Trying CC.... its so hard!

[beetlgrl]

Hello Ladies just wanting a little advice i have a 13 week old and for the past week i have been trying to get her into a routine.She was only sleeping around 2 hours during the day but was so grumpy and slept great at night. I have decided to try out CC and i called karitani and they told me she should be sleeping for 3 hours then up for 2 during the day.so for the past week i have been wrapping her and putting her into her bed, i usualy have to go in 2 or 3 times to settle her as she gets quite upset because she is use to being rocked.Now the problem is she sleeps the amount she is ment to but she is so unsettle i have to go in and settle her several times even at night it is now a problem...I dont want to go back to rocking her but she is so unsettled as soon as her dummy fulls out or she hears some noise she is awake... wot do i do??? she wasnt like this b4??? does it get eaiser because i need sleep!:confused:

[poshBecks]

13 weeks ia a little early for cc. It's not recomended before 6 months. However it is your baby & you do what works for you!! I think I started ds at 4 months on it ( i didn't know the 6 mnth rule then).

This is what helped me!
I would put him to bed close the door turn the tv up really loud so i couldn't hear him cry, set a timer for 2 mins then check on him & re settle etc. then each time I left him I would increase the time. Dont try & guess the time you have left her. Coz 30 secs seems like 5 mins!!!! The timer & t.v helped me get through it.
It only took a few days... & presto!! :)

Good luck!!

[jarrahsmumma]

You may want to chase it up, but I am almost certain that at 13 weeks you should not really be doing any form of CC. It *will* get easier, and it will be easier if you follow your baby's lead. She will not need to be rocked forever, and you will not hurt her in doing this. Do what is easiest for you, and ignore people who tell you that you will create a rod for your back. Around 12/13 weeks babies have a growth spurt, and also change developmentally - this could only last a week. Try and ride it out, I am sure things will get better.

[cosmic]

Beetlgirl, my understanding is that all babies are different so there is no golden rule that says your baby should be napping for 3 hours at a time! If she was sleeping well during the night, perhaps she was getting all she needed.

I agree with the others that 13 weeks is too young to be doing full-on CC.. the guy who invented it said 6mths (and is now saying even that is possibly too young) and mental health professionals often advocate that you don't start it until much later.

Unfortunately, what you may inadvertantly be doing is teaching your child that you are not there for her when she needs you (by leaving her to cry) and the negative effect of this may be that she becomes MORE clingy and unsettled. Let's face it - she is tiny and helpless and dependent on you for her very survival. At her age, she has no concept of the fact that you are in the next room.. all she knows is that she is distressed and you are not coming to her, which is why in some cases it can cause babies to be more clingy.

Obviously it is up to you, but personally I'd go back to holding her and rocking her. At her age, it will do no harm.

[Goosie22]

I think Cosmic has said it beautifully and I agree.:D

http://www.awareparenting.com/comfort.htm

http://www.breastfeeding.asn.au/bfinfo/crying.html

[Tea Lady]

Hey beetlgrl, maybe you could get some ppl on here to brainstorm ways of getting bubs to sleep if you're not happy with what you're doing? I've had some great ideas (mind you they haven't all worked ;) ). When my DD was your bub's age I was able to start settling her in the bassinette by singing to her and jiggling her and stroking her head - took about 30 mins but it was much better than rocking! Then for awhile she started to settle herself for night sleeps but unfortunately gave that up after awhile. My advice would be to come up with a plan you're happy with, based on lots of advice, then try it and if it doesn't work change it. Remember that the CHNs don't know your baby so their advice isn't always spot on for them. Good luck with it!!:)

[the_queen]

When Vallerie was under 6 months old and unsettled, for some reason the clothes-dryer helped her calm down (please note: we did not put her in the dryer:p ) It was on a cupboard alongside the washing machine, so we'd put her in her capsule and put the capsule up ontop of the washer, so it was right next to the dryer. Whether it was the noise, the slight vibrations, the warmth, who knows.. but it worked and that's all we cared about at the time!!!

Stroking bubs head is a great idea - Vallerie still responds to that now if she's really over-tired and can't seem to calm down enough to sleep. Stroke from back-to-front, and it just seems to calm bubby's down.

Another trick, we never had need to try this but a friend of mine (who had two babies 12 months apart) used to swear by this: Put bubs in the pusher, then go back and forth over a bump. A coathanger underneath the rug, or an electrical cord, or just the bumpy thing on the floor inbetween rooms. Back and forth, bumpity bump... for some reason, this settles some bubs.

[cosmic]

When Vallerie was under 6 months old and unsettled, for some reason the clothes-dryer helped her calm down (please note: we did not put her in the dryer:p ).

oh yeah sure Queenie.. now the truth about your parenting comes out! :D

[the_queen]

LOL shhhhhh.......:p

[Jenko]

I also agreee with 13 weeks being a little young to cc. My DD never slept for 3 hours at a time during the day like "everyone" said she should when she was a baby. Remember, they are all different and cc will not work for all bubs. I tried it when she was about 8 months and it didn't work for us. She just got more worked up and when she finally fell asleep she was sobbing. I felt awful. I found I ended up becoming more stressed trying to follow what "they" said, instead of listening to what DD needed. When I relaxed and rocked her to slepp she was much happier and so was I. :)

My DD is 18 months now and we still lay with her while she is going to sleep in the night and in the day she usually just climbs up on my lap and falls asleep when she is ready. I used to think - wouldn't it be great if I could just put her down and she fell asleep by herself.......but I'm her mum and that's what I'm here for, if she wants me to cuddle her while she falls asleep, then i will - and I love it!! She ain't gonna need me forever......:(

Sorry for the long post - I hope you find a solution.

[beetlgrl]

Thanks for your sugestions ladies...
The only reason i am trying cc is because i just cant rock her any more... she wont fall asleep for anyone else and when she finely does fall asleep for me i either cant put her down and if i manage to she will only sleep in half an hour cycles...
I thought i should give it a try thinking it mite work better... which it has but only in the day! now night time is a nightmare!!Its so hard to know wot to do while doctors and clinic nurses tell u one thing and other people tell me another!
Hopefully some of ur suggestions mite work!

[draught]

I had the same problem - my DD2 would only sleep if I rocked her and my arms were in constant pain as I started suffering repetitive strain injury. Don't let the negative comments about trying CC get to you - what you need to think about is what you can replace the rocking with - so view it as teaching her to go to sleep in another way. I went through several methods until she was eventually old enough for CC. (And don't buy into the view that you are teaching your child to be helpless and not call for you etc - my children very happily scream for me when they want anything, including very minor things!).

Okay - so different techniques that worked for me.....the most succesful was breastfeeding her to sleep. ALthough the CHN's tell you it is a no-no, everyone I know has done it - including my GP's wife and it really is easy and low stress! If you aren't breastfeeding, another technique I used was to replace the rocking in my arms by lying her down in the cot and putting her on her side, putting one hand on her shoulder and on her hip and rocking her from side to side that way. You can add another element to this by patting on the bum with one hand rocking her by the shoulder. Once she is asleep you can gently roll her onto her back to keep sleeping.

With DD1 I used the pram over a bump but we were in a different and smaller house with DD2 so I used a rocker on the floor that I could move with my foot - gave my arms a break!

I hope you find a solution that works for you and her. A sleep deprived mother is not a happy mother.

[jarrahsmumma]

Don't let the negative comments about trying CC get to you - what you need to think about is what you can replace the rocking with - so view it as teaching her to go to sleep in another way. .

This may not be sound advice to give the mother of a 13 week old. It is common knoweledge that CC is NOT to be used on young babies, particularly under 6 months. :(

[draught]

I think that you may have misinterpreted my comments.

I don't support CC for babies under 6 months, but I don't think bee tlgrl needs everyone jumping up and down and telling her that she is terrible for attempting it either (which was the judgemental gist of several posts on this thread.) So instead I was suggesting that rather than looking at CC she should start to look at other methods for putting her baby to sleep - teaching the baby new ways rather than CC or rocking. If you read the rest of my thread you will see that I did not suggest CC.

I can see how the confusion may have arisen though, so thanks for pointing it out so that I could clarify my comments.

[jarrahsmumma]

Cool, please accept my apology..;) I just think that in a perfect world, no baby should be left to cry uncomforted. But we all know this ain't no perfect world.