new years resolution: to get my 18mth old sleeping through!! CC starting tonight any tips?

[outinthesticksmummy]

Hi there

Hoping for some support really. I am starting CC with my 18mth old dd tonight and am dreading it - she had a tummy bug just before christmas and hasn't been settling to sleep or staying asleep ever since. Last night she wake at 1 am and didn't settle til half 3!! so something has to give.

Have been told to go in after 5 mins then 10 then 15 but not leave her longer than 15mins - my only concern is that she gets very angry when we go in then leave her, if we keep popping in every 15 mins - won't this just get her more worked up???

Goes to be between 7 - 7.30 have been putting a couple of noddy books in her cot and leaving hall light on last few nights and that seems to be helping her settle- good or bad????? any ideas?

Hope someone out there has some useful tips, or does anyone fancy joining me and swapping notes???

My DD is very strong willed, i just need to make sure my will is stronger tonight

TIA

[outinthesticksmummy]

oops sorry bad spelling - meant goes to bed!

[wheelsonthebus]

i think something for them to fiddle with in the cot is a good idea - say a teether or something that you can retrieve when they have gone off. also wear her out during the day; my dd sleeps like a log after some physical exercise and fresh air in the afternoon. we also put on a lullaby tape so she can sooth herself when it's bedtime. when she wakes up, we try not to pick her up out of the cot, but settle her within in. if she needs her nappy changed, we take her out and remake the bed (a new sheet or something new that she can lay on) and then say 'ooh a nice new cot for you' and she takes to it. cc is very hard, but does work apparently. (except when they get really uptight, which i can't bear. you have to be sure they are not going to get even more upset, i think) hth

[hollyhobbie]

Hi, one piece of advice is to find something to DO while the crying is going on. I find washing up is good, because it gives you something to do and is a bit noisy in itself, so cuts down on the (guilt-inducing) noise from the bedroom!

[McDreamy]

Hi Outinthesticksmummy I'm doing just that with my 17 month old too! He has a virus just before Xmas and his sleeping has been awful ever since which is a pain as he'd been so good until then! He went to bed at 6pm (4pm your time) and he's still awake but we've got this far and I'm not giving in!!

Good luck with yours

Another piece of advice - turn the tv up!!

[outinthesticksmummy]

Thanks for the quick replies!! Finding something to do won't be a problem, my house looks like a bomb since xmas!!!!!

Mcdreamy, has he settled yet??? DD just the same, relativley good sleeper up to tummy bug, then it all went to pot. You really need to keep it up though, seems cruel if you start then give up, means youve let them scream for no reason - its sooo hard isn't it!! will prob be joining you in a few hours. Are you going in and out or just leaving him to it??? not sure every 15mins is going to be such a good idea with my little madam!!

well best go play - having a teas party with teddies at the mo!!!

[outinthesticksmummy]

another thought......grobags, DD is quite tall and seems quite restricted in her bag was wondering about just giving her a duvet?? wonder if thats too much for tonight??

[McDreamy]

Funny you should mention that but tonight is the first night I've put him to bed without his gro bag as I also think he's getting himself tangled up as he is a fidgit. He has got a duvet so I'll see how he gets on, my other idea is to buy hima sleep suit with legs from mothercare.

He has settled now (thank goodness) went in 5 10 and then every 15 mins as soon as I went in he just put his arms out and the one time I did pick him up he stopped crying straight away (was soooo cross with myself!!).

Really hope it works but you're right it's so hard to hear them crying like that.

[outinthesticksmummy]

okay well she's in her cot SCREAMING!!! have been in after 5 and 10 just waiting to go in after 15 mins, keeps holding her arms up to me, i really want to pick her up and cuddle her, but will have to try!!!

Wish someone could do this for me!!

[CantSleepWithSanta]

The official line is that you keep on adding 5 mins each time, so you don't stop at 15 - increase to 20 then 25 etc.

The second night you start at 10 mins, then 15, then 20 etc.

Third night start at 15, then 20 etc

and so on (though hopefully she'll be sleeping better by then anyway).

Good luck.

[outinthesticksmummy]

Oh right, thanks for that will go for 20 mins now then.

Any ideas on how long they can scream for??? will she not just get exhausted from screaming and fall in to a fitful sleep?? god she is screaming like a banshee!!!!?? (sp?)

[CantSleepWithSanta]

Apparently 2 hours is a pretty average figure for how long they can go the first night - sorry! But each night after that will prob improve. Our second night was, IIRC, at least half an hour better than the first.

[outinthesticksmummy]

Yeah she is asleep (for now!) that was an hour but seemed like a year!!!!! dare i climb upstairs for a bath!

Thanks for the advice CSWS good to talk to someone who has done it before - did it work for you in the end??

