controlled crying?

[BellyMonster]

Has anyone tried controlled crying? My daughter is
8 weeks old and very agitated in the evenings. There's nothing that I can see is wrong (like tummy ache) and it happens at the same time every evening for about an hour or two. My boyfriends sister tried it with her daughter and she now sleeps 7 till 7!
I just wondered if anyone had experience of it?

Hi
I have tried this but I def wouldnt recommend it!!!
Its seems very common for babies to cry in the evenings, especially in those first few months (prior to weaning). I found controlled crying, made baby very unhappy and me very stressed. I found its much less stressful to spend a couple of hours pacing with baby over shoulder. They seem to suddenly stop this pattern at around 3 or 4 months anyway so I'd carry on with what your doing and usually at about 4 months most babies are sleeping 7-7.
Hope this helps!!
Jo

8 weeks?!?! She is way to young to even think about anything like controlled crying. She is a baby. She cries.

8 weeks is too young. Looking at the age at which kids learn to reason, to control their impulses, to understand that you don't vanish when you leave the room etc.. it just doesn't make sense at such a young age apart from anything else.

I'm sure someone who knows CC better than me will correct me if I'm wrong, but I was under the impression that CC wasn't advised by any of the mainstream "experts" at all for babies under 6 months and was generally aimed at children over 12 months.

I understand why parents of toddlers and older children with real sleep issues may try CC. I've never done it myself and I would never do it with a child the age of your DD.

As Tee2072 says, somtimes babies just cry.

Hope this thing doesn't kick off.

Please don't do this. Could you really stand to leave a tiny little baby to cry all on her own when all she wants it to be comforted?

Please, please don't.

8 weeks is far too young, CC is recommended for babies who are 1 year old and above.

Sounds like your baby is doing exactly what it should be doing, and although hard to take, is something you have to ride out. My mum calls that early evening time when lots of babies cry the witching hour. I used to call it pure hell! I would say very generally that things will get better in about 4 weeks if not before!

Your baby, whilst crying lots, just needs comfort, even if you think that comfort is not helping, it is. They are picking up on the fact that someone loves them and someone is responding to them. It is super important that you do this.

Have you tried-
Using a sling
Taking baby out for a walk
Using a swinging chair
different holds
Ear plugs for yourself
Take a break, ask for family/friend support.

My DD, who is almost 5 months, has always had a good yell between 5pm and 6pm, when she gets her bedtime bottle. Today I had to let her cry a little, as I was getting dinner ready, but she was next to me in her bouncy chair. I was talking to her the whole time, but she wasn't too impressed with the potatoes and carrots I was peeling!

Normally what calms her down is a change of scene - I take her upstairs, and put her in her cot, which is in our bedroom - painted a very calming green. I wind up her mobile, and its like flicking a switch! Then I can get on with getting her bath ready.

I think she gets bored, together with getting tired and hungry. A good yell, followed by a good kick around tires her out nicely, and then she goes down really well at 7am ( or before )

I think what is also important is not to get stressed yourself, especially if you know nothing is wrong - they really pick up on it if you are stressed, and this can make them cry more.

Hope this helps.

You mustn't do controlled crying on a baby younger than 6 months, togarama is right.

Little babies are fussier in the evenings, and will probably want to feed constantly. It doesn't last that long, this period, though I'm sure it feels like it to you now.

You may want to try feeding her more often in the evening or even express in the morning when you have more milk and get your husband to give it to her in a bottle around 8 - 9pm and you have an hour lie down (this is what we did and it really helped).

This is a windup. Ignore.

As everyone else has surely said, 8 week old babies cry, that's just what they do.
Controlled crying is wrong at any age IMO, but health experts dont even recommend it until at least 6 months. For an 8 week old is is dangerous.
Both my 2 were generally restless and fussier in the evenings, it does get easier though.

How do you know that Greythorne?

Bearcrumble - did she say she was breastfeeding?

Anyway, removing clothes even just trousers, or full on nappy free time always worked for us.

As did white noise.

Yes, I did it, yes it worked (two week old baby) but any comments supporting CC are flamed on mumsnet so those of us who did it successfully have probably given up posting about it - search the old threads (there are loads of them !!).

Really on a 2 week old, I do not get even how you can make that work Ragwort? Wowzas, but hey each to their own.

So how does it work, and their will be no flaming from me!

Cruel to do it to a wee baby.

They will feel abandoned.

If a wee baby cries, they need comfort. You may feel you are doing no good, but you are - just being present will reassure her in time.

An hour or 2 isn't much for her to ask of you.

It works because they give up.

i mean cc/cio on a tiny baby 'works' because they give up.

Agree nickytwotimes. I've got a really, really laid back 16 week old. She rarely cries and only does when she really needs something. If I am not quick enough (because I'm making a bottle - it's the only time I don't get to her in time) she cries hysterically then gives up.

The hysterical crying is nasty, but the giving up is far, far worse.

I did this at 3months and now I feel really guilty about it. I didn't realise you shouldn't do it until at least 6m or even a year. I was thinking about it and the baby book I had talks about it but didn't say anything about age limits. Feel so bad now :(

DD is 5 months and i would never do this even at her age. She has a realy fussy time between 5-7 (her bedtime) but all she wants is cuddles and change of scene.

I hate the thought that if i left her to cry she would give up because she thought i wasnt going to be there for her when she needs me the most, but thats just me though.

Ragwort 2 weeks? Seriously?
I'm pro CIO/CC but that is awful.

8 weeks is too young to do controlled crying. try a good bed time routine and put her to bed but stay with her in the darkness holding her hand. be patient.

arr, I do believe in it, but thats's a bit young!

dd cried between 5 and 6pm until 3 months. i never entertained any 'methods' i just dealt with it - walked up and down - baths - whatever. then she turned 3 months and it stopped

Try white noise...you can download some white noise cd's or I used to leave the vacuum running worked after just a few minutes! I did use cc when ds was older and got him sleeping through the night, but he was over 1yr by then.

Unsettled evenings are really common at this age - it usually peaks around 6-8 weeks.

Kellymom has some useful information here.

If you think about it, until 8 weeks ago she was cosy inside you 24 hours a day - being in the big wide world outside has been a real shock to her system.

You would probably find that carrying her in a sling helps. Scientific research experiments showed that babies who were carried in a sling for 2 or more hours a day cried around 50% less than babies who weren't carried. The biggest difference was in the evenings. Carrying throughout the day helps, not just when they're crying (although that helps too).

I've read at least 10-15 books on baby sleep and none recommend controlled crying before 6 months old.

My DS was similar in the evenings, but things majorly improved after a few sessions with a cranial osteopath. Not sure what type of delivery you had but the osteopath basically said that a few treatments are good for any vaginal delivery. We noticed an improvement after just one session, and after a few (can't remember exactly how many - nearly 7 years ago now! but not a lot), he was a lot calmer and didn't scream his head off in the evenings for no apparent reason.