for those doing CIO for naps and bedtime (8mo)

we've started CIO for bedtime and naps and they are now sleeping through the night and taking pretty consistant 2 naps a day (only an hour each but 12 hr at night so that = 14 hrs per day)

my question is... they almost always cry (pretty hard) for 15 mintues or so before falling alseep. they sound so sad crying in there and i hate going through it for both naps and bedtime. will it be this way forever?

I can't imagine a time where I put them in their cribs and just walk out and they just fall silently asleep? Are other's going through this too?

 

We did CIO much before that, but it really took only 3 days of crying before they stopped, and it wasn't at every nap. Now they almost never do it anymore, and when they do, it's for 10 minutes tops.

 

We've been doing CIO for a couple of months now - our little girl still cries 75% of the time but usually only 5-10 mins, our little guy rarely does. Does anyone else take care of your babies? I was thinking that some of the reason mine are still crying after all this time is that my SIL takes care of them 2 day a week and I know she has not been following my CIO request, but maybe some babies just need to cry themselves to sleep.

 

It won't be like that forever, but I remember thinking the same exact thing around that age! It seemed like no matter what they always cried for a bit ... I think maybe it was all learning how to self soothe.

Mine actually do happily go to bed now and even yell "night night mommy, I love you!" as I leave the room ... so now, it won't last forever! Although i know it sometimes feels that way!

 

We recently did CIO for my son's separation anxiety that came on out of the blue - so it was a one-off type situation. Before this, he went to sleep fine. And after 2 nights of CIO, he doesn't cry at bedtime anymore.

As far as naps, they don't cry either, just need some time to play and wind down in their cribs for 10 minutes or so before they fall asleep.

That being said, my son pretty much always wakes up after 40 minutes and cries. I've gone to get him and consider his naps over. He usually acts fine until his next nap. But I've struggled with how to ever get them down to 2 naps if he's only going to sleep for 40 minutes. I haven't done CIO here, though I think it warrants it. I've just been too chicken, because he's done so good at night now, I don't want to start this all over and screw it all up. So this week I started going out of my way to really extend their awake time - like to 3 hours now, to make 2 naps - even short ones almost possible. I'm hoping this will gradually get him to sleep longer just because he's tired. It actually seemed like it worked the last couple days. So I'm really hoping I can avoid CIO for naps, but I'm holding my breath every day at naptime.

But like you, they sleep 12 hrs at night and then generally 2 naps about an hour each, give or take.

 

Mine always cried. :huh: And I did feel bad about it, but I was also very grateful that once they were asleep they stayed asleep (unlike the babies of many of my friends) -- so I didn't want to change anything.

At some point after 12 months, they stopped crying (for the most part) at bedtime at least. I think they still cried for naps. But at least since 18 months, they've usually been going down fairly happily. This is not to say that they lie down and go right to sleep. But they babbled to themselves (when they were younger) and now that they're older, they talk to each other.

 

Mine sometimes go down with out a peep for naps and sometimes they fuss for 2 to 5 mins. Bedtime they almost never cry.

 

QUOTE(blended6 @ Dec 12 2008, 12:27 PM) [snapback]1108411[/snapback]
Mine sometimes go down with out a peep for naps and sometimes they fuss for 2 to 5 mins. Bedtime they almost never cry.


i feel bad! maybe i'm not putting them down at the right times? i usually stick to the two hour rule and go up when they start rubbing their eyes....

 

QUOTE(1stTimeMom26 @ Dec 12 2008, 02:08 PM) [snapback]1108490[/snapback]
i feel bad! maybe i'm not putting them down at the right times? i usually stick to the two hour rule and go up when they start rubbing their eyes....


I'd try 2.5 hours and see how it goes. Usually in my house screaming means they're not tired enough to sleep.

 

QUOTE(blended6 @ Dec 12 2008, 12:27 PM) [snapback]1108411[/snapback]
Mine sometimes go down with out a peep for naps and sometimes they fuss for 2 to 5 mins. Bedtime they almost never cry.


How did you develop such good sleep habits? Were sleep always so smooth? I am looking for hope to help me solve my issues before I get too much further down the road.