Help with Controlled Crying

[Jen547]

Hi mums,

I have a few questions about controlled crying. I tend to over think things and get myself tied in knots and this is definitely one of those occasions.

So the advice I got was to go in after 2mins of crying, then after 5, then after 10 and so on.

This is how it went:

I went in after 2 mins. I rubbed her belly and 'ssssshhhhhhh'd' her as advised. question one: do I rub her belly until she sleeps again? or just for a minute then leave? if I have to do it until she sleeps I may be there all night which kind of defeats the point

I left while she was still crying but was laying down, she ramped it up a bit but settled. kind of. So after 5 mins she is obviously still awake and wimpering and shouting slightly so I go back in question 2: should I have left her at this point? me going in at this stage seemed to make it much worse

I patted her again and left (again while she was still crying) and after 10 mins she was asleep. however, after a further 5 mins she was awake again!! question 3: at this point do I start again at 2mins? or as if it had been 10? if I carry on as if it was 10 it seems like im reacting immediately to her shouts which is what im trying NOT to do

Told you, I overthink lol. anyone who can put my mind at rest??

Place marking.

Nothing? How disappointing.

Go in, reassure that you're still around and leave.

only go in if there's crying.. The whole point is for them to learn to self settle.

If crying starts again after sleeping go straight away and repeat.

you know your kid and the different crys for bums and hungrys... If everything is sorted in that area then just crack on.

Good luck.. It doesn't take long to crack.. Remember, no picking uo, no eye contact and no speaking.

I have a couple of questions too:

1. Once you've reached the stage of