My experience with CIO sleep training.

I thought I would start by saying that I am not pro or against CIO. It was never something that I over-looked into, scared myself silly, or thought anything of. I try and take this whole being a MOM thing one day at a time and I try to just go with my gut and what I know. I’ll start from the beginning, as I found this helped me make my decision to do it when I could completely relate to a friend of mine that also tried it.

Mason was a normal baby from the beginning. Everything was on two hour increments. Eat. Sleep. Awake. Repeat. But then at about 3-4 months he was sleeping from 10:30-6:30 every night. We did the same thing every night and I worked really hard at this. Bath. Boob. Bed.  No I was nursing him to sleep at this time, as that was all I knew, and hey…it was working for me. But then he got sick ( a cold) and we moved and had lots of visitors and let’s just say our routine went out the window, and so did his sleeping. I know now how important it is to put him before us and stick to it, for our own sanity.

Also, people were telling me that a 10:30 bed time is WAY too late for a baby. Well, I say meh! This worked for us. It was still 6 solid hours of sleep (which is amazing for a 4 month old). Yes it might seem late but as long as Mason was happy, I was happy.

A bit after 4 months and all that craziness went on in our lives, he was no longer sleeping. I mean AT ALL. He would sleep an hour and scream his face off. We went weeks of this and I just had enough. I complained a ton on Facebook and so many Moms said they did CIO (cry it out). I mean so many. I was really surprised by how many of my close friends had done this. People I completely trust had done this. And guess what, they all have healthy babies.

Anyway, so I was at my last straw. I needed sleep. Not because I am selfish and I just enjoy being in bed. But because it makes me a better Mom. It makes me happy to see his smiling face in the morning and it made me happy to know I had a bit of structure in my life.

So here it is. My experience with CIO (which I hardly think I qualify to use that term because he hardly cried) A few rules first.

You have to be on the same page as your spouse. It WILL NOT WORK if you are not.

You have to put your baby to bed somewhat awake. Whether this is by rocking him right until he is almost asleep or rubbing his back until his eyes are rolling back. He needs to see that he is in his crib before he shuts his eyes for the night. I heard this somewhere and it makes total sense

“Imagine going to sleep in your bed one night and waking up in your front lawn in the middle of the night. You wouldn’t be too happy about it either”

You have to be consistent. If you cave or change anything, your baby will know and it will not work.

DAY 1:

This was actually a spur of the moment decision. I had told my husband about it (who usually works out of town) and he finally saw what I was going through, so we decided NOW is the time.

Bath 7

Bottle 730

Bed 8 (I rocked him to sleep). They say you are not to do this. If works for us. In the end you need to do what works for you, as long as you are consistent it will work.

1’st time awake 9- put his soother in NO CRYING

2^nd time awake 1130-put his soother in. CRIED FOR 40 MINUTES.

Here is where the training comes in. After I put his soother in I let him cry for 3 minutes. I went in, rubbed his back, told him it was night time, put his soother back in, and left. DID NOT PICK HIM UP. That is the key most important thing in all of this. DO NOT PICK THEM UP. That is giving in. They need to know you are there, but that it is also bed time. After the 3 minutes was up I did the same thing and left. Waited 5 minutes. Same thing. Waited 7 minutes. Same thing. Waited 10 minutes. I did this for the 40 minutes. And yes it sounds long, but it really isn’t. And you could actually tell he was just doing it for attention and nothing was actually wrong. He wanted cuddles.

Back to sleep at 1210

Slept until 4:30 (this is the longest he slept in about a month and I am actually 100% sure I accidentally woke him up. Hey, I was paranoid and had to check on him. I need to work on my tip toe skills apparently)

Soother back in-CRIED 10 minutes. Went in at 5 minutes and then he was asleep by the time I was going to go in next.

Slept again until 730

Eat

Awake for the day

Day 2

Bath 7

Bottle 730

Bed 8 (no cuddles this time, just a backrub to go to sleep)

Put suckie in mouth a few times throughout the night (not massive crying, just wanted his suckie, or to know someone is still there)

1:20 put suckie in mouth, had a bit of a temper tantrum. Cried for 6 minutes. I watched him from out the door and he would cry, stop and look for me, then cry again. He went back to sleep in 6 MINUTES.

WOKE UP AT 615 ( I think I misread his cry and fed him, but I think he would have gone back to bed)

Back to bed and slept until 8

Day 3

Bath 7

Bottle 730

Bed 8 (rocked to the point of eyes rolling in his head). He saw me put him in his crib as he watched me leave. He played for a bit and was making all sorts of cute sounds in there, while I listened out the door.

Wake up——–READY FOR IT——6:30 AM!!!!!!!!

Every night since then he has slept 8-5 or 6 eats and then goes back to sleep for at least 2 more hours.

So my tips for you would be to stick with it. If you honestly cannot stand the sound of the crying, don’t listen to it. You know they are ok because you just checked on him. Go run a bath. Go listen to music. Turn the TV up. Or sit there and listen. Watch the clock. Go back in. Tell him that you love him and that its time for bed. It will be okay. It will work. But the minute you cave you will need to start over at square one. My days are planned now. My nights are lovely. I am here if you have questions, need help or advice. Feel free to share this with Moms who need some convincing that this is ok…oh and that it does work. I am a Mom too…crying isn’t what I want to hear. But sleep is what we both need to be happy every day.

Xo

N