Monday, May 16, 2005

Crying It Out

Maureen asked how letting Abby “cry it out” has worked for us, and I have to say it’s been a great success. There was one night where she cried for about an hour, but most nights it was no more than 45 minutes. Before CIO, she would wake up fussy 30-45 minutes after falling asleep. She’d also wake up several times during the night. The very first CIO night, she woke up once, and has since only woken up once or twice a night. She cried for a little over a week before finally stopping. Now, she may fuss for a few minutes, but that’s it. And, she’s no longer waking up right after she falls asleep. We have had a couple setbacks, though. Friday and Saturday nights, she woke up in the middle of the night and would not stop crying. We ended up bringing her to bed with us Friday night. Most nights have become so easy, though. Last night was the best night yet.

Nap times have gotten much easier too, since Abby started sleeping on her tummy. She will fuss half-heartedly for about 10 minutes before falling asleep. She’s consistently taking 3 naps a day for at least an hour each.

If you do decide to let Connor CIO (he’s so adorable, by the way!), I highly recommend “Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child.” It’s a great sleep book in general, but Dr. Weissbluth does push “extinction,” as he calls crying it out.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Wow, a whole post devoted to my comment. Thanks! Glad to hear that you are getting more sleep. I know that I need to let him CIO, but it is SO hard (as I'm sure you know). I am hesitant to try until I am TOTALLY committed to not going in there and picking him up, or else I am afraid that it won't work. I will go look at that book tomorrow. Thanks for the response. I'll let you know how it goes when I finally try it. BTW, Abby is SO cute.