Questions on CC

[jessica]

Hi,

Its been a week since immunisations and my little one is finally getting back to normal sleeping patterns!! thank goodness her next shots aren't till she's one!!

She is now putting herself to sleep beautifully - she dosen't cry very much if at all! which is such a relief!!

I have two questions...

First of all - she is 6 1/2months old and still wakes for an early morning feed about 3am - she 'seems' really hungry at this time but I don't know if I should start to wean her off this feed? Do I let her cry through?

Second question.. She seems to sometimes wake somewhere between 5 and 6am - she isn't hungry but can only stay awake for an hour or so, she then goes back to bed for another 2 hour sleep!! They other day I let her cry a little and she went back to sleep and didn't wake till 7.30am and was awake for about 2 hours before becoming sleepy!! But this morning I tried that and she grizzled from 5am till 6.30am when I gave in, we played for about 1 hour and she went back to bed for a 2hr sleep!!! Any suggestions? :confused:

Am I just expecting too much? It just seems that alot of other mums have babies that have a more settled/consistent sleep pattern...

Also.. just wondering if Jodie and Emma started CC and how they're going?

[Ivy-Rose]

Hello,
I think we all like our sleep and I started CC for my little one who has just turned 7mths. I am a little like you. Confused as one day it works well and sometimes for a few days in a row and then she will do something different by waking or not going to sleep as expected. I think sometimes we have to go with the flow and our gut feeling. I was told by the nurse that she should be awake of an average of 2hrs at a time for her age. I do have to say that I have noticed a difference with her since trying CC. She is better settled and plays happier without as much 1 on1 attention. She eats better and she sleeps better at night. Whe she doesn't sleep or eatwell in the day she wakes at night.
I know not much help to you my rambling but I think it is normal and we just have to work through it. If you get any good ideas let me know.
Good Luck Emma

[jessica]

Hi Emma,

I've given up on trying to predict my little ones behaviour!! Every day is a new adventure!! I'm pretty sure she's teething at the moment as she is dribbling, biting (really hard!) and making funny twisiting motions with her mouth!! anyway the result is poor sleep.. so I'm a little weaker at the moment as I HAVE to offer comfort, I'm finding it really hard at the moment because I don't know if I'm doing the right thing, amazing how someone so little can pull on your heart strings and bend your will!!

A cuddle just makes us both feel better sometimes!!

CC was never meant to be easy!! :confused:

Sorry about the rambling!

[Elfin]

I have to say straight up that I am not a fan of control crying. I have pretty strong views about it. I have never had too many problems with sleep as I have given my kids dummies.

My son in particular wanted to be fed during the night until he was about 9 months old. I did this even though I was tired but he seemed to need that bit extra. Once your baby is having more substantial solids, the night waking will probably decrease. Your baby could be going through a growth spurt as well. I guess I would advise to feed your baby if she wants it as it probably won't be too long till your baby will drop this feed.

Good luck

[Ivy-Rose]

Hi Jessica,
I left a PM for you but not sure if you have noticed it.
How are you going with the whole sleep thing?
PM or email me if you feel you would like to chat about it all.
Emma

[jessica]

Easterlily,

I've decided it's best to let her drop the feed when she is ready! It dosen't bother me getting up - It's just that I've read that after 6 months babies don't need a night feed particularly when on solids!! ANYWAY - we'll see how we go!

By the way my little one has always refused a dummy - I'm kind of glad in a way!

thanks,

[Ffrenchknickers]

I just have to say Good for you, Jessica. :) Listen to what your precious child is telling you - she doesn't care what some so called "expert" says she "should" be doing she only cares th at Mummy is there to look after her. She will grow out of it soon enough - they are only this tin for such a short time.

[Little Boydie]

My little boy is 5 months & he wakes almost every morning at 5am. I feed him back to sleep & we all have a cuddle in our big bed. He then wakes at about 7.30-8.30 am. He doesn't sleep much during the day, maybe 2 x 45 min naps because he sleeps through the night. usually he will cry before sleeping during the day. He will be yawning, rubbing his eyes, grizzling, staring or other sleepy signs but still cry when put into his cot to sleep. If I don't let him cry for a few minutes (up to 10min depending on how he sounds) he won't sleep. If he sees me checking on him he rouses himself & will cry more. I always make sure he is fully fed before I put him into bed. He has always been an active & alert baby & never likes to miss any action! He won't take a dummy but is sucking his thumb. My Mum taught me how to understand his cry a bit better.

[mummy79]

Hi, I have recently been to Tresillian day stay to get my little one sleeping and settled, you would not believe the results i got. He's sleeping through the night and he is settled during the day! It's amazing! All i can say is that Tresillian people are caring and help you get your little one on track to a settled sleepful day/night! You have to be prepared for a crying baby,they will never do anything you don't want, but u need to be strong and ready to keep up with it - but in the long run it is TOTALLY worth it! If you think you can handle just one day (and a few more at home) then you will have a blissful baby! I thought my baby was just a 'naturally grumpy not so easy' baby, but turns out he was tired. And the bonus is that it's free. I kept getting told 'he'll grow out of it, or he'll get better' but as the time went by nothing changed!
Take care and i hope you get your little one on track!

[zoesmum]

Hi, I’m new to the forum but so glad I found it! It’s great to have some support and hear others who share similar problems.

My advice to mums who are trying controlled crying is “don’t leave it too long”. That is, until your baby is nearing the age of 1… it gets harder!

