CC - how long did it take to work?

[mamjo]

I was just discussing with DH all the different sleep training methods so that we can get started with our 6 month old. We both think that CC might work for us as our DD hates being held when tired, and shush pat doesn't work.

So out of interest, how long did it take for your LO's to get the picture?

3 days for us

Hello, we are in the same boat. Our 7.5 month old is currently fed to sleep so would like this to change.

We were going to start CC on fri night.

One night - I am very strict.

one night. but she was 3mo

Ok ladies, this is amazing, we started on Tuesday night and she cried for half an hour. Still a fairly unsettled night but I fed her at every waking for 2 mins. Then did all 4 naps in cot with CC yesterday. Cried for 30 mins, 12 mins, 9 mins and 4 mins. Then to bed at 7 with NO crying and only 2 mins of grizzling. She then slept til 1am for a feed and straight back to sleep. It is now 7.30 am and I am waiting for her to wake.

I seriously hope this is the shape of things to come!!!

Good luck desperatehousewife20

Not recommended - even by the person who wrote the original book - for younger than 12 months.

i'm not sure where the MN gospel that you can't do it under 6mo comes from
seeker, i think when you refer to "the original book" you mean Ferber? we've got that and there's no reference to not doing it until 12mo.

I would actually recommend reading Ferber or Weissbluth before you start, so you know what you're doing and why.

dd1 made huge strides on night 2. all done and dusted and sleeping through be night 4.

mamjo, glad it went well for you, Im just imagining ds screaming for hours on the first night, he does that even in our arms so god knows what he'll be like in a cot on his own.

How long did you leave between visits?

Ive heard HV telling people you can do it over 4 months. I think over 6 months is fine imo.

For those that have done it, can I ask what kind of crying your babies did when you left them? DS is 5 1/2 months, considering CC in a month or two, but when he cries he screams blue murder. It sounds like he's in excruciating pain, then he gets the bottle, drinks 2oz or so, and is fine!

The idea of shush pat is all well and good, but he can't hear the shush!

I guess I'm a bit about CC as I think he would get himself into such a state with all that screaming, that he would never settle

I did CC at 5 months. Put her down, she cried, went in after 2 mins - quick pat and out, then after 3, then5, then 10, 15 etc. Think it took about 50 mins for her to settle first night and she didn't wake at all during the night and hasn't done since ( except if unwell). She's 10 now! It took 2 more nights ( with much less crying) for her to settle herself to sleep with no tears. I wouldn't say you needed a special book - all those books are just people making money out of parents' desperation for sleep! Nor would I say there's a magic age at which it's ok to leave a baby crying - when you feel ready to is the right age. Also, there is no one method that will work with all kids. My next child was quite a different story. Did exactly the same with him and it worked in terms of going to sleep by himself at 7pm, but he carried on waking once a night ( not every night) until he was 2...he's a brilliant sleeper now, though! You win some, you lose some.

dd1 screamed blue murder
she was ANGRY
tbh she kept it up fairly full pelt for 40mins on the first night, and later that night for about an hour and a half
next night was 10min
next for 5

it is obviously horrid for all concerned, and i would prefer that we hadn't had to have done it. but i was desperate, and ultimately glad we did.

3 nights for us. I did it at 4 months with ds1

my baby woke for milk every three to four hours until she was 7.5 months. She would wake and cry for a minute until I woke up then straight to sleep after the milk.

She would also go to bed at 7pm with no tears at all.

I decided to stop the milk during the night. First I cut out one feed then a week later the other one.

She wasn't too pleased at first. She cried (not hysterically) patting and shushing didnt really work. I Used the In out method. Beginning with picking her up to reassure then down again still crying.

Then, a few days later I stopped picking her up, and just went in to say its ok, mummys here, go to sleep.

I think the maximum she cried in a night was 3o mins. Normally more like 5 mmins

It took less than a week for the whole process, through all the different levels (including letting my boobs adjust and not leaking everywhere)

She sleeps from 7pm until 7am now

I'm sorry but I'm by this thread.

I've heard too about the 12month thing like seeker. I've read that until the baby has a very strong attachment to the carer, and this doesn't happen until about a year, it's not to do this type of sleep training. At the very least at about 8/9 months is when they learn object permenance (that when you go away they think you have disappeared off the face of this earth and doesn't know you will be coming back - so very distressing for them). The fact that it's "worked" is simply due to learned helplessness.

Tanso - isn't it up to your baby to decide whether it wants milk in the night or not? It's pretty normal to still want night feeds at this age.

This mornings nap took 3 minutes to sleep with only some mild grizzling! I am astounded by the sense of happiness and wellbeing that has descended on the house in just 24 hours.

