The start of operation CIO "cry it out"
Night one... OMG! So much worse than I had ever imagined. Matthew screamed/cried over 6 hours on and off. At one point it was 3 hours straight. He was crying... I was crying :(
Day 1- Would not nap.... Clingy, Wanted to be held all day, really bad mood. Long day! I questioned my decision a few times.
Night two... Still bad but better. About 3 hours of screaming/crying on and off.
Day 2- Would not nap.... Clingy, Wanted to be held all day, really bad mood. Even longer day!
Night three... Wow.. Only 5 minutes of initial crying and then he slept through the entire night! WOO HOO... I felt hope!
Day 3- Took 45 minute nap on my bed, still super clingy and in poor mood.
Night four... Woke 3 or 4 times w/ ten minute bouts of crying.
Day 4- First nap in crib since starting CIO... (lasted only an hour and i had to get him asleep first before putting him down.) Still very clingy and irritable at times.
Night five- Woke 2 times w/ a few minutes of crying each time.
Day 5- First nap where he fell asleep after being put down in crib awake. Continues to be clingy but mood has started to improve.
Night six (last night)... Matthew cried 3 minutes when we put him down and slept through the entire night until 5:30! =)
Day 6- (today) Matthew went down for his nap in his crib today and is sleeping as I type this! Woo Hoo!!!
So it has been a long and exhausting week. I am glad I was determined and ready to do the CIO. My biggest suggestion to anyone considering it is to be sure. It would be cruel to start and then give up after one or two nights. You'd put your child through all that for nothing plus you'd be in a worse position than before you had started. CIO is not for everyone and it took me many months before I decided it was right for us. We tried everything and were at our wits end. If you do CIO surround yourself w/ support and cut off those who oppose CIO for a while until you feel more confident and see that it is working. Also be prepared that days will be affected. Both tiredness/fussiness during the day and nap time issues will have to be addressed.
Some notes: We separated the twins (for now) so they sleep in different rooms. This is essential. We tried to keep the environment the same. Dark and w/ sound machines in both rooms. We try to keep the bedtime and nap time routine consistent. Oh and Andrew (the good sleeper) is sleeping even better than ever! So that is an added bonus.
I will post again to followup and let you know how this week goes.
Labels: 12-18 Months
posted by Keeping The Faith @ 11:47 AM
10 comments
10 Comments:
I'm so glad to read about your successes! I can't imagine how hard those nights were, but it looks like they are paying off!
Thanks for the update - I had been wondering how it went for you. Glad to hear that your perseverance paid off. Here's hoping for another good night and an even better day for you tomorrow!
Great going girl it really paid off.
Our only regret was we didn't let him CIO sooner. Excellent advice for those considering it. It's not easy, but it was really effective in our home.
I know that we are going to have to do CIO at some point. And I know that we are going to have to put the kids in separate rooms. I know that I can do it. You are my inspiration! And besides....what is a few more nights of being sleep deprived. It is not like I have gotten 8 hours sleep continuously over the last 15 months.........
Way to go! I will let you know when we decide on a date to start our journey in to CIO
So glad you made it through the worst part! Hope it continues to go well. We have to keep our boys in the same room, what a pain!
Good Luck
You definitely had a difficult week. Good for you for being so strong!
Way to go!! I agree 100% with you about being commited to this. This is something to be done when you will stick with it, it can be awful the first couple days, but it does usually work. I hope you continue to have good sleep patterns in your house!!
You will be SO SO SO glad you did this. We have twin boys who just turned 1 year old and we did CIO at about 6 months. Ever since then they have been the best sleepers. They sleep from 7pm until 7am without a peep. My husband and I have our nights back and our whole family is well-rested.
CIO is hard but it works! Plain and simple.
Good luck as you continue working through it.
Carrie
I hope things continue to get a little better each day. CIO is so hard on both them and the parents. We did it a long time ago and thank goodness, it really helped us all. Although we recently had to do it again with Flynn after he must have had a nightmare one night, I let him sleep with me the next night and then we went for a week of him not wanting to sleep in his own bed, but letting him cio worked and for the past 2 nights he's been going down, not happily, but not crying either.
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