CC/CIO Support and Information Thread

[DaisyBee]

My opinion ... And that's all it is so I know others might not agree...

I say pacifier - if you truly want them to learn to self settle then have them do it without the pacifier. It's what we did with Jordan for nights. But we let her have it for naps. By her learning that she could do with without, she now doesn't need it. I still give it to her if she wants, but she isn't addicted to it like megan was. Megan I was getting up all night to help her find it. ( but didn't do cc til 13 months). I didn't take her pacifier away til 2 1/2 and it was way too late IMO. She would have been better off getting rid of as a baby. The longer the habit the worse to break I think. Jordan can settle without it. So when she wakes she isn't looking for the pacifier. The pacifier is just the same for a crutch for settling like bottle, breastfeeding, or rocking.

Cc in the middle of the night. What I read in Ferber book and this is what we've done for Jordan and it worked. He says don't just do cc in the night when your baby is used to having food in the night. Slowly offer less at night or water down bottles vs just taking it completely away. And that seemed right to me. So for Jordan she was taking 4-5 oz at night but then not drinking her am bottle. So I offered her 4 oz then 3 oz the next night, 2 oz for over a week as 2 oz is the smallest bottle I could make. I was hoping she would stop waking for it and I wouldn't have to do cc in the night as Megan is a light sleeper ( she was waking anyway every time Jordan woke for a bottle). So then I did cc at night, took 30 minutes.

Last week Jordan was sick and wasn't having wet diapers. So I was feeding her at night as was trying to get her to drink any time she was willing. So then she got in the habit again. So she isn't drinking more now, just moved the oz around. So last night I only offered 2 oz instead of 4"She cried when I took the bottle out but I had counted her oz yesterday and paid attention to her solids and she had plenty to eat. She stopped crying after 15 seconds and I put her in the crib awake. This morning she drank 4 oz when she woke ( which is the most she will drink for am bottle no matter what).

 

[Noelle610]

Cc in the middle of the night. What I read in Ferber book and this is what we've done for Jordan and it worked. He says don't just do cc in the night when your baby is used to having food in the night. Slowly offer less at night or water down bottles vs just taking it completely away. And that seemed right to me. So for Jordan she was taking 4-5 oz at night but then not drinking her am bottle. So I offered her 4 oz then 3 oz the next night, 2 oz for over a week as 2 oz is the smallest bottle I could make. I was hoping she would stop waking for it and I wouldn't have to do cc in the night as Megan is a light sleeper ( she was waking anyway every time Jordan woke for a bottle). So then I did cc at night, took 30 minutes.

Thanks for your response! I too have a tough time getting my LO to drink her morning bottle and I think it's because she's consuming so many calories overnight. I'd love to shift some of those calories to the early AM instead. The Ferber method of reducing the feeds seems gentle to me as well. It's funny that he gets such a bad rap

 

[DaisyBee]

Yes I agree.. He doesn't seem harsh to me at all. It's been the kinder thing all around for our whole family with way less crying, more settling, more sleep.

Before cc at night ( we had done it at bedtime and then she pretty much followed suit with naps without issue) she wasn't wanting a morning bottle at all. Most mornings would drink 1 oz. After cutting out the 3 am bottle she started taking 4 oz when she woke. She was waking an hr earlier than before giving up that bottle... So instead of waking for the day at 7 she started waking at 6. But it was better overall for us ( especially Megan who wouldnt fall back asleep after hearing her sister at 3am).

Ferbers other idea was if offer 6oz bottle usually at night ( for example) then add only 2 scoops of formula vs 3 ( us girls ) uk is different amounts for feeds I think. So watered down. They then would only be getting water eventually. So not waking for calories and then you could do cc as you would know they weren't waking needing calories.

 

[Randianne]

My opinion ... And that's all it is so I know others might not agree...

I say pacifier - if you truly want them to learn to self settle then have them do it without the pacifier. It's what we did with Jordan for nights. But we let her have it for naps. By her learning that she could do with without, she now doesn't need it. I still give it to her if she wants, but she isn't addicted to it like megan was. Megan I was getting up all night to help her find it. ( but didn't do cc til 13 months). I didn't take her pacifier away til 2 1/2 and it was way too late IMO. She would have been better off getting rid of as a baby. The longer the habit the worse to break I think. Jordan can settle without it. So when she wakes she isn't looking for the pacifier. The pacifier is just the same for a crutch for settling like bottle, breastfeeding, or rocking.

