When did you start CIO?

So I personally do feel it's still a little too early to start with my babes, but I do beleive I am going to use it with my DS. I actually think he needs it more for naps than bedtime. I don't mind the 45 minutes at bedtime, because I know he is going down for the night, or at least 3-4 hours, but naps are horrible. He absolutely cannot put himself to sleep, unless he cries himself to sleep. I already let him cry 2-5 minutes sometimes, but it doesn't seem to do anything yet. I read putting yourself to sleep is a learned trait, so he has to teach himself sooner or later.

So....when did you start CIO, did you use it for naps too, and was it effective?

 

i think we started around 5.5 months or so? so hard to keep track of time!!! we used it initaly for bedtime, and it only took a few days. we did a modified- going in after 10 mins. or so, just the first couple times, then cold turkey. but it wasn't too terrible. they only have a small stuffed animal and pacifier in their crib, aren't too mobile, cant' stand/pull, so i know that they are just crying and safe. anyway, worked great for nighttime. they now are down between 7:30-8, and up around 7am. occ. they will wake up briefly at night, but not much. only 1x/wk or so (between the 2 of htem).
as for naps.... haha. trying it still there. it is MUCH more difficult. i don't know if it is because it is lighter out, or the routine is a little different than nighttime, or what. they seem to nap GREAT for sitter and grandma/grandpa. even for daddy. but not for me! i am pretty sure we all soothe the same way too, they just know me best i guess. little boogers. anyway, i've found that when i seperate them at naptime, they sleep better and longer. for some reason, they can sleep thruogh eachothers cries at night, but not during the day. lighter sleepmaybe? i dont' know.
my advice for CIO, is once they are in the crib, just go. leave the monitor off. if you MUST peek in on them, try not to let them see you. they really will be ok. i agree yours are probably alittle young yet, but it's good to start thinking about. i was hoping to avoid it, but that didn't happen. as per pp, i do think routine will help, so they know what is coming. but unfortuantely, some kids are just tougher to get down than others, so no one techniuqe wil work for every kid.
good luck.

 

Mommydee - do your babies wake up for a feeding at all during the night?

I have mixed feeling about letting the babies CIO. I think I'll eventually do it - I know it doesn't hurt them. It's just a matter of when. I don't want to do it when they're so young that they might actually be hungry.

 

We started at 7.5 months. It works well, however, there are nights that they do not sleep through and have the need for mama due to teething right now. We go with the flow with those moments because we know it is a temporary thing. I also have found if the routine gets messed up at all that they do wake in the middle of the night or are harder to get down at bedtime.

 

They say anything after 4 months is fine. At 3 months and under they still require atleast one night time feeding.

 

we started CIO with the girls at 6 months.. our pedi mentioned it to us at their 6 mo appt, said it was time for them to learn how to sleep thru the nite w/out a bottle (she says at this age, they were only waking up out of habit becuz they think we are going to fee them) and learn to soothe themselves back to sleep when they wake up in the middle of the nite.. She said first nite would be pretty bad.. lots of crying and by the end of the week, they should be sleeping thru the nite..

We followed her advice.. It was torture for me to hear them cry for so long the first nite..I felt like a horrible mom.. but as the days passed on, it got better and better, and sure enough they were sleeping thru the nite.. sometimes one will wake up and fuss for a few minutes, but then will just go back to sleep.
but as they each child is different, so these methods don't work for every child.. we're just glad it worked for us..

It's worth a try when your babies get a little older..

hope this helps!

 

We did it at 4.5 months. Lauren caught on right away and Emma took about 10 days - of he!!. It was sooo hard, but now they are great about going down for naps and bedtime.

 

We did it at 6 months with Jake, Emma was already sleeping through. It worked like a charm! I also used it with my 2 older boys.

 

Thank you. I'm going to be asking for some tips once my boys get a little older!

 

Ours were 7 months old and once we started they were both sleeping the night with in a week probaly closer to 3 days, They were ready and so were we. I had lots of great advice from the ladies here, they are what got me thru it. Good Luck when you start

 

I think we started at about 4 months maybe a tad before. Our babies are actually very good about going to bed. Come 7-8 o'clock in the evening, they start to get cranky and cry sometimes. We put them to bed and they may fuss for a few minutes but they are tired and usually go right to sleep. We did have to wake them up for their last feeding of the day but again, they go right back to sleep. I don't think it was that seamless at first but lately, within the last month or so, they have been really good. Maybe it was because we started early, I dunno. But I think they know what bedtime is and are actually tired and just go to sleep. They have been sleeping through the night since probably 3 or 3 1/2 months old, of course with some exceptions. We had them in our bedroom in a large pack n play bassinet for the first month and then transferred them to their own cribs. I really think they associate their cribs with bedtime. These days, we rarely here a peep out of them once we put them to bed, unless of course they are due to eat again, but then they are good for the night. We try to time the feeding to where we feed them their last bottle late, so we can just put them down for the night.