DD used to get over tired and cry A LOT. She obviously wasnt getting enough sleep and was therefore not getting the most out of playtime. She would only be happy for about 20 mins at a time before but has been giggling and chatting non stop yesterday and today. She is also trying to crawl which I have never seem before.

I believe it is up to each of us to parent in our own way and I don't subscribe to the emotional blackmail style of manipulation that is attempted by many MNers.

This is a tough job and if you find a way that works for you and your family then lucky you.

I think MN is at it's best when mothers share experiences to help and support each other, not when people use opinion to belittle and bully those who are purely doing the best they can.

ive seen CC work more times than not on here so that goes to show there is no right age.
I agree it shouldn't be done before 6 months.

i think i might try PUPD first as its a bit gentler and see how we get on with that. I read that DP should do it as he won't be able to smell my milk but i feel bad putting it all on him, i wanted us to be in it togther.

PUPD worked for a friend of mine but it did take a few weeks and her husband had to do it all which was really taking it's toll at the end but now they are all sleeping so all is forgotten.

Good luck with whatever you choose!

"ve seen CC work more times than not on here so that goes to show there is no right age."

Are you sure? I suspect many people try, then give up and don't talk about it, for wnatever reason. YOu only hear the "success" stories.

Would I be right in thinking you can't really do CC until your baby is sleeping through the night? How would you know he was just crying out of habit/comfort and not because of needing food or winding?

(genuine question, not a sly anti-cc comment)

Thanks

Huh? Why would you do CC if your baby is sleeping through the night?!

But yes, you need to be 100% sure they aren't in need of food or winding. I'm contemplating it with my 8 month old, am sure she doesn't need food as I breastfeed and I can tell when she's suckling for comfort and when she's feeding for hunger. She also never suffers from wind.

When I read comments like "he cries in our arms so heaven knows what he'll be like when we put him down", I just think, put him down then. He's crying while you're there, maybe he actually wants to be on his own?

When you know your baby you know when it is a hungry cry or something the matter instead of just a "I've woken up, where am I? How do I get back to sleep again? Oh, now I remember zzz" cry.

In my view if the baby is fed, warm and clean and is crying around the time they usually sleep and rocking, cuddling and cooing isn't helping maybe they just want to be left in peace. So put them safely in a cot, leave the room and go somewhere you can't hear for 10 minutes. They will be asleep in that time and no less. If they're not then maybe they've suddenly done a poo, in which case start over.

With my method of letting DDs have some peace when they were tired it meant the maximum they cried was 10 minutes, whereas if I'd continued to hold them, rock, coo etc they'd have been crying for far longer.
In the middle of the night if DDs cry I wait to see if they've just got unsettled and they usually go back to sleep. When they were still having night feeds then of course I fed them immediately. I let them decide when that was, although once I knew they could do without a feed they might have woken a few odd times crying and I waited for as long as I thought it might take them to get back to sleep before going to them if it seemed too long.

I'm not a big fan of the name CC as it seems to be used in a way that means letting your tired crying baby have some peace means they cry more than if you rock/hold them. From my experience and that of my friends I would say that giving a baby some peace and quiet once they'd worked themselves up and were tired leads to far less crying and faster getting to sleep than constantly rocking a crying tired baby.
Obviously if you've timed your day right there is no crying at all apart from waking in the night for a feed.

CC isn't really recommended until the baby is over a year old TBH.

I did it at 20 months old and it worked relatively quickly. By that stage we were really needing to do it as the aternative options had been and gone. I wouldn't recommend it at 6 months though really, and would suggets looking at other options such as the no cry sleep solution first.

I kept a MN diary fof doig it with DD - would have been around winter 2004 .

Right now we are sitting next to our screaming ds who is in the cot.

Hes been screaming for 45 mins. We're just shhing him and stroking him but it doesnt seem to be working.

Really sorry to hear that DH20 it's the worst thing ever. I hope it didn't go on too long.

Night 3 and she went Down with NO crying or even grizzling at 7 pm.

She has cried for a total of 12 minutes all day today as opposed to what I would guess is usually about 3.5 hours.

Kerching!!!!!

It didn't work for us. After 3 weeks, he was still screaming hysterically for 2 hours a night. Was bloody awful. In my defense, I was absolutely exhausted, at the end of my tether and so sleep deprived that I wasn't really capable of making good decisions. In retrospect, I wish with all my heart I hadn't let it go on so long. I suspect, if it's going to work it will work quite quickly. After a certain point of "no progress" it's really not worth flogging a dead horse.