I didn’t try ccrying until my babe, Zoë, was about 8 months old (was teething a lot before that) and it worked like a charm. It took just 1 hour of one night to get her back on track and sleeping through the night. My little one is now 11 months old and due to various factors such as travel and illnesses she has begun waking up to 4+ times per night and very GRUMPY in the day (me too) sooo we are once again taking deep breathes and embarking on this heart-wrenching program…. Last night was the first night and it was really bad, she went to sleep at her usual time of 7 pm but woke at 10:30 for a b/feed… 4 hours of on and off crying later I finally went to bed! I know it sounds horrible to let her cry for so long but the truth is she was not alone as I was up with her and she did stop and start a fair bit. But then this is a positive forum so I needn’t explain! Her dad is taking a turn tonight and hopefully it gets easier. So far her day sleeps today have been great without much fuss.

Anyway, my advice to you is to try to stick with it and get back on track as soon as you can after an illness or whatever…. It gets harder as they get older!! We are going overseas for a 7 week trip starting mid-May and I know it’s gonna be tough to get back on track when we get back. But I thought better to have a month of restful nights and settled days for all of us before going, even if it all gets chucked out the window when we are staying in a hotel, with friends etc.

Does anyone know what the “experts” say to do when it comes to jet-lag???


-Karen

[chicafuego]

Hello

I have a few questions on controlled crying, which I am a bit confused about and I wondered if anyone could help.

We are about to start on controlled crying and our baby will be 6 months old and has recently started on solids.

Firstly, when we put our baby to bed awake do we start going in for the 5/10/15 minutes then or only if he cries. He doesn't usually cry straight away and from one book I read it seemed to say that you still go in after 5 then 10 minutes etc regardless of whether he is crying but just to show that you are there. So I didn't know how to approach that.

Secondly, at the moment he wakes up during the night sort of groaning and whinging and may not cry unless we left him for a while. At the moment I go to him nearly straight away because this means I get back to sleep quicker. When we do controlled crying do we start the countdown from when he wakes up and moans and groans or do we wait for him to really cry. At the moment my partner and I are not sure when we actually count it as crying because to me it sounds like crying, or at least that he is unhappy.

Also I thought this CC was supposed to last no longer than 7 days until a baby starts sleeping properly but from these threads it seems that some of you are doing it for weeks.

Could anyone help with these questions

thanks

[draught]

I think some of the confusion comes from the fact that people focus on the baby crying - and some babies go to sleep without crying! I am not an expert but this is the approach we have adopted, based on a number of books I have read, and advice I have recieved from this site:
When you put baby down if he doesn't cry you have two choices - go in after 5 minutes and pat him for a couple of seconds so he knows it is time to settle down for sleep - or wait until he becomes restless and then go in. I would probably go with the first, as it sets the pattern for you coming in and signalling sleep time.

During the night my advice would be to wait 5 minutes after you hear him stirring - rather than waiting until he cries. Your presence giving him some brief comfort is often going to be enough for him to go back to sleep, rather than waiting until he is really worked up and it takes longer for him to go down.

As for the reason that some of us appear to be doing it for weeks......CC is not a technique that works first time every time and lasts for ever - unfortunately nothing is! In my case, after a few days the first time my daughter was sleeping through - then she got a cold, cut two teeth and moved bedrooms when we had visitors, and I ended up going back to feeding her to sleep to comfort her when she was sick and then we had to start again. I was dreading starting again, but once we did, it only took one session of her crying for her to remember how to sleep through the night without being fed. She still wakes during the night every couple of nights, but I go in and comfort her and she goes back to sleep quickly without being fed and that is much better for all of us.

All sorts of disruptions will affect your babies sleep over the next few years so you may find yourself applying the CC techniques again at different times. My big tips are to plan what you are doing and agree with your partner so that you are consistent in your approach, and to think about how long you are prepared to listen to your baby cry. Some people say that once they reach the 15 minute mark it is time for baby to have a cuddle and then start again. Others let their baby cry until it sleeps - it is up to you.

And finally - don't be guilted out of doing something that you think you and your family need by some of the "anti-" information. There are actually no studies that show that CC is harmful to babies if you are sensible. But - it isn't a cure all and doesn't fit some families so if you find it too hard, or you aren't happy with it, there are other options you can try.

And the last thing I should note in my VERY long post is that CC does tend to work better on older babies, so if you find it isn't working with your 6 month old, wait a couple of months and try again and you will probably find a very different result.

In the meantime - good luck!!

[chicafuego]

Hello

thanks so much for your reply, it was very helpful.

I have just one more question, which you may or may not be able to answer. At the moment I feed him a couple of times when he wakes up at night, as it is the quickest way to get him to sleep. Is it seen as ok to cut those out when i do controlled crying or if not how do i deal with it. I think he could go without because when he gets up in the morning he is not particularly hungry for a while.

thanks

[draught]

Hi
The idea of CC is that the baby goes to sleep without any external aids, and the "experts" say that once babies are 6 months old they don't need to be fed during the night. So yes, you can drop the feeds. Having said that - my baby and at least one other I know of from this forum, still wake at about 4.30 or 5am for their feed, and then go back to sleep - so you do what your baby needs and then you will be fine. As I said - if you find your little one is too little, all is not lost - but you might at least wean him off the night time feeds in this process!

[Alsmum]

Hello everyone,

It is so encourageing to read all your stories. I started CCing my 9.5 month old last night and it wasnt too bad I thought but this afternoon he has been crying for 2 hours and if he does goe to sleep it will be around dinner time! Should I just go and get him and try it again later at bedtime? It is so hard to know what to do on your own. I am following the guidelines out of Baby Love.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thank you
Alsmum