CIO-Taking the Big Plunge

We had our 6 month check up for our girls on Friday and our pediatrician told us it's time for the girls to start training to sleep through the night. I knew it was time and had been avoiding it!! We've been giving a bottle at bedtime to help them get to sleep and were told to stop doing that and to stop night feeds. DD1 weighs 15 lbs and DD2 weighs 18 lbs. They've been getting up multiple times a night to "snack" and it's been killing me (I'm still BF). PLUS, DD1 was still sleeping in her swing out of habit from sleeping there while dealing w/ colic. So, we took the big plunge last night. DD1 did just fine w/o her swing and DD2 was already sleeping in her crib. The big challenge was laying them down while they were sort of drowzy, but awake. Within 1 minute of laying them down they both started crying. We kept going in to check on them and 30 minutes later they were both asleep! They slept FAIRLY WELL until 3 AM when DD2 woke up SCREAMING bloody murder. This is the typical time she wakes up to "snack" and sleep w/ me. It took over 1 hour for my DH and I to get her back to sleep, but she did and slept until after 6 AM!

Did we do the right thing? I feel so guilty letting them cry. I am not a fan of CIO except in order to get them to sleep initially. I stay in the room w/ them once they wake up just so they feel my presence and know I'm there.

 

CIO is a really personal decision. It was the right thing for our family because no one was getting any sleep, the kids were growing well and really only waking out of habit and comfort, and we weren't successful getting them soothed any other way. Sleep is important.. for you and for them! I know it's so hard to hear them cry, but getting them into a good sleep pattern is really good for them, and you can't feel guilty about that.

When we first started CIO I would often go into the room to pat backs and try to soothe them, but I found it only really made the situation worse. I would suggest if anyone is going to check on them it be your husband. Make the visits brief but boring.. plunk a soother back in their mouth, pat their back for a minute or two and go back to bed. Good luck tonight! I would guess that CIO works faster and better than you'd ever expect it to!

 

Before I had children, the thought of CIO seemed so mean to me. Now, it's definitely one of the best decisions I have ever made. I did the ferber method at 5 months. Extinction CIO was something I could never get myself to be okay with. I have many friends who had children in 2009 like me (9 other babies to be exact) and my sister and I are the only ones who sleep trained. Now, our kids have a set bedtime, sleep longer, are happier, and are perfectly healthy and developing ahead of schedule. The time I get with my husband after the girls go to bed is priceless. The girls go down to bed between 7-7:15 every night and sleep at least 12 hours. They are happy when they wake up. They never cry to get our of their beds, they just babble and squeal. Learning to self-soothe helps your child learn to SLEEP! Sleep is a necessary thing. Your babies will be happier, you will be happier, and life will be easier. I know some people are able to sleep train without CIO, but I don't believe there is any harm in the CIO method and believe it to be very effective.

 

the is only thing is that a bedtime bottle really really helps my guys sttn. when we skip that, they will wake up hungry. so you might want to consider keeping the bedtime bottle unless they go to bed right after dinner.

 

CIO was the best thing for our family. Hard at first but it did not take long and the girls have been STTN sinc about 4 mponths consistantly. (they would sleep good btwn 3 and 4 months of age but not every nigth.

But i do suggest keeping that night bottle b4 bed so they dont wake up hungary, thats the last thing we do b4 bed is have the girls bottle and go straight down. If they dont have that bottle or fall asleep while drinking it i know they will be up!

gooood luck!

 

I agree that every family is different. For our family, CIO was the right method. We had done a lot of sleep training - but not CIO. We would still go in sometimes and pick them up, for fear that one would wake up the other. By 8 months, the boys became reliant on us in the middle of the night to help soothe them back to sleep. If we went into the room to pat them or give them a binkie, it just made it worse - they would scream louder wanting us to pick them up. We knew they had soothing skills, but we all had become used to our method of picking them up. So at 8 months old, we did CIO - without going into the room at all. It took one night - one time of them crying. Now they cry a little sometimes, but i find that they are almost humming themselves to sleep. We can tell when they really need us (poopy diaper or not feeling well - in which case we go in and check on them.)

So, trust your instincts. Our Drs felt that 6 months was still a little early for CIO - but I know other Drs say that 6 months is old enough. My advise would be to listen to their cries, in case something is wrong - you'll know to check on them.

 

I would also keep the bedtime bottle, or BF if that is what you are doing. You will make the right decision for your family, but on that note, sounds like the first night went pretty darn good - don't feel guilty - jump on that. This is probably hard to hear but 30 mins is nothing! Many moms can tell you that. I say keep it up and they may just be very "trainable." There will be plenty of ups and downs and you will get to know the mad cry vs. hurt cry, etc. If you said one was coming into your bed for the rest of the night that may be the harder habit you are breaking. Good luck to you!