Has he been feeding more today, also?
I don't believe any of that is the case but I'm confused, isn't your baby crying anyway when you try to get her to sleep?I know this isn't strictly CC because you're there the whole time but I just feel that much crying and stress in a baby might do something... I odn't know what.. like affect her chemical balances or something.
So what's the difference? By following sleepsense, that will continue but only for a short time, then once she has learned to settle herself she won't cry at all when you try to get her to sleep.
It's not so much about not leaving them, but what are you doing when you stay. On an earlier discussion, we all came to the conclusion that it may well be that sometimes parents get in the way of their baby falling asleep. Shusshing, patting or even just being there might be distracting or stimulating for her. Of course when you pick them up to put them on you to sleep, you tend to stop "soothing" which is why they sleep quickly. Certainly Abby was happier when we left her to it - and still is for the most part.
I also wouldn't hang about with starting. There will never be a "good" time if you aren't entirely happy. After whatever is stopping you now there will be the 4 month growth spurt, then the teething etc etc.
For us, starting at the point where she was 3 months meant we didn't have to deal with rolling over or standing up or breaking any deep rooted problems. At 3 months you can do the pick up / put down method which sounds like it will be more comfortable for you.
Way to go Max - that is brilliant news! Amazing how quickly things can change isn't it?
Historygirls - yay for another brilliant night! And enjoy the zoo - I thought it was yesterday for some reason!
Redpoppy - what do you currently do regarding naps? When does your LO nap during the day at the moment? The thing that I found most helpful was figuring out how long my LO could stay awake for before needing a nap - when he was younger it was an hour and a half - he will fall asleep much easier if I encourage a nap at the right time than if I leave it too late or too early. I don't have fixed times for naps because it depends on the length of the last nap/what time LO got up at in the morning, etc - so that just wouldn't work for us, the only reasonably fixed time is bedtime which I don't vary by more than about 30 minutes. I have also found it very useful to have a wind down routine to let LO know that nap-time is coming - I think this works well for my LO because he quite easily gets over-stimulated and then can't turn off from it - so what we do is start the wind-down period a good twenty to thirty minutes before he is due to go to sleep - keep the stimulation very low and also cues him that the nap is approaching - this has really helped us. When I started with sleepsense for naps I already knew how long my LO could stay awake for before needing a nap but I was bouncing him to sleep in the chair for each nap, the problem was that he didn't sleep very well in the chair and would never sleep for longer than 45 minutes. I was terrified about putting him in the cot for naps as when I had tried it in the past he had just screamed. But it was a lot easier than I was expecting - I don't know if that was because he was just developmentally ready to make the move to the cot for naps - or because we were taking a consistent approach with his sleep overall - or because I was pretty familiar with his tired signs and knew when to put him down. Not sure.
I think if you don't feel comfortable starting just yet then you should definitely wait a couple of weeks and reassess the situation. A lot can change with our LOs in just a couple of weeks. I started putting Thomas in the cot for his naps at 4 months and it was a pretty easy transition and I'm not sure whether it would have been so easy if I had tried it when he was younger. There is no point in trying to do something if you are worried that your baby is too young. But I would say don't leave it too long before having another think about it, as it is much easier for everyone before they are too mobile/habits are too ingrained, etc.
It depends on the length of her nap but about two hours is the length of time.
If I sway her to sleep just in time she'll go down without a peep.
Thing is, she cried for 13 mins straight last night and I'm not sure if its because she hates being taken out of the bath or if she hates the wind down routine or if she hates the idea of going to bed. But its something relatively new.
And this morning she's all rashy. I worry because i have skin conditions that get worse with stress and I realise she's not mentally stressed but she can release stress chemicals when she's upset right?
I'm not going to wait forever and I know what people are saying about teething and the like but I don't know what the right thing to do is.
I don't know if I could handle a 90 minute cry by myself at home.
WHy is controlled crying not recommended before 6 months by the way? If I know why then I could maybe asses whether I can find it acceptable for a 3 months old.
It makes me laugh as she's obviously developed this skill although it's quite new and she probably hasn't mastered it yet but I don't understand why I can put her in her cot at night, awake but drowsy, but if I do that in the daytime she screams bloody murder!
RedPoppy - I agree with Polaris. Start when you feel ready - for me and for DH, that was when DD was five months. If you don't feel quite ready - it will be stressful
DD has had teething flare ups since she was three months...but still no teeth! She was not properly rested during the day (due to sleeping on me or DH) and we thought her getting a proper good sleep in her cot would help with teething etc. I think it has, she's so calm since she's been sleeping well.
I know how horrid it is hearing your LO cry, and not knowing what's best to do...DH and I found it all v.stressful...but we're here to support with SS where we can
I'm being a nutcase about this but being home alone with her all day everyday means I can't think straight at the best of times. 
) and a 1.5 hour sleep cycle. So, I tried to design a routine. The only place he would sleep consistently was on me, so I said that every 1.5 hours we would sit down, TV off, get comfy and have a nap (well Earl would anyway lol). Every 2.5 hours we would have a feed. I would make sure that he had a bottle at 5pm (even if was only 2-3oz to tide him over), which would then make him ready for bed after his bath at 6pm. ) He would take anything up to an hour to go down, but after persistence and patience he would go down to sleep and wouldn't wkae until his night feed....not a peep. by 10 weeks he was sleeping through This of course didn't last as his 4 month growth spurt started at 13 weeks and is still going on I'm pretty sure lol.
Can you ask Evan to send DD some 'this feed can really last a bit longer' vibes?! hehe...I've a feeling it may go on a bit longer! I've honestly never seen her so ready for a feed, it's quite unbelievable! Well, gives me an excuse to say 'I actually NEED that cake, it's not a want, it's a NEED' (which I have said, more than once...)
The thing is, she has started fussing a lot more before sleeping and I've only just (in the last two weeks) become aware of this. And I do really want to train my baby to sleep but I want to know she's ready and I'm not enforcing something on her that she's a little too young to get. I also do NOT want to hear her cry for more than perhaps 20 minutes maximum (this has gone up since I timed how much my baby cried last night for 13 mins!!!! I think I dealt with it pretty well!)
I mean, any baby can be taught to not cry by just leaving them to cry for a few days. My brother was left to cry a lot as a baby (newborn) and after a few months everyone used to comment on how he never cries. Now I don't know if he has issues because of that or because of a billion other things in his life (he's great but definitely has intimacy and trust issues) but then there are a billion other valid reasons for him to be that way. I mean he's a great and lovely and amazing guy but he definitely has those issues. but then again... who knows? Maybe everything's just fate and I'm worrying over something totally inconsequential.
Although I had decided to get her sleep into a pattern, this afternoon nap I thought I'd leave her to cry a little and see if she could figure it out, but for some reaons her nighttime skills just DO NOT pass over to the daytime.
Also I wonder if my maternal instinct to mollycoddle her and allow her to nap on me and spoil her because i hate seeing her in a rash is a bad thing because I'm setting up difficult habits for her to break with more difficulty in the future or if its a natural instinct which has evolved over millennia to protect and nurture my baby to it's best ability.
I know i'm over thinking this.
But I think waiting till she's even just a little older, till her napping times are a little more set and till hopefully she's ready to sleep through the night, when she gains enough weight to that is, and when hopefully her skills to self settle most of the time at night is better, I just feel that will b a better time.
I know I'm not going to do it if she starts teething or gets ill but hopefully there'll be time in a couple of weeks still!
Question: how do you introduce the comfort blanket? I will check what it says in the guide. Where did you get yours from (or did you use an old item of clothing)?
