Advice on CIO

Our boys just turned 4 months old and we are going to attempt "cry it out" this weekend. I was worried that it might be too early since they are preemies but our pediatrician said that now was the ideal time to do CIO. Up until now they have been sleeping in our room, but we're going to move them to their nursery this weekend too. Also they currently still wake every 2.5 to 3.5 hours throughout the night to be fed. But the pediatrician also recommended that if they wake in the middle of the night that we shouldn't feed them but let them CIO out then too. Soooo there will be 3 big changes all at once this weekend: moving them to their nursery, letting them CIO when we put them down to sleep, and letting them CIO through the night when they wake up instead of feeding them. On the one hand that seems like an awful lot of changes to make at once, but on the other hand if we just do it one phase at a time it will only drag out the amount of crying they do for several more nights/weeks.

My questions are:

1) Would you make all 3 changes at once? If not, what would you recommend?

2) When letting them CIO, after x number of minutes when we go to check on them should we pat them and talk soothingly to them, give a pacifier, etc? OR just go in there and let them know that we haven't abandoned them and then leave the room? Our ped recommends the latter (no patting, no paci, etc). I know we absolutely shouldn't pick them up, but I thought patting them some might help sooth them (but may potentially cause them to cry longer too).

3) When we put them down for the night should we play any music and/or turn on their constellation light thingy that displays on the ceiling? I just got it yesterday so they aren't attached to it yet. I figure music and having lights to look at might take their mind off the crying. I know routines are very important and I had been planning on using this Homedics Soundspa Lullaby music/projector thingy as part of their nightly routine, if it won't get in the way of them learning to go to sleep without crying.

Sorry for all of the questions, but I'm a little nervous about this weekend! I've got the book Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Twins, but I haven't been able to finish reading all of it yet because there isn't enough time in the day. It's funny how two needy babies can eat up all of your free time Thanks in advance for any responses!

 

I have never changed more than one thing at a time, otherwise you will never know what the issue really is! Is it the new room? Are they hungry? My advice is to do one thing at a time. Move to the new room first, I'm sure that won't be a big issue. Cutting back on their feedings is a whole other transition. Are you weaning them or are they going cold turkey? My pedi recommended to wean them so that little by little they were getting little out of waking in the night. My DD stopped waking up entirely at 5 months my other DD took a few months longer...though I stopped feeding her in the night at 6 months (she was much smaller).

 

I agree with the previous poster and I'd say spend a week or so getting them used to their new room before CIO. I used CIO to elminate night feedngs at 5.5 months, within days they were puttng themselves to sleep without fussing. I found that I couldn't go in to soothe them because it just made them more upset when I left. Lastly, I swear by my white noise machine. When one twin wakes up early the other one will keep on sleeping as long as I keep it on.

 

Thanks for the replies. I'm leaning towards putting them in their nursery first before starting CIO. It makes sense to not bombard them with changes all at once. It's just really gonna suck getting up at least twice in the middle of the night and having to go to the nursery And we only have one glider in there so I guess my hubby will get the nice comfy floor for feeding a baby, ha. TaurusTwins I do like your idea of starting to wean them down on formula amounts. Since they are preemies I've been so focused on more, more formula, as much as they will take anyway, so it never dawned on me that before we cut the night time feedings out cold turkey that we should wean them down some. Good advice! And hopefully since they will be getting less formula at night (and eventually no formula) I'm hoping they start taking more formula per feeding session during the day. Because right now it drives me a little bonkers when sometimes they only take 2 to 3 ounces of their 4 oz bottles.

Okay, so now my game plan is to just transition them to the nursery this weekend. Then the following weekend we'll start CIO. I would prefer to start CIO on a weekend too since we don't work then, but if the middle of the night feedings in the nursery get to be too much and start effecting how tired we are at work, we may have to start CIO it a little early, say mid-week.

