Controlled Crying

[GillL]

I've been using controlled crying for over a week now to get dd (2 years 2 months) to go to sleep by herself. It had been going really well and she had only been crying for a few minutes before giving up and going to sleep on the floor by the door. Last night she screamed for half an hour. I was just wondering if it is normal. Is she just testing me?

Also, should we ever expect her to be happy about going to sleep by herself or will we always have a few minutes of crying? I appreciate that all kids are different but I just wanted a concensus. It broke my heart the second night I did this and she told me she wasn't very happy

DD1 did it for a few weeks after I took her dummy away[bad mummy]
She was nearly 3. The first night it was 2 hrs, I nearly died, but I couldn't give it back, she's too smart and would know next time I tried.
After 2 weeks she wouldn't cry, but would call me and call me. I went up, as she needed to know i was still there, but didn't interact the way she wanted. After a few weeks she woke less in the night, and settled quicker.
With an older child it's a whoile different board game. Stick to it now you've started or you'll be doomed. At least that 's how I felt. MAAybe I'm worng.
She got over it, she's knows I love her and am always there for her at night, and she was/is fine.

You're doing well.

Thanks BandofMothers. I definitely won't be giving in. I used to spend between 1 and 3 hours in her bedroom waiting for her to go to sleep. I'm not going back to that!