I did CIO with my daughter at 5 months. It worked wonderfully and she slept from 8 pm to 6 am every night alone in her crib for about 5 weeks. NOW: all of the sudden she goes down like normal but wakes at 3 or 4 am crying. First it starts as whimpers and i let her whimper thinking she'll go back to sleep, then it goes to full on crying. We have tried rocking her back to sleep and then laying her back down (she wakes back up), we have tried offering her passy (spits it out and keeps crying). If we bring her to bed with us she goes straight back to sleep.
What do we do? If we let her cry and cry then she sleeps all day and messes up her whole schedule. How do I put her back to sleep? And should I eliminate one of her day naps to make her more tired at night?
(she isn't teething-no signs, or sick)
Thanks for all the advice (I ignored those that inserted their opinions.....sorry but opinions ar emade to be different and I don't care if yo think I am a lazy parent, all I care about is my kid getting good sleep habits.
I laid her down about 30 minutes earlier last night and she woke at 1 am and cried (not full on crying, when I checked on her there were no tears) for about 40 minutes and then went back to sleep and slept until 7! I'm thinking maybe she has midnight whimper thing going on lol
She could be teething before you notice any signs. Those first teeth take awhile to move down and are very painful.
Unless you think she's hungry, let her be. Yes, it may be disruptive to her daytime schedule for only a few days but it will work itself out.
Keep in mind that every time you go back in there and rock her to sleep, giving back the pacifier, you are giving her the expectation that when she wakes up in the middle of the night YOU are going to be the one to come in and help her go back to sleep as opposed to allowing HER to self-soothe and go back to sleep on her own. I'm not trying to say that going in there is a *bad* thing, heck some people still continue to do these sorts of things with their 5 year olds, but what I am saying is that if you want her to be able to fall back asleep on her own at night you need to let her do it.
Also, do NOT eliminate a nap. Sleep begets sleep and skipping a day nap will only make her more overtired and frenzied in the evening (at 6 months of age). Furthermore, this will exacerbate the night waking issue.
You may wish to read Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Dr. Marc Weissbluth. He is a Chicago-based pediatrician who specializes in infant/child sleep issues with over 30 years of research in this specific area.
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Shame on you, Tonya C. We are all supposed to be mama's supporting each other not demeaning those who chose ways that are different than ours!!! I think after 6 months, babies start to understand what they like (prefer) and cry to get it. I can see that change in my 5 month old. Helping them develop independence and self-soothing is a wonderful skill, and yes, they occassionally will cry. If given the option, who wouldn't want to be held and pampered all the time??? My kids cry all the time when they don't get what they want, but that doesn't mean I should always give it to them.
With all that said, D., could she be hungry? Maybe she is going through a growing spurt and needs more to eat. My daughter is now 5 months old and I put her to bed around 8pm/8:30pm, but feed her drowsy around 10:30pm. She has just now started not waking at 6:30 starving.
Could she be getting too much sleep during the day? I've been told 2 good naps and a cat nap are good around this age. Too little sleep, too, can cause sleep problems at night.
Could she be thrashing around and not settling down? My daughter does that, particularly for naps. I thought -at 5 months - she was too old to swaddle, but swaddling just her arms sometimes calms her down and she will go to sleep. If she thrashes around too much she completely wakes herself up and it is more difficult to go back to sleep.
If it helps, she is growning and changing so much, I am sure it is a 'phase' and you will work your way out of it. Just when you know the rules of the game, the rules change when you have a little one. But, I can pretty much guarentee if you bring her to bed with you on a regular basis, all you are going to get is a toddler who won't go to their own room.
I am totally for the CIO method and have done it with both my girls but that doesn't mean there wasn't some small bumps in the road. It sounds to me like she might be growing which usually happens around 6 months when that happens they get hungry. she may need to nurse or need a bottle. She is really young to be sleeping such long stretches which is great for you but that might be why she is waking now. And really waking to eat only once a night is great for babies this age. But again she might just do this for a few weeks to a month and then got back to sleeping all night.
I do believe in CIO, and I would feed her. She's only 6 months and might be growing. If feeding her (bottle or nursing) gets her back to sleep, give her a week or two of that, and if she doesn't stop the night waking, reassess then. Again, while I support CIO, this is why it's hard to do it so young; their sleep and growth patterns change all the time. I don't think you're damaging her in any way by letting her cry, but you probably are going to have to "retrain" a few times.
I would not bring her to bed if you don't want her to get comfy there, and I wouldn't cut out a nap, as then she'll really be a cranky mess.
Good luck!
Hi D.,
In my opinion, 8pm is too late of a bedtime. I would move it back some- say to about 7 pm. I think when my son was this age, he slept 7pm-6:30/7am or so. It really depends on when she woke from her last nap. If it's a long time between last nap and bedtime, she could be overtired- which causes night-waking. Whatever you do, do not eliminate one of her naps. This will make the problem worse. She will just be even more tired and cranky, and have even more of a problem staying asleep. Good luck!
She may be learning a new skill and waking up trying it during the night. This will continue with other new skills later on as well. Is she sitting up on her own yet? Perhaps she is trying that...
I would not let her whimper very long... go comfort her for a moment and see if she'll doze back off before it gets out of hand. Another thought, is could she have gas? My son would wake up crying (a fantastic sleeper btw) and I would give him a dropper of simethicone (mylicon or the generic) and he would practically fall asleep on my shoulder before I could get him back into the crib. He was right back out... no rocking or anything. Took me a total of 4 minutes from getting out of my bed to getting back in.
Just a thought...
I am totatlly in synch with Bridget D. wow 5 months old to be left alone to "cry it out" I mean really that is a little cold hearted...sorry my opion. Also could it be that your baby is hungry you did not mention that you try to feed her. I agree with Dr Sears this is nothing but baby training, but not only are you training her to sleep through the night (at least try too) you are also training her that you are not there for her. COI sounds like the lazy parents way out.
@ Keri H shame on you for supporting COI...an infant cannot talk and tell you what is wrong with them. I am not ashamed of thinking it is cold hearted or lazy for parents to COI. I honestly did not know what it meant until reading the other posts. It is a severely archaic way of parenting "in my opinion" and that is exactly what it is my opinion!