Oh, and we most definitely will have a white noise machine! We have a Kenmore HEPA air filter in our bedroom and that sucker can make some pretty loud white noise, which I love. I've slept with a white noise machine for years, and I know one will be invaluable for our nursery too. Which reminds me, I need to figure out which one I want to buy and get it ordered pronto!

Thanks again for the advice, and I welcome anybody else's opinion too!

 

Sounds like you have a plan. I agree with not trying to change everything at once and also with cutting back their formula instead of going cold turkey. I'm actually surprised with their adjusted age that the pedi wants you to cut out nighttime feedings, they must be growing really well. Good luck with all of your changes, be sure to let us know how it goes.

 

I also agree to change one thing at a time. I weaned my DS off night feeding early (4 months) and when he would wake in the night I took him to sleep with me. I felt like I was comforting him through the weaning. I know this is not what most people would recommend, but it worked for us. In no time he was through wanting to eat in the night and was sleeping through the night in his own bed. Just a thought, but since the babies are already sleeping with you, why don't you try weaning the feeding first and then transition to their cribs.

 

I'm a little leary about cutting out their nighttime feedings too since they are preemies, but when we took them for their 4 month checkup yesterday their pedi was pleased with their weight gain. One boy is 12 lbs and the other is 11 lb 13 oz. I'd still like them to be even chunkier, but I'm hoping as we wean them down at night that they wake up hungrier and eat more during the day. I do agree that weaning them down is the way to go, as opposed to cold turkey, so last night instead of making 3.5oz - 4 oz bottles I made them only 3oz. Then for a couple of nights I'll make them 2.5 oz, etc. One of our boys seems to be on his way to STTN though. Last night he went 5.5 hours before waking to be fed in the middle of the night, and then went 4+ hours after that before his morning bottle. That was a first! His brother, on the other hand, woke up every 2.5 hours, ugg.

BTW, here is a picture of my boys. They have come so far from when they were tiny little preemies in the NICU!

 

I'd just like to add that when we started taking away the night feeding for DD (DS started STTN and not waking for feeding naturally) we added an extra ounce to her daytime bottles (from 5 ounce to 6) to give her the chance to drink a little more during
the day. It took almost a month to totally stop the night feeding for her because she was so tiny in comparison to DS and I was
worried she would not eat enough without the feeding. I personally think that if yours are drinking the full 4 ounces at night time that they may not be quite ready to drop it. BUT if they are only drinking like 2 ounces or less at that night time feeding then that is a signal that they are comfort feeding and not from real hunger! I personally chose to eliminate the night feeding before moving them out of my room (since I didn't want to have to get up to feed them! ) Then after a solid week of no night feedings I moved them into their own rooms. Then about a month later they were ready for CIO. Follow your little one's signals. I know it's hard to not rush especially when it comes to precious sleep! But trust me, in one month you will be amazed at how ready they are to make these changes naturally! Good luck with everything!

 

Just a quick update. I've been doing some more online research for CIO and now I have cold feet about trying that at their young age. And if there is any doubt that I won't be able to commit to it I think we should just postpone it until I'm sure I can handle their crying. While the HSHHB book says that CIO is okay for 4 month old babies, lots of other people think 6 months is a better age. They feel they are better able to sooth themselves to sleep then, as opposed to 4 months, and that sounds reasonable to me. Plus developmentally our boys are supposed only be 2 months due to prematurity, so that definitely gives me pause as well. So I'm inclined to hold out another month or two before trying CIO. And given all that I'm not ready to move them to their nursery since we'll still have to get up and feed them a couple of times throughout the night. I do love convenience and having them nearby for 3am feedings!

I think my husband is ready to move them to their nursery now and start on CIO soon thereafter. But c'mon. Everybody knows that Mommy is the boss when it comes to babies I also went and bought a couple more books on babies and sleeping this evening (the Baby Whisperer book and The No-Cry Sleep Solution). Who knows when I'll find time to read them though! Anyway, long story short, I think we're going to hold off a little longer before we try CIO. Thanks again for all of the great input though!