Controlled crying AAAAAAAAAAARGH!

[blackchloe]

Please help me. I am in such a pickle with this controlled crying game. I have done this for 3 nights on the trot with my 6 month old with no improvement. She wakes at 2am for a feed which is fine but I have introduced CC because she then wont settle back down to sleep. She had previously been coming into bed with me at 2am and she would settle immediately but only till 4.30am. So after extensive reading I decide to try CC. 5mins, 10 mins then every 15 mins. However she is a stubborn little thing and will not settle . This can go on for 3 HOURS! And then by that point she is ready for her next bottle as its nearly morning. Anyone got any advice? Should I pursue it tonight or just resign myself to the fact that this sleep training method does not work with her. I should point out that this is the last method available as I have tried all the other more gentler methods of sleep training. This CC method means she is exhausted in the day and therefore sleeping more which means she is not so tired at night.

Oh dear. I actually read ALL of this thread, as we are (or rather were) experiencing a change in sleep pattern with our 9 month old. He'd always slept well in his own room, with now crying, after being breastfed to sleep.

Neither of us are much concerned with the latest fashions or research but we lead with our hearts and listen to our baby and to our mothers (one who famously said,"Why would you want your baby to be upset?"). We are both adamant our baby will not be 'crying and not heard'.

Apparently this fits in with some or other research. More importantly, it fits with our consciences and fits perfectly into the pattern of unequaled love we are showing to our baby.

Baby now sleeps with us in our bed, he seems to like it that way. Ergo, so do we.

Blackchloe appeared to want advice from this thread and then seems to throw what she has heard, if it doesn't fit with her already rigid thinking, back into the faces of the people she has implored for help from'

Just an observation.

no crying. duh.

How rude bleackchloe. After all you did ask for help and said you were in a pickle. Also said your DD is 6 months and you have tried everything, but didn't answer one of the previous posters, who asked when you actually tried it, as sleep training is not recommnded before 6 months. As for the controlled bit, you said you were going in every 15 mins at some point, which is an awful lot of crying for a 6 month old. And if it went on for 3 hours, it doesn't seem very controlled, and no, your DD is not stubborn, she can't be at 6 months, her brain is not developed enough to allow her to manipulate you. Anyway, good luck whatever you decide to do, and especially with the next sleep regression, probably the 9 months one,when it's quite possible you need to do cc again.

What do I have to feel guilty about?

Hi I just wondered how blackchloe is doing with the sleeping. My DD is almost 17 months and we have more broken nights than sleep thru nights. Proof that I have no idea what I'm doing. We know she can sleep through the night and that's what keeps us sane. She mostly wakes when she has a cold/teething (she's had molars coming thru for 6 months/sick. She hates Calpol and Nurofen so we usually have to manage without being able to offer painkillers (when needed). She's been like this since birth. We're usually too tired to do controlled crying though many of our friends have. My tip: Just take the fastest shortest route to getting her back to sleep and therefore us, sometimes that's just holding her and then popping her back into her cot, other times it's bringing her back to our bed and snuggling her in. What really helped was I did Sun to Thu nights and my DH did Friday and Saturday, that way we both got in enough sleep to function and to think straight. We all 'lose it' when we're tired that's why sleep deprivation is a form of torture. Anyway, it is true that you need to do what works for you and baby. IT WILL GET BETTER - but if you can get some additonal help from anyone so you get some sleep, it will be easier to think about what to do and what might work. Good luck :)

Also interested in how blackchloe is getting on.
Just wanted to share some personal experience here. I did CC with my eldest over 16 yrs ago when he was 8mths old as advised by my HV. He is now 17 and has never slept for more than 5hrs a night, although he can now reliably stay quiet in his bed! The stress associated with sleep; for him has never left him. I chose not to use this method again with DC2 or 3 and won't with DC4 either who is now 20 weeks. I personally find CC + CIO techniques only serve to distress both child and parent. If it works for you, great.

ver the years I have also discovered that HV are dangerously ill-informed and best treated to a smile and nod and then ignored on most topics at best and ushered out the door. Just my opinion