Cc in the middle of the night. What I read in Ferber book and this is what we've done for Jordan and it worked. He says don't just do cc in the night when your baby is used to having food in the night. Slowly offer less at night or water down bottles vs just taking it completely away. And that seemed right to me. So for Jordan she was taking 4-5 oz at night but then not drinking her am bottle. So I offered her 4 oz then 3 oz the next night, 2 oz for over a week as 2 oz is the smallest bottle I could make. I was hoping she would stop waking for it and I wouldn't have to do cc in the night as Megan is a light sleeper ( she was waking anyway every time Jordan woke for a bottle). So then I did cc at night, took 30 minutes.

Last week Jordan was sick and wasn't having wet diapers. So I was feeding her at night as was trying to get her to drink any time she was willing. So then she got in the habit again. So she isn't drinking more now, just moved the oz around. So last night I only offered 2 oz instead of 4"She cried when I took the bottle out but I had counted her oz yesterday and paid attention to her solids and she had plenty to eat. She stopped crying after 15 seconds and I put her in the crib awake. This morning she drank 4 oz when she woke ( which is the most she will drink for am bottle no matter what).

I think I will end up having to take the pacifier. I think what I'll start with is giving it to her initially but not giving it back if she throws it. She just went down for a nap, and she grumbled a bit when I put her down but never cried. I just peeked in on her and she is asleep with the pacifier in her mouth. We'll see how her next nap goes.

Thank you to everyone who answered this!

 

[Molatov]

I'm still pondering the dummy/pacifier issue - with my son I put him down settled and with the dummy in and take it out within a minute of him going down and always when he is juuust awake. He usually wriggles and fusses for a bit then starts the crying. I've been leaving him for slowly increasing times (2 mins, 5 mins, 8 mins, 10 mins - then 10 mins every time after that) and at every interval going in, putting the dummy in (which quietens him almost instantly) then take it out within a minute and he can drop off again! I think this may be entirely defeating the object of CC!

 

[ArmyWife1984]

Hey ladies!

We started using CC with our LO this weekend and I must say, she is SO much easier to put down to sleep! She usually falls asleep before we have to go in there for the 3rd time (we wait 3 minutes the first time, 5 minutes the second, and then 10 minutes everytime after that), which is a big improvement! I tried CIO with her a couple of weeks ago and she would scream for up to 45 minutes everytime and I just couldn't do it anymore, so I'm glad I tried CC.

I did have a few questions for the ladies that have successfully done CC with their LO's. When you put your LOs down and they are trying to settle themselves, do you still continue to go in even after they seem to be on the verge of falling asleep? Or do you just wait to see if they fall asleep on their own?

We are also having trouble getting Riley to stay asleep through the night. She still wakes up 1-3 times a night and I was hoping someone could give me some advice on how to work on this with using CC.

Thanks!

For my LO, I do not go in if he is on the verge of falling asleep but I will go in if he starts up crying again and reassure him. My MIL bought me a camera monitor, which is really nice to watch LO during CC.

I had the exact same problem as you with my LO waking up every 2 to 3 hours a night while using CC the first few nights. When this happened, I gave it 5 or 10min to see if he would fall back asleep again, if not then I started the CC routine again. It never last for more than 30min before he was back asleep.
Or sometimes if I gave him a paci, he would fall right back asleep. So now I usually leave 3 paci's in his crib and during the night, he finds them when he wakes up.

Thanks for your reply! When your LO was waking up at night, did you feed him at all?

With Riley, she wakes up at least twice and I feed her and she eats like she is hungry. I've been trying to feed her more during the day to try to help more at night. I guess I'm having a difficult time with her night time waking because I don't know if I should continue to feed her or try CC to get her to seep through.

Hi Hopingfor2v1! I did not start CC until 6months ,when I knew for sure he no longer needed night feeds. My doctor said at 6months he will no longer need to eat at night. I just make sure that he gets between 24-30oz during the day and 2-3 meals.
And my baby was 23lbs at 6months!!! So the doctor also added that he wasn't waking up starving at night lol
So at 6months I completely stopped night feeds. The only time I will feed him at night is to comfort him when he is teething or sick, which has only happened twice.
When you say she eats like she is hungry, I have the same thing with my baby too. If I feed him at night, he will eat like he is hungry. But my doctor told me this was a bad habit my LO has, and that I just needed to stick with stopping the night feeds or he will always expect night feedings.

