when is old enough for cc?

[chapsmum]

ds is 7 months and definately settles better at night if he gets himself to sleep during the day, but it is a truggle is he too young for cc and what is the best way of doing it?

According to research in Australia 1 yo is the absolute youngest for cc. I personally hate the thought of it. Try lying down with him then put him in his cot when he dozes off. Also try strict nap times as I found the routine really helps. Good luck.

In the States they do it from really early. I did it from about 10 months and it was hard but definitely worked.

Richard Ferber (how to solve your child's sleep problems) says 6 months. I did it the day my ds turned 6 months, it took 3 nights and he has slept like an angel ever since. And so have I.

Chris Green (Toddler Taming) also says 6 months as a minimum. Personally I hate CC, though. You could try reading Elizabeth Pantley's book (No crying sleep solution, something like that), too.

i did this at 6 months - the youngest i was told by sleep clinic to try it and it worked a dream. a happier mum and a happier baby (as he wasn't so tired in the day) in 3 nights.

i did try all the other methods - but afeter 6 months on a maximum of 2hrs unbroken sleep a day - usually 1 1/2hrs was the maximum cc was the 'last resort'.

With DD, I didn't really do it until 13/14 months - and then I stayed in the room with her, lights off, not talking. I just trusted my gut on when it was ok to let her cry for more than a few minutes. I only had to do it once or twice, and she was asleep within 20 minutes both times.
Before that, I used pu/pd as necessary and when she was teething/unwell, nursing to sleep. I did have a reasonable sleeper, though - not sure what I'd have done if she wasn't: other than NOT doing CC before six months at the earliest.

This is from the Australian Association of Infant Mental Health:

"Australian health professionals have raised concerns that controlled crying, also known as controlled comforting and sleep training, may have a negative impact on the emotional and psychological health of infants. Controlled crying involves leaving a crying baby for increasing periods of times before coming to comfort them in an attempt to teach them to put themselves to sleep and not cry out during the night.
The researchers say that it is normal for babies and young children to not sleep through the night, and their crying is a sign of distress. Although controlled crying may teach children to stop crying, it may also teach them not to seek help when they are upset."

I can't do links but here is the address: www.mercola.com/2003/oct/22/controlled_crying.htm There seems to be more and more research into cc that says it is emotionally harmful and there are other ways to get your child to sleep. To me it just seems completely unnatural.

Not a great fan of cc myself, but sometimes you have to. I would still be getting up 27 times a night for ds2 if I hadn't done it . I started at 6 months and saw a differnce within 2 days!!!

kittyfish-considering most of our mums or grandparents were told to put us out in a pram in the garden and to leave us to cry, I don't think we have sufferd too much emotional and psychological damage

However there is a big differnce between leaving a wee baby screaming for hours at a time, and leaving a baby crying for 5 - 10 minutes at a time.

chapsmum, you know your baby best, and can tell the difference between a whingey tired cry and a very upset sob!!

good luck!!

Thanks everyone, Its a difficult situation as I find if I pick him up to comfort him he will cry all the harder, then I put him in his cot and he rolls over sooks him thumb, whimpers for 3 mins then goes to sleep.
Seems like he wants to be in his cot sometime.. didnt want to emotionally scarr him by not offering him comfort
thanks gain.

chapsmum, if your ds settles by himself in his cot after 3 min, remind me why you are exploring cc ? No, you don't need to comfort by picking up. He won't be scarred by 3 mins. It takes me more than 3 mins to get to dd at night anyway, if she were in her cot.

Agree Tartan, but our mums & grans also put us on our fronts to sleep and other inadvisable things which modern research tells us not to do. Also agree about difference between leaving a baby crying for a minute or so and just leaving it to howl all night. CC is just not for me.

We did it at 7 months (when stopped feeding during the night) with DS (now 2.2). Apart from the odd hicup when he is poorly/teething, he sleeps a wonderful 12 hours solid.

Does pick up/put down count as cc? I did this with ds about 4 weeks ago (he is now 16 weeks). I left him no longer than 5 mins each time. After 3 nights he started sleeping 7pm to 7am pretty regularly and now takes 2 long naps through the day.

Before I did this, he was a rubbish sleeper and I can promise that he is a much happier baby because of it.

It was very hard for me though, but I am reaping the rewards.

blushoes, thought any crying was bad, he cried if i picked him up, he cried for a shorter period of time if I put jhim down!!

Chapsmum, you are right - There are studies which show that prolonged crying for long periods will flood babies' systems with stress hormones that can alter the development of their brains, causing them to become more anxious. But ... a few minutes is not going to keep me up at night. Nobody can say where to draw the line (it probably depends on the baby). This is coming from someone who would cuddle her inconsolable dd for hours at night pacing the floor to no effect. Never could do cc with a baby either, but that's just me. Please don't feel guilty about leaving your ds to settle by himself, esp if it is quicker that way. It is not cc, some babies just cry a little when they are settling themselves, or so I heard. Can't comment because my dd never did settle herself as a baby.

My ds cries when he's tired. A lot of babies do. If I didn't do cc he would just cry for several hours. With cc he cries for a few minutes and goes to sleep. He wakes up for a bf at 3 am and is allowed into our bed from then on so he knows he is loved!

I had a book on it from USA, it recommended 8 months. I used CC for DS when he was 13 months old. It took 3 nights for him to fall asleep by himself and sleep through the whole night. I am so glad I did do it, he still sleeps well now at 3.10, most of the time anyway.