Need CIO Help, Tips, Etc....

I would first like to apologize for asking for tips, suggestions, etc... because I know that this has probably already been addressed a hundred times, but I've tried doing a search for "CIO" or "Crying It Out" this is the answer I get "One or all of your search keywords were below 4 characters or you searched for words which are not allowed, such as 'html', 'img', etc, please go back and increase the length of these search keywords or choose different keywords".

My daughter wakes up 3-4 times a night and wants a bottle after I dream feed her at 10 o'clock and she gets up a 6 o'clock. In between all of those feedings, I get up numerous times to put the pacifier back in her mouth because she is fussing. I've talked with my pedi and he said that they both should be sleeping through the night. My son only wakes up once to eat and I don't mind getting up to feed once or even twice. I know that she is not hungry and is only waking up out of habit because she usually wakes up at exactly the same time and when I do feed her, it doesn't matter if I feed her 1 oz. or 4 oz. she still wakes up at the same time to eat. So exasperating!!!! I pray every night before going to bed that she will sleep longer and in the middle of the night I'm usually mad at God and cussing out the authors of every book I've read about sleep habits, especially the "Sleep Lady"! I have to go back to work in August and I really need for her to start sleeping longer through the night. She is so good about having me put her in her crib at 8:00 and she goes to sleep without crying. I've decided that she will just need to CIO at night and I was wondering if anyone can give me tips, suggestions, etc. and how long should I expect until this should work, days, weeks, months? I'm so stressed out and tired all day long that it's not fair to my kids. I need to spend quality time with them before going back to work and not be in a fog all day long :huh:

 

The TS search doesn't work for words 3 letters long or less FYI. Why it doesn't more clearly say that in the error message, I'll never know.

Most experts don't recommend starting CIO before 6 months of age. You could try a modified version of FIO (fuss it out) and let her fuss/cry for a few minutes before you go get her. Maybe she'll drift off on her own. My kids cry at night even when they're not awake and this has worked really well for us. I hope you get the sleep problems solved, being constantly overtired is horrible! :hug99:

 

i tried "sleep help" in the TS search and got a bunch of hits so some help might be found that way or you can always google "cry it out" for outside info.

 

I'm actually glad you posted this. I have tried doing a search on CIO and don't know how to search for it with words longer than 4 letters. I'm thinking about trying CIO as well. I am very interested in the responses you receive.

 

I was having the same problems at that age. my pedi told me to let them cry it out and it didn't work. we tried all sorts of methods but what we did was the best for me. it was the easiest to keep track of and the easiest on my emotion. by the time we tried everything they were about 5 months when we started this

this is what we did

the first night if they woke up we waited 5 min and then went back it to put in their paci. everytime they woke up we waited 5 minutes until we went in. we never picked them up. only put in the paci and rubbed their head or back a little. only stayed in for a minute

the 2 night we waited 10 minutes before we went in. they both woke up about 3 times that night.

the 3rd night we waited 15 minutes everytime. they only woke up once.

the 4th night. they slept through the night.

i picked a 10 hour interval. if they went to bed at 8 then they didn't need to eat again until 6, so they didn't get a bottle again.

they have probably woke up maybe 3 times since they started sleeping through the night. i think it was teething though. i hope i helped.

 

Below is our CIO story

Around 5 1/2 months, I decided to try CIO. Before doing CIO, my boys would have their 7:00 bottle and then go to bed. Then they woke between 10-12am for another bottle AND then 2 times during the night. I came to the realization that they did not need to be eating that much at night anymore. They had 4 6-8 oz bottles during the day and solids twice a day. I finally realized they are eating out of habit and I could not do it anymore physically. My boys are big boys and were in no way lacking nutrition!

I decided that I would give them one bottle each after their 7:00 bottle if they woke up crying and then if they cried anytime after that, I just let them cry. We did that for about 2 weeks. After the first night of not feeding them after their last late night bottle, during the day they began to drink 8 oz consistently rather than sometimes 5 oz. Then, after those two weeks, we did a true CIO after their 7:00 bottle to eliminate all night feedings. They cried a little during the night but I just left them and they ended up sleeping anywhere between 6-7. When they woke in the morning, they were happy and not crying of hunger. That proved to me that they were eating out of habit.

So officially, I would say 6 months and 1 week until completely sleeping throught the night.

Also interesting was that I have heard if they wake to eat even if it is just a little, it is out of habit. My boys though were eating a lot at night. Well, I stopped feeding them anyways. My boys were in the higher weight percentile and my Dr. said they wont turn into skeletons if I didnt feed them in the middle of the night! So, even though my boys drank full bottles at night, with a few days of CIO, they didnt wake to eat anymore.
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Here are notes from my journal during this time:

On Tues, when they usually wake for their 1st middle of the night feeding, I let them CIO. I did not feel bad at all when I heard them cry. THis is because I knew they just ate and diaper changed. One slept right through the others cry and then the next hour the reverse happened. I also did not feel bad because I made the decision to CIO because I was so tired and it felt great to not get up and get a bottle! They basically cried on and off throughout the night.

The next night, they slept until 4 (huge for us!) and then I had them CIO. They woke at 6:00 and were ready for their bottle. The good thing is they ate 4 8oz bottles that day. They had room since they were not getting calories at night.

Last night they woke at 5:30 and I had them CIO until 6:00.

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We never went in to sooth them. I always felt like that would be taking a step backwards and they would expect me to come in when they cried. I wanted them to teach themselves how to fall asleep on their own and how to go back to sleep on their own after waking inthe middle of the night.

They sleep through each others cry to this day.

 

Thank you so much for everyones input and experiences!!!! :Clap: