CC after Co-sleeping

[Lipsmacker01]

Weve been co sleeping for a few weeks now and its seriously gotton to the point where I cant do this any more :(

It all started when my girl was teething and then had an earache and at some point in the night shed always seem to come into our bed.
This turned out to become a more regular thing and now Im thinking enough is enough.

I can already see DH and my love life falling to pieces and am waking up groggy many mornings as a result of getting kicked by my 14 month old girl or trying to avoid her and not squish her! Some nights can be good but some nights are just horrible.

Ive started CC on her tonight as I have done it before and it took a bit under an hour to settle her. It was more 5 min intervals of CC then patting etc and it was extremely hard listening to her cry.

I was hoping other mums that have been through similar experiences with co sleeping could share their thoughts on CC. Did it eventually work for you? My girl seems to have developed a real bond with me and likes wrapping her arms around me to sleep!
Shes never had a comfort toy in her room, its dimly lit, temperature is fine, sleeps in a grobag.

I see no reason why she shouldnt eventually go to sleep in her cot again even though it breaks our hearts to do this again. I know it would have been easy to grab her 15 mins ago and feed her to sleep but then the whole process would start all over again. She also sleeps fine during the day, shes on a feed play sleep routine.

Shes asleep now as I type.

[GummyBear]

I don't know if I'm much use, as I haven't been in the position of trying to break a co-sleeping pattern but I wanted to offer you support.

As you've said, you've done this before, and it's so hard, but the results will be worth it.

Consistency will be the key, lots of cuddles and reassurance when she's awake (for you too, as much as her!)

Good luck! :wave:

[Lipsmacker01]

I don't know if I'm much use, as I haven't been in the position of trying to break a co-sleeping pattern but I wanted to offer you support.

As you've said, you've done this before, and it's so hard, but the results will be worth it.

Consistency will be the key, lots of cuddles and reassurance when she's awake (for you too, as much as her!)

Good luck! :wave:

Thank u GummyBear

Last night was pretty bad Sarah had 2 crying sessions of 1 hour each!! It was so heartbreaking! after all that she ended up sleeping till 7.20am and DH and I had a great nights sleep (well 4.5 hours!!).
She slept for the full night in her own cot and I felt so positive about it this morning.
Last night DH and I felt so bad listening to her and I did constantly go in to pat and reassure her. I gave her bonjela and a top up but she wasnt interested in food she wanted to be in our bed!

Im so proud that she slept in her own cot and am looking forward to the next few nights. I can finally hop out of the bed and go to bathroom pit stops through the night (weak bladder) without worrying that she will roll out of the bed as DH is a very deep sleeper.

It was a hard thing to do but she made mummy very proud! She probably didnt understand me much but this morning I worded to her what I did with her last night, how I put Sarah in her room and she cried and cried and how mummy said good girl when she woke up.

Ill leave a follow up on this tomorrow to let others know how we go :)

[chickaboo]

I've got my fingers crossed for you too!! Hope all goes well tonight :hugs:

[workin'mumof2]

hey i recently coslept with my son but have gone back to cc because he sleeps all night with it. if he is in our bed he will kick and cry and dh hates it.

last night was the first night we did it and he only whinged a bit even though hes teething. he knew wed changed his sleeping habbits back.. hes a bit older though he is nearly 21months.

they do get the point as as u say ur going back in reasuring her ect. if it helps u and her get a better nights sleep well dont..

if you want to pm me, you can.

[headoverfeet]

Hi guys I just wanted to offer some support to all you mums starting out on the CC path. We CC our son when he was 6mths after co-sleeping since birth and it was really hard, I ended up at a mother and baby unit and they were such a big help. The only thing they did that I did not know about was not going in at regular times (2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 10, 10min ect.) but waiting for his cry to become distressed and only then going in.

If anyone wants some support feel free to PM me or I will try to keep an eye on this thread..

Good Luck :hugs:

[Lipsmacker01]

Just wanted to say how much better last night went with this CC thing with my 14 month old girl!! Huge improvement!

My girl grizzled at 7.30pm her bed time so was out like a light and slept till 9.30pm (as opposed to previous night where she was all hyper??? dont know why).

anyways this time we CC her for 23 mins only at 9.30pm. she did have a small breastfeed which she usually does but hardly had anything.

I did go in and out in 5 min intervals. I like to have 3x5 min intervals of staying in there for 2 mins tops then I extend it to 10 min intervals.

I couldnt believe she was quiet after 23 mins!!

She woke again at midnight and her hands were freezing cold, so I lay her down again and covered her a bit better(she has a grobag also).
I didnt hear anything from her till 7.08am
:smiliedance::smiliedance::smiliedance:

PS shes just finished her antibiotics bottle for an ear infection so I will follow up on that for her this week. Glad she isnt teething at the moment. She seems to be sleeping about 1 hour and 45 mins during the day. Does anyone think she should be sleeping longer than this at this age? Doesnt really bother me just that at sleep school they suggested try hour and half in morning nap then one our in arvo.

:fingerscrossed: for tonight :)

[chickaboo]

:yelclap::yelclap::yelclap: Good to hear things went well Lipsmacker!

[GummyBear]

My DS is around the same age as your DD and he has never slept the "recommended" times during the day.

He usually has 1 x1hr 15 mins and a 40min catnap (If I'm VERY lucky!) and he sleeps through more often than not. He's an early riser (around 6:15) but will happily play with teddy until we get him up.

Glad it went well for you.

[Lipsmacker01]

Thanks Gummybear :)
Had to wake her up today after her second nap as it would have been over an hour and a half and too close to dinner. Normally I never wake her unless she does this!

Night 3
Tonight it took Sarah 30 mins to settle looked like she was in huge pain I checked her gums and one of them was soooo swollen! Ive given her bonjela and panadol hoping that helps her. Ear check up is tomorrow hoping its gone away as shes finished her antibiotics. I hate teething because thats the thing that would always stop me from CC. Sleep school said that I can CC her but we'll see how things go. I should have realised it was teething tonight, got bitten hard on the booby! and her appetite wasnt as big as usual. Wasnt pleasant!!

[GummyBear]

It's hard when you feel like you've missed something, and then there's all the guilt associated with "so that's why she's crying".

Once you get her into a good pattern and she settles with minimal fuss, it will help you to recognise what is teething and ear aches.

My DS settles without any crying normally, so when he does cry, we know somethings bothering him.

He has a cold and at 2am the other day wouldn't settle any other way, Mum had to cuddle. Because he normally sleeps through, I know he has a real need for this, so we cuddle on the couch all night or he comes to bed with me.

I hope this makes sense, but what I'm trying to say is that once the hard yards are done, it will be easier to recognise when she's genuinely needing you and when she just doesn't want to go to sleep!

[Lipsmacker01]

After giving Sarah panadol and bonjela last night (took half hour to realise it was her teeth), she slept through till 7am and I didnt hear a peep from her till then! What a good nights sleep we all had!

[Lipsmacker01]

It's hard when you feel like you've missed something, and then there's all the guilt associated with "so that's why she's crying".

Once you get her into a good pattern and she settles with minimal fuss, it will help you to recognise what is teething and ear aches.

My DS settles without any crying normally, so when he does cry, we know somethings bothering him.

He has a cold and at 2am the other day wouldn't settle any other way, Mum had to cuddle. Because he normally sleeps through, I know he has a real need for this, so we cuddle on the couch all night or he comes to bed with me.

I hope this makes sense, but what I'm trying to say is that once the hard yards are done, it will be easier to recognise when she's genuinely needing you and when she just doesn't want to go to sleep!


I know exactly what you mean. I get the guilt trips too. I really miss bringing my girl back into our bed but as I said co sleeping drove my partner and I bonkers and we are all sleeping much better now. I do want to co sleep with her again but maybe when shes a lot older. Its been a while since my girls had the cold so not looking forward to that. What you are saying makes perfectly sense, about recognizing when she genuinely needs me. I feel a bit bad about using panadol last night but it really helped. My MIL said she never used the stuff only in extreme cases. I only use it when I really see my girls in pain. Hoping shes better tonight and thanks for your advice :)

[Lipsmacker01]

Sarah went down tonight without any fuss. Woke at 9 so I gave her a 5 min comfort feed and I didnt hear a peep from her till 6.40am!
Things are looking much better now :)

[GummyBear]

That's so great to hear.

Things do get off track occasionally with illness, unexpected breaks in routine, etc, but now you know you both can do it, and you feel better for it!

So glad things are going well. :D

[Lipsmacker01]

Thanks GummyBear!

Night five went ok I guess but I still think my girl is teething. Few comfort feeds before 9.30pm!

Anyways my girl finally slept well till 4.40am and woke up with freezing hands and feet:(. I tried resettling her but she just kept screaming so I took her to our bed ( I know). Took her a while to warm up.

Shes a lot better tonight. Put an extra pair of pants on and even have the oil heater running. This time if she wakes Ill know its due to the heat!

Night times are so unpredictable in winter so I guess Ill have to do some trial and error with her grobag, blanket and heater!

There is no way Id want her in our bed as DH and I always sleep a lot better plus I just changed the sheets to a higher thread count and they make a really loud shushing sound!

Hoping for a good night tonight.