Sorry to just barge in here on the thread, but I need some advice from moms who have successfully let their kiddos CIO.

My baby girl is 18 weeks old. She was a wonderful sleeper from about 4 weeks until 14 weeks. At 10 weeks she started sleeping 10 hours straight in the night and napped 5 hours a day with at least one two-hour nap. This continued until 14 weeks when *she* gave up her routine of swaddling, bouncing and shushing. Without swaddling, the bouncing and shushing no longer worked. Her sleep slowly got worse and worse and putting her down became harder and harder. At the height of her non-sleeping days, she was napping only 45 minutes a day and waking up 4 times a night, each time being a major production.

Friday night, she slept a full 10 hours again. Her naps were still super short, only 35 minutes, but with the return of her nighttime sleep, I thought we'd be able to get back on track. For the next few days, she went back to waking up once a night to nurse, but in turn slept about an hour longer, so I wasn't concerned. Her naps also got a little bit better. I was placing her in her crib awake and staying with her until she fell asleep. I'd put her on her side, because that was the only way I could get her to take her thumb/fingers, let her hold her lovey, and shush her until she calmed down or fell asleep.

Last night she woke up at 1 a.m. after being asleep for only 5 hours. I nursed her (she ate a full meal...) Naturally she woke up again at 5 a.m. It took until 5:30 to get her back to sleep and then she only slept until 5:50 a.m. That's when we let her CIO. My dr. had suggested that I go in every 10 minutes to reassure her, but I just thought that would rile her up. I knew she wasn't hungry (I tried to feed her at 5) and that she was essentially OK. It took her 35 minutes and then she slept for another hour and 15 minutes.

So my question is now what? I don't want to waste last night's CIO. I don't exactly want to go through it again, it was anything but pleasant, but bottom line is I need her to sleep well for her sake. She's not the same baby that she was. So do I let her CIO for everything now? Or do I only do it at night if she wakes up and continue my other routine for naps and hope that she makes the transition on her own? I have HHHC and I know he says to start with the morning nap, but that of course didn't happen for us.

Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated. TIA

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Andy

Andy-

Got your message.

I actually don't have that much personal experience with CIO since both my boys have done great at night. Now, I have had to do a little CIO at naps with both of them, but they never really cried all that much anyway. Most of the info I know if from reading, experiences from friends who have babies, and a little of my own experiences. The hosts on this board, Rachel and Kristen, are awesome and they'll for sure have good advice for you.

But I can tell you this... daytime sleep and nighttime sleep are organized in two different parts of the brain and are basically independent of each other. So you can CIO for both or just one and you won't confuse her.

The key is to be consistent. I like your dr's plan of going in every 10 minutes, but you're right, it might just prolong the crying. How is she falling asleep at night?? You said she won't fall asleep nursing, right?

I would, personally, start doing CIO at naps because naps are so important and non-napping can lead to poor nighttime sleep. Do a short and simple pre-nap routine and then lay her down awake but tired. You can go in every 10 mins. to try and comfort her if you want. If after one hour she hasn't fallen asleep yet, you can get her up and feed her, changer her, play with her, etc. and try again after a little while. Since you've already read HHHC, you probably already know that the average baby her age is awake for about 1 1/2 hours before the first nap and naps every 2 hours after that. Every baby is different but that gives you a good starting point.

You can do the same thing at bedtime but there's no time limit to the crying. As far as the nighttawakenings, I'm not sure I would really change anything just yet. Once she comfortable falling asleep at bedtime on her own, they nighttawakenings will probaby improve. Keep in mind that it's normal, and even expected, for a 4 month old to wake up at night for feedings. I think the *average* is to wake up after 6 hours, then every 4 hours after that.

HTH!

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