that he didn't start sucking on his fingers. He does that all the time when he is awake... but he just rubs his eyes. Like I know I will go in there to get him after his nap and his eyes will be red from rubbing them.

Meg

We decided to let our daughter CIO, after realizing that she was waking up out of habit. Her reflux pain caused her to wake up every hour or two for the last 2 months. After being on Zantac for 3 weeks, I realized that she wasn't in pain, but was still in the habit of waking up every hour or two. After 5 months of no sleep and sheer exhaustion, I decided that we had to try the CIO method for a week.

Last night was our first night and it went really well. I prepared my Mommy's heart and decided that I would check on her every 15 minutes, but not pick her up. We did our normal bedtime routine and she went to sleep fairly quickly. She woke up 2 hours later and cried for 40 minutes and then slept for 2 more hours. She woke up and cried 15 minutes and then I nursed her and she slept until her normal wake up time. I am so encouraged by this success!!! Also, she had great naps today. Tonight, I made sure that she was awake when I put her in her crib. She rolled around and then miraculously went to sleep on her own within 5 minutes !!! I can't believe it!!

I wanted to share our success in hopes of encouraging others. I NEVER thought that I would try the CIO method with our daughter. But, I know it is the right decision for our family. She will sleep better and so will this tired Mommy!! I am still amazed that this is working so well for us.

Amazing! We did CIO last night and it went on for 4 hours! (See my post for more details.)
Of course, Joshua has a very determined little personality so I'm not surprised! We'll see how tonight goes...

Meg, all those times that you're letting him get himself back to sleep will teach him to eventually get himself to sleep when first put down. We went through that with Kaylin, but she did eventually fall asleep as soon as her head hit the mattress, but she was a little older. Between 11 and 12 mos. old. But, the CIO was a huge success for us. It sounds like your little one is getting the idea fairly quickly. That's wonderful!

Meg,
I hope the crying time diminishes quickly for you. I know it's hard to hear your little one cry.

Last night was our second night trying the CIO method. It was a huge success. Our baby girl went to sleep on her own with no crying (never happened before) and only woke up once. She put herself back to sleep with no crying. I can't believe it!!!!! I would have never dreamed that it would be this easy for her.

I hope it gets easier for you and your little one too!! Hang in there.

Way to go Sandy!! I'm glad it's working for you. I returned your email this morning.

Well, just for an update on how PJ is doing,

Naps are still a nightmare. Most of them he wakes up after 30 min but this week there have been a few 45 min naps so I am seeing this as progress. I am still trying the cio for naps, but I really don't feel it is having any sucess. I just think as he matures naps will come, too. At least this is what I read......who really knows. But I do know he isn't happy with just a 30 min nap, so I do what I need to to get him to sleep longer even if it is holding him another 30 minutes. Which I do often.......

He still has a few very brief wakings other than the one time to eat in the middle of the night. Usually just a couple minutes - but it isn't just stirring, it is whiney/crying. It is driving me nuts and it has been going on 3 weeks now. But last night he really didn't do it at all - just woke up to eat so I am hopeful.....

Did anyone else go through a short nap phase? It seems to me that a lot of babies do this, but I just can't stand it. The 30 minute naps just don't hold him. He needs more.

My new goal will be to start putting him down drowsy for naps. Then move on to bedtime. I am terrified of what little day or night sleep we do have getting messed up so I move REALLY slow on this. But I am having slight success in the nap department.

Anyway, thanks for you support. Moira I am going to look for you post. I hope that last night was better. Wow 4 hours I am impressed.

Meg