CIO - the day after the first night

Last night we buckled down and did full CIO. Nothing else has worked and it's way time for Mommy to STTN! They did okay most of the night until 3am then cried for the next two hours. (I let them up at 5am.) Today the boys are very grumpy and napping terribly. The books all have examples of kids crying themselves to sleep then being all happy and perky the next day. What were your kids like the next day after each night of CIO?

 

well, i'm not surprised your kids are grumpy - they've essentially been up since 3:00am! the books are usually talking about kids who cry to fall asleep, but then stay asleep through the night so they've essentially gotten a good night's rest. i would encourage you to stick with it a few more nights to see if it really is working or not - how things go the first night is definitely not a great indicator. on the other hand, if your gut is saying forget this, you should do what you're comfortable with.

:hug: i know dealing with two grumpy kids who don't want to nap is no fun at all. sending many sleep vibes your way.

 

I agree with Rachel, I would keep trying CIO. They don't tell you how tired the kids are going through the CIO process. I did CIO for naps and the first couple of days when it came time for bedtime, they were grumpy and exhausted. I hope your kids start sleeping well soon, so you all can get a good night's sleep :hug:

 

I agree with Nancy and Rachel keep up the good work. The first couple days are so hard! It's exhausting to cry that hard for that long but it does get better.
I wouldn't get them up till the normal time you want them up though, just my opinion. When we did cio I had one that would wake at 4am and we never got them up till 7am, which was the earliest we could handle them being up.
It sounds like you're doing a great job! :grouphug:

 

Hang in there. For us, the first 2 nights were the worst. The 3rd night was a getting better.
I know what you mean about full CIO. We started doing modified, but eventually moved to full CIO (mostly, I might have wimped out a few times). Going in every 10 minutes and checking on them just seemed to make things worse.
This time next week things should be much better!

 

Thanks for the support! Night two went a little better so we'll see how Day two goes ...

 

Keep it up Rebekah. Just tell yourself--how great it will feel to get a full nights sleep.

My kids finally stopped waking up every single night at 13 months old. Even now at 19 months they wake a few nights a week, but it is 1000 times better than waking every single night.

CIO is not really the miracle cure that some folks tell you. You may have to do it over and over again, like we have, but I honestly can't imagine how bad it would be if we didn't do it at all. In our case, things like vacations, sickness, teething, or any routine change will cause night wakings.

 

I am not surprised that your LOs are tired during the day. It will improve as they begin sleeping more and crying less. I would suggest not getting them up for the day until your desired wake-up time. (For us it is 6:00 a.m.) Otherwise you might end up doing another round of CIO in the future to get them to sleep longer in the morning. Keep up the good work. I know it's really hard right now, but it will pay off!

 

I wish I could leave them in bed until my desired wake-up time, or at least 6am, but DH was very resistant to CIO at all and said that we shouldn't try and change their schedule at the same time. Might mean CIO later, but at least DH was willing to agree to do the nightly CIO.

They did better last night, the third night! They're still crying but less so. Sam has cried himself hoarse the last two nights.