[CantSleepWithSanta]

It did work for us for a while yes, but then dd got a sickness bug, followed by 2 weeks of bad teething (first 2 teeth) and it all went to pot a bit. We find now though that if she gets out of the habit, we only need to do a little bit of cc to get her sorted again (apart from when ill or teething). We did it around 8 months, and she is nearly 11 months now.

It has definitely been our salvation, as I could count on one hand the number of times she had slept through prior to this.

[outinthesticksmummy]

Just wanted to say : OMG!!!! she has gone straight to sleep tonight (after playing for a little while) no screaming at all!!!

She woke last night at half 9 i went in after 5 mins handed her back her blankie and left she just gave up and went back to sleep then woke at 2 am i was waiting my 5 mins just about to get out of bed and she went back to sleep herself til half 5 (thats my next job to tackle!)

So we shall see, at the moment i am very prod of both of us

off for a nice relaxing bath now!

[CantSleepWithSanta]

Yay!!

(don't be disheartened if she isn't quite as good tomorrow though)

Tis a wonderful technique, and your dd must have read the book about it .

[kittypants]

im just thinking about starting this,my lo is 1 and terrible sleeper.

[outinthesticksmummy]

Hi Kitty

Well last night she woke at 1 am, but i stuck to my guns which is so hard when she flings her arms around me and cuddles me tight whilst crying when i go into her room, she settled after 45 mins and slept through til 6.15. Tonight is night 3, she has gone straight to sleep - we shall see what tonight has to hold.

It is really hard but soo worth it if you can stick it out, i think its supposed to be easier if they are that bit younger, before they suss things out too much!! I found it easier to do on my own whilst DH was at work (nightshift) then i could give her my sole attention. Good luck if you go for it, let me know how you get on.

If i can do it anyone can, as i'm such a pushover!!!!!

[kittypants]

if she only woke once thats a good thing!

[beansprout]

Glad this is working for you. I am having to do a version of it at the moment with my 2.2yo ds and him screaming really is the worst noise in the world. Hope it continues to go well for you.

[mabel1973]

just to let you know my ds stopped sleeping properly after bonfire night, he was 22 months at the time, he's always been a fantastic sleeper before.
I tried CC, but to be honest it broke my heart and didn't work. I tried staying in his room,til he was asleep then gradually working my way out of the room over the course of several nights, til he was able to stay in the room on his own without me an d get himself off to sleep. He was obviously frightened by the fireworks on bonfire night and needed that reassurance that somebody was there. He still has to have his nightlights on to go to sleep, which he never needed before, but it has been pretty succesful.
If CC doesn't work for you then I would give it a go.
I also found that he was waking in the night, and not settling I think it was due to being cold, so bought him one of those all in one sleep suits instead of pj's which keeps him much warmer, and since he had that on he's slept through, he also takes a drink to bed, as he had woken up saying he needed a drink.
hope this helps

[outinthesticksmummy]

woke slightly at 2am but put herself back to sleep, then slept through til 7am!!!!! I went to bed at half 9!!! feeling nice and refreshed for first time in months

[kittypants]

mabel1973,this is what im worried about-i dont think i can listen to him cry and not be in room with him!im thinking more baby whisperer pick up put down as youre with them.weve got a few of those fleece sleepsuits,our house is freezing so we also use duvet!how did you get your lo to go to sleep,put him down awake?with bottle?does your lo still sleep in cot or bed?my ds has just begun to sleep in cot as hes been cosleeping but hes stopped sleeping so obviously time to stop,im looking at buying cotbed as bit bigger.

[mabel1973]

hi kittypants.
he went into a bed at 18 months as we needed the cot for the new baby and wanted him to get used to a bed before the baby arrived. the transfer to a bed was fine, we'd already taken the side off his cot so he was used the the feeling of 'open-ness'.
when he 1st started being difficult to go to bed after bonfire night we would have hysterics going upstairs, kicking and screaming, and a few times we let him fall asleep downstairs then transferred him to bed, but i realised it was solving nothing, so we pursevered with getting him into his room awake, sometimes he would throw himself around in hysterics, but sometimes you just have to sit it out and they do eventually calm down, sometimes i would just start reading a story with him still having hysterics and his curiosity would get the better of him and he'd sit with me eventually. the 1st few nights i did actually read him to sleep, with my voice getting quieter and quieter, but gradually we've done less stories so it is now 2 or 3, then i tell him he must go to sleep, i sit with him a bit, and then leave the room.
i know cc does work for some but for my ds the fireworks had genuinely scared him and he needed reassurance, not to be left on his own, i know with some it is purely a battle of wills and i think thats when it works best.

[myermay]

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[PoppiesMum]

Hi all - just wanted to wish you all the best with the cc. I did it with 9mo a little while ago and it was tough (2 hours crying at first )

However, it amazed me how quick it worked - by the end of the week she was settling herself to sleep at 6.30pm and would get herself back to sleep if she woke in the night.

Good luck all and stick with it - it is worth it!!