 

I started Babywise & CIO when my twins were 2 months. They would never nap during the day and would get up 3-4 times at night. I let them CIO for both naps and night-time. You have to stick with it for a couple weeks to see improvement. I saw it right away, and now they only fuss a little before falling asleep. When they sleep better during the day they sleep better at night. Sometimes the twins get up for a night time feeding and sometimes they don't. And you most definatly need to let them cry longer than 10 mins. At first mine cried for 20-30 then I would give them their paci and they would fall asleep. When I put them down for a nap I take a shower or watch tv or do laundry to block out the noise, also leave a few fans running.

 

We did it at 5 months. HSHHC says you can try it at 4 months, but when that time came, I felt it was still too early. Also, they were still pretty easy to rock to sleep at 4 months. What pushed us into doing it at 5 months was that they were becoming harder and harder to rock to sleep -- it was taking 45 minutes of bouncing (on the exercise ball) or rocking. Also, we wanted to transition them to cribs (they had been sleeping in bouncy seats), but they were much more likely to wake up if we laid them down in the cribs asleep.

Anyway, yes, it was effective. We had a lot of crying for the first 3-4 days, then decreasing amounts for another few days. They still fuss almost every night but it's like they know it's part of the routine now -- they need that time to wind down.

We actually didn't do CIO for naps until 6-7 months -- until then, we were doing most naps in the stroller, car, or swing.

I differentiate between doing it for falling asleep and doing it to get rid of a night feeding, though. One of my girls was quite definitely still hungry at night until at least 8 months (and HSHHC says this is perfectly normal until 9 months or so). Pediatricians may say they don't need a feeding, but follow your gut.

 

we don't need it with Becca, she only cries if she is truly hungry or needs a burp. we are fortunate in that she has been sleeping very well most nights since she was 2 1/2 months old.

Jake is another story - we started CIO with him around 4 months...we are learning if he doesn't stop crying in 10 or so minutes, he is truly hungry. Unfortunatley we haven't been very consistent, so we are still dealing with it...and he is just now (at almost 5 months) transitioning to a 3 hour schedule. Most nights he only wakes up once, but one saving grace is he always goes back down after his night feedings w/out a fuss. So I think once we regulate his eating (he was very hungry the first 4 months of life) I think he will be a good sleeper.

We are having to do it for naps as well.

Miriam

 

i did it at 6 months at advice of pediatrician. . it was hard, we stopped night nursing the first week, second week took away the paci's, third week we were done. the girls sleep like champs ever since - 11-12 hrs. it was so worth it.

 

10.5 months here, worked VERY fast (3 nights) and not even a peep 99.99% of the time now. I am glad we waited because I think it worked so fast because they were ready.

 

We did CIO a week ago and it was well worth it! Our kids went to sleep on their own when we put them down at 7:30 or 8, but not if they woke up in the middle of the night. I thought it may be a little early, but the week before we started convinced me. Both had been sleeping until 3 (sometimes even 5!), then eating, then going right back to sleep. But that week, they decided they needed to wake up every hour or 2 and be held until they went back to sleep. My husband and I were getting no sleep. Also, we wanted to stop swaddling since they were getting out of them (and waking themselves up) and the loose material made me nervous. We had agreed that since we knew they could make it til 5 without eating, if they made it til 5, we would feed them a snack bottle then put them back down until 7. Friday night was AWFUL. I don't think any of us got any sleep. We followed Ferber's guidelines and went in after 3, 5, 7, 10 minutes to let them know we're there. It was hard listening to them cry, but I felt sure we were doing the right thing (except for one breakdown on my part on Saturday morning, which I think included some exhaustion tears.) Saturday night, Nate woke up twice and went back to sleep in 8 minutes the first time and under 5 minutes the 2nd time. Madeline didn't wake up until 6 or 6:30 (its kind of a blur now). Since then, they've been sleeping until at least 6, and sometimes 7! They wake up happy, not begging for food (like they used to), and we're happier too! Except now naps are a mess...they go down easily, but 30-45 minutes later they're up, even if they're still tired (Nate's asleep in the swing right now!). But that's another story!

It is worth doing CIO, but YOU have to be ready, as well as the kids. Its hard, but if you're committed to being consistent, it works. I'm a believer!

 

HI,

There is a school of thought that CIO causes large amounts of Cortisol to be released in the babies' brains and that is the "fight or flight" chemical. too much cortisol over time can hinder a babies ability to trust its caregivers and therefore the baby just assumes that he/she can't rely on the parent to help them when they are in need and therefore gives up (that's why they start sleeping through).

CIO can be great for the short term (mom and dad get to sleep) but it can wreak havoc on the babies' neural development in the brain and cause problems in a few years and longer term.

I get CIO and I understand its use (we have used it some ourselves) but I figured that I'd chime in what the scientific research has said... since I don't see anyone mentioning it here. Most babies sleep through by 1 year, so in the big scheme of things, 1 yr is only a small amount of time to put up with a few wakenings a night (cause that's what they get to in a few months) and many babies sleep through before that.

Sorry to offer such a contrary opinion. There's a great book called "the science of parenting" that collates all the scientific research on brain development in babies that lays this out pretty succinctly if you're interested.


Cheers

Teri D