Now he sleeps 7pm-6am every night, unless of course he is sick or teething.
I do hear him move around a couple times a night, and maybe make a lil noise, but he always settles right back into sleep. CC was a sleepsaver!!!

I would try to not feed at night. I noticed when I stopped this, he ate more during the day. And I know sometimes paci's can become a crutch too, but for my LO when he intially falls asleep with the paci, it falls out and he doesn't need it the rest of night. So I don't see it as a problem for now. Hope this helps !

 

[CeeDee]

Day 3 I am so excited!!! My daughter fussed for about 2 minutes and than proceeded to sleep through the night. She went to sleep at 8:15 and I had to wake her at 6:15. When she woke up she was so happy and pleasant. Now I've got to work to getting her to go to bed earlier.

 

[katy1985]

Hi ladies, I'm thinking of doing cc because my LOs sleeping is just getting worse! She goes to bed ok with a dummy, but then she wakes every 2/3 hours and only settles if I feed her. She's 8 months and we did have a period where she slept through 7-7. The last few nights I've ended up bringing her in with us because its the only way I can get some sleep.
Just a few questions: do you turn your LOs back over if they roll onto their tummy? Do you time it from when they start crying, or when you leave the room?

 

[CeeDee]

I let my daughter sleep on her tummy. When I flip her she just flips back. I time it when I leave the room.

 

[katy1985]

She doesn't sleep on her tummy though, she just rolls over when she's having a paddy!

 

[libbylou]

I just leave her when she rolls on her tummy. Since she's started sleeping in her crib she's decided to be a tummy sleeper anyway

Still going well for us, day 6 now
Tonight she went to sleep after about 15 mins of playing with a min or two of crying.
We've had 5 hour stretches for the last two nights and it has been been amazing!!! She's still coming to bed with us after her first stretch for a few reasons, but I'm so happy she's finally sleeping big stretches on her own!

 

[ArmyWife1984]

Well we had a few rough nights. I think he must be teething. For weeks he has slept sooo good and now the last 2nights he has been waking up half through the night. Last night we had a 2hr battle! I comforted him, rocked him nothing worked. So I gave him a bottle and off to sleep he goes.

Tonight he went to bed at 6pm and it is now midnight and so far so good!!

Do you other ladies notice sometimes you have a few nights where LO's do not sleep through the night?

 

[CertainTurton]

Hi,

We are planning on starting CC this evening as DD is just becoming a nightmare to settle to sleep we often have to go back in numerous times to resettle her in the hour after putting her down. At the mo we have to hold her hand and rub/pat her back in her cot to get her to go to sleep (this is an improvement on having to hold her but still isnt great!). So we have decided to do CC. I have to admit im nervous and anxious about it as I hate leaving her to cry but I think its time to try it. Im also a bit wary as I think she may have another tooth coming, they say not to do it if they are teething but tbh she always seems to be teething!
If its ok I have some questions? We were thinking of doing 1min, 5min, 10min, 20min intervals- what do you do after that? do you do another 20min or increase more?
When they wake again do you start from 1min again?
I guess you start to time from when you leave the room?
Do you pick up your LO? or just shush in the cot?
Any other tips?
Thanks

 

[ArmyWife1984]

Hi,

We are planning on starting CC this evening as DD is just becoming a nightmare to settle to sleep we often have to go back in numerous times to resettle her in the hour after putting her down. At the mo we have to hold her hand and rub/pat her back in her cot to get her to go to sleep (this is an improvement on having to hold her but still isnt great!). So we have decided to do CC. I have to admit im nervous and anxious about it as I hate leaving her to cry but I think its time to try it. Im also a bit wary as I think she may have another tooth coming, they say not to do it if they are teething but tbh she always seems to be teething!
If its ok I have some questions? We were thinking of doing 1min, 5min, 10min, 20min intervals- what do you do after that? do you do another 20min or increase more?
When they wake again do you start from 1min again?
I guess you start to time from when you leave the room?
Do you pick up your LO? or just shush in the cot?
Any other tips?
Thanks

Hi :wave: 1st night I started CC at 6months, I did 3-5-7-10-15-15-15-15 min. intervals until he fell asleep. 1st night took 1hr and 45min!
2nd night was much better, only 40min and 3rd night was 10min. Every night after that has been wonderful. I put him in his crib and he tosses and turns and falls asleep with 10-15min, no more crying. Just some fussing.

