CIO Help

We've been doing CIO more or less the last few nights with Ellie. We have found that she is pooping while she is crying. We realized this the next morning the other day. Last night I went to check on them before I went to bed and noticed she had pooped and threw up. I think she may have gagged herself. She's been starting to suck on her fingers if she doesn't have her binky. She seemed fine today, so I don't think she's sick. Tonight I sent my husband up to check on her, which goes against CIO, but sure enough she had another poop. She is still crying, which makes me think she may have another one. It's loose too, although that doesn't mean anything. They change all day long. I don't know if she is pooping because she is upset or what. She must be, right? I tried feeding her dinner earlier tonight to see if she digested it earlier she might poop before bed, but she didn't. I feel bad leaving her in a poop all night, but I know CIO won't work if I keep going in to see if she has a poop. What would you all do? I feel like I have no clue at all.

Thanks,
Christie

 

That's a tough one. My boys pretty much sttn and every now and then in the morning they have a poop diaper, so who knows how long it was there. I'm sure she'd be ok to sleep in poop, but if you notice it I would change her without making eye contact and just put her right back down.

 

Oh geez. Smart girl you got there! :lol: Hmmm. I wouldn't be comfy leaving her in poop all night if I knew she had done it. I think I would do like PP said and go in and change her quick and go right back out. Can you leave the door cracked so you can smell it without actually going in? As an extra precaution I would put the diaper rash creme on really thick every night just in case you miss it.

 

Have you thought of doing an alternative to CIO?
We didnt do CIO with our kiddos and they both sleep through the night...Im also a nursing mama so nightweaning was difficult for us as well. Id be happy to share what worked for us if you're intertested in an alternative feel free to PM me.

 

QUOTE(E&Msmom @ Apr 17 2009, 09:29 PM) [snapback]1278340[/snapback]
Id be happy to share what worked for us if you're intertested in an alternative feel free to PM me.


Feel free to go ahead and post it right here in this thread. You never know who else might benefit from your experience.

 

when we ran in to some trouble with our girls rolling over & getting themselves into a tizzy after STTN, i asked my sleep consultant whether it was better to just leave them or to go in & flip them back over on to their backs. she said to go in & flip them, but to be very "business like" - no talking, no eye contact, be brief & direct. i would expect that the same approach would work for diaper changes.

i also know that in HSHHC, he suggests to just load up on an heavy duty bum cream (desitin, zincofax) & to leave them for the night. i find my girls do okay with this method, even when they do have a poop in the middle of the night - they may have a bit of redness in the morning, but it's usually cleared up by their first nap.

remember to go with what feels right to you - you can also always postpone sleep training for now if you'd prefer too. GL!

 

Well since becky5 asked

I think Ive ready every sleep book out there,HSHHC, Ferber, etc - literally. To me crying it out didnt seem like the right approach no matter how it was handled.

With dd we were just plain lucky and she STTN on her own around 7 months. With DS at 13 months I decided enough of getting up 2-4x a night and thats when most nursing was taking place. He was waking up cranky, and since I had just learned of a new pregnancy I knew I needed to sleep.

We had a very solid bedtime routine as far as baths, jammies, reading books, getting a drink, turning on the nightlight, their CD, giving everyone their lovie, telling them repeatedly that we loved them and we'd see them in the morning. Then during the day time I would explain that big boys sleep ALL NIGHT LONG and mommy will see them in the morning when the sun comes up. I had no idea if he was really "getting it" but at the 12 month appt my pedi told me they could understand simple things and if I was consistent they would understand. I think he did.

So after days of explaining what big boys do and how mama will be sleeping too I followed the routine and put them down for the night at 7pm (like normal). When he woke for the first time at 9pm (also normal) my husband went in and consoled. He didnt remove him from his room, or crib. He would lay him down, rub his back, tell him we were going night-night etc. Took 10 minutes or so and back to sleep.
Woke up again at 12ish, DH repeated the process. Woke up again- this time I finally went. I did take him out of his crib, I held him, I rubbed his back, shushed him, sang to him, told him I loved him it was night night and Id see him in the morning. It was exhausting but we went everytime. I even have a silly song I made up that I sing it goes like this " Go to sleeeeeeeeep, close your eyeeees, and I'll be here in the morning. Go to sleep now, close your eyes now and I'll be here in the morning. Its okay to go to sleep, to close your eyes. to have a rest. Its okay to go to sleep, to close your eyes, to have a rest! Repeat. LOL


The next night he only woke 2x and we repeated the process.
The 3rd night, he didnt wake up till morning and I think he was more happy to see me than he had been in his whole life. blowing kisses from his crib to boot. Hes been sleeping through the night since and its been weeks!

I tend to think when they are a bit older and able to understand, meeting their needs 150% and explaining to them what you would like to happen works. Maybe we were just lucky? But thats what worked for our family.

 

Thanks everyone. I noticed last night she has a really bad rash up the back of her butt. Poor thing. We think maybe the night she slept in it caused it. Who knows? I will definitely use a lot of cream just in case that happens again. She did sleep through til 7am this morning once she gave in to sleep. I did go back in once more to check for another poop and she didn't have one. She cried for another 1/2 hour, but I had to make sure. I do think CIO will work for her, because she is extremely stubborn. She knows I'll come in there and rock her, etc. The minute I put her back down, it starts over. CIO has worked the last few nights, so I really want to stick with it, even though I hate to hear her cry. I have now realized it really does work. At least for her. Naps have become so easy too. She wasn't going down for those either. This whole poop thing really threw me off. I know she is just getting herself so worked up she'll poop. She used to poop right after dinner and that has stopped until she is screaming in bed. Hopefully, once she learns to go to sleep, she won't get so worked up and poop. I guess I can handle going in once to changer her and then letting her CIO again til she goes to sleep.