My little one John has started waking up at night....sometimes several times at night crying. He is not teething and does not appear to have anything wrong with him. He just wakes up wanting to be held and rocked to sleep (yeah I know....bad mom). We did the whole CIO thing with Will about 5 months ago and he sleeps...well like a baby....HA! Can I do this with John even though he is over one? Anyone ever done CIO this late in the game?
You can still do CIO over one year it's just harder since they are much more stubborn! I did cio with all of mine pretty early, like 4-6mos, but have had to revisit it here and there for different reasons. Just make sure you are totally consistent with how you respond, if at all so he doesn't get confused and cry more/longer. Good luck!
We did CIO with both girls around 5 months, but we sort of did another round of it with Amy at just the age yours are (13 months or so). She had been demanding a 4:00 a.m. bottle until that age, and I had tried earlier to get her off it, but failed. At 13 months, I started watering down the bottle, and when it was down to 3 oz of mostly water and she wasn't even finishing it, I just quit going to her when she cried at that time. So it wasn't entirely CIO, but in the end, that's what it came down to. She cried for about 20 minutes the first night, then less and less, and was over it by about the 4th night. Have you tried letting him CIO, to see how long he goes? Have you tried going in and soothing, but not picking him up? Now that he's at an age where he can remember longer and be more persistent, you might have to try a few different strategies to find one that doesn't just get him more and more worked up. You are not a bad mom! Wanting to make your baby happy is never a bad thing.
I did CIO when the girls were 12 months old. it worked great in 3 days. they still wake up sometimes during the night and want to be held but it's only if they are in pain or discomfort. If this is a new thing with your boy and if he was sleeping ok till recently maybe you want to check that theres nothing bothering him. I know Iris will only complain at night if she has an ear infection- all day she'll be happy as can be.
Elliot figured out how to sleep well all on his own. Clarissa was another story. We sort of tried CIO with her several times but she would always scream until she threw up. Weight gain was a big issue, so we never stuck with it. We finally did proper CIO with Clarissa at 21 months, and it worked perfectly. I think it took 5 nights, and only the first 2 involved a lot of crying. So, no, I don't think the window has closed. Good luck! Rachel
We did it at 14m (then again at 17m after sleep expectations went out the window due to a vacation). Like Ktfan said, it still works...just takes longer b/c they are more stubborn (at least mine are). I found that the first 'training' of CIO was the worst (about 7-10days for us), but subsequent 'training sessions' were rough on night one, but had a sharp learning curve and were always better by night 3. I hate CIO...but sometimes nothing else works.
I have had to "redo" CIO a couple of times with Ainsley. We did it first with her at 10 months to stop night waking to get in my bed, and to be held to sleep. She's the one that if something gets thrown off (illness, schedule is off for some reason), I end up going in and soothing for a couple nights, and next thing I know, it's a habit again. So, I have to do CIO and it works in a few days. Just hang tight and stick with it. If you quit, it does no one any favors.