He would wake up every 2-3hrs the first few nights of CC. When this happened I would give it 5-10min to see if he would fall back asleep, if not then I went in and rubbed his back and said shhhhh. And starting the intervals again. But whenever he woke up it never lasted more than 20min.

I never picked up LO, it made things worse if I did. I always make my interactions as calm and quiet so he knows its bed time. I just go in- rub his back, say shhhhhhhh and most of the time he wouldn't stop crying but I would leave the room again and set the timer.

Pacifiers also helped me to calm him down, sometimes he uses it to go to sleep, some nights he doesn't. The only down side to pacifiers is they can become a habit and may be hard to break down the road, so That is up to you, But it was so hard for me to hear LO cry and pacifiers seemed to comfort him.
Hope this helps!!

 

[CertainTurton]

Hi ArmyWife - thank you for replying. she does already have a dummy which she uses for sleep, sometimes she falls asleep without it but often not. I was just planning on putting it back in when we went in. Sometimes I go in and she is holding it!
Me and DH have been chatting and were wondering if maybe we should wait a couple more days as we got back from holiday on Thurs eve so she may be more unsettled- what do you think?

 

[Mummy Bean]

Well we had to shelve our plans as lo teething real bad...both top teeth are just under the surface.

were back to square one when i can get him to sleep in his cot for the first stretch then he wakes around 11/12pm and i cannot get him back to sleep.

So gonna wait a week n hope these teeth come through and start again.

 

[ArmyWife1984]

Well we had to shelve our plans as lo teething real bad...both top teeth are just under the surface.

were back to square one when i can get him to sleep in his cot for the first stretch then he wakes around 11/12pm and i cannot get him back to sleep.

So gonna wait a week n hope these teeth come through and start again.

Ya ditto that! LO two top teeth are coming through so the last 2nights he wakes up around midnight and its hard to get him back to sleep.

Last night though he did sleep from 6pm to 4am!!! so I am very happy with that.

The only thing is since doing CC he does sleep through the night when he is not teething, but he always seems to wake up around 5am crying. I usually just give him a bottle and he will go back to sleep until 7am. Anyone else have this too?

 

[ArmyWife1984]

Hi ArmyWife - thank you for replying. she does already have a dummy which she uses for sleep, sometimes she falls asleep without it but often not. I was just planning on putting it back in when we went in. Sometimes I go in and she is holding it!
Me and DH have been chatting and were wondering if maybe we should wait a couple more days as we got back from holiday on Thurs eve so she may be more unsettled- what do you think?

I think if you wanted to start it now that would be fine too. I realize how important having a routine is with LO. I'm glad i started right at 6months, no one in our house was having decent sleep...lol
Let me know how it goes! be strong momma

 

[Saphira]

Well we had a few rough nights. I think he must be teething. For weeks he has slept sooo good and now the last 2nights he has been waking up half through the night. Last night we had a 2hr battle! I comforted him, rocked him nothing worked. So I gave him a bottle and off to sleep he goes.

Tonight he went to bed at 6pm and it is now midnight and so far so good!!

Do you other ladies notice sometimes you have a few nights where LO's do not sleep through the night?

Same with my daughter, her third tooth is coming through now. It's been tough some nights. She wakes up almost every night around 2-3AM for a bottle but luckily goes down easily afterward. I think this is because she drinks smaller amounts through the day because of the discomfort and ends up needing it at night. Or maybe it's a comfort thing. I'm not sure. Hope your little one gets through it soon!

 

[HopingFor2v1]

So, we've been doing CC now for about a week and its been going pretty well. Getting Riley in her crib is a lot easier, but we are still having difficulty getting her to stay asleep. The main issue is her feeding. She likes to stockpile food at night and not eat as much during the day and I'm at a loss on how to switch it around. I just stopped BF'ing, so I know she is usually taking in around 28-34 oz a day, but half of those oz are during the hours of 5pm-7am. Is that normal for a 6 month old? Or is she playing me? And most importantly, any advice on how to fix it? She is also a tiny little thing (about 15lbs) so I don't want to really deny her food. I think she'll do a lot better at night if I can get her to eat more during the day.

Any tips would be greatly appreciated