Will this 'gentler' form of CC work or am I kidding myself?

[homemama]

I posted a few weeks ago about DS's lack of sleeping. I was desperately looking for something to try other than CC.
He now wakes 2 or 3 times a night and takes us about an hour to get him back down. Gaviscon seems to have helped bring this down from 6 times a night.

Anyway, I know we need to do something as DH and I are both shattered. I was wondering if we could do the thing where we sit on a chair in the room but ignore the crying. Does this work?
I am hoping not to let him feel abandoned as he is very sensitive but there's no point in doing it if it wont work. Will he still learn to go to sleep on his own if we do this?

Thanks

How old is he?

ime it works with some babies but not others. i tried a similar thing with ds but it just wound him up more (the only thing that worked with him was to just leave him - no going back in at all).

however if gaviscon has helped, i wouldn't try anything just yet as he could really be poorly/uncomfortable. have you tried adjusting his food/feed times?

Is this for your 1 year old ? The Baby Whisperer does something similar - Pick Up/Put Down - or you could try patting him in the cot and then gradual withdrawal, sitting until he settles then leaving.

Homemama - When I first started to try "controlled crying" with my DS, I would go in after 5 minutes of crying and place him back down, rub his back and say "sleep darling" (or whatever).. then 7 minutes later place him back down, rub his back and say "sleep now", and then 10 minutes in theory but never got that far as he was fast off I was in the next room, reading a book with half an eye on the clock.

It helped my DS (and my sanity!) They are all different in the way they react to different "treatments".

Just a point - is your baby is a "sensitive" baby, or are you particularly sensitive to his crying? - I only say that as I was the latter, convinced he was beside himself without me. He was however, playing me for a fool and I realised this the night I "snapped" and he was fast asleep within 10 minutes. It is a really hard concept to accept if you are unused to letting them cry (I really do understand this!) - and really hard to do to start with as it goes against your instincts - the results harden you to it though - I get about 30 seconds of half baked moaning now before he drops off.

Good luck with whatever you try

Might be worth trying Lizs idea. I'm nto a fan of cc, but I've doen PU/PD and that worked great to teach mien to fall to sleep on their own, and is far mroe gentle.

Sorry everyone, had a computer blip and it wouldn't load this thread.
Anyway, thanks for your replies. Yes, he's 13months. We have tried PU/PD but he wouldn't be put down and just kept running round the back of the cot. DH gave up after 2.5hours. Bless him

If we did the patting, would he then become dependent on that? I'm so confused as to what to do but I know we need to do something.

Around this age my dd was allowed to listen to music/stories on tape in her cot. This would send her off to sleep (sometimes took an hour or so). Don't know if that's any help to you.

Thanks MP but not sure that will work at the mo as he screams the place down if we leave no matter what. We've tried mobiles etc when he was younger but as soon as he could he stood up, pulled it off and threw it over the side.

He does seem to have turned into a toddler very early and is already throwing tantrums when he can't have what he wants. This is why I'm not sure if the softly, softly approach will work.

Just try it Homemama - My DS runs round the back of the cot too, even in a Grobag (determination ), but just by putting him in his sleeping position and saying "sleep" with a quick backrub and a quick exit made a remarkable difference. For us, it was the quick exit which really helped both of us.

Be strong!

I will try it, thanks. I wish I'd done it before he could walk and shout mama!

Me too, but there's lots of things I could say similar about

Choose a night and get holed up in an adjacent room with a book or whatever will pass time for you - that way you will be immediately at hand but out of sight. Give him the 5,7,10,15 minute treatment.

It is difficult to start with, but it truly is worth it - as I say, as you reap the benefits you will see that he has had you running around after him up until then! I can honestly say I feel only the merest twang when I hear him calling after me as I now know it is only crocodile tears. Tonight, I didn't even make it to the top of the stairs before he dropped off for the night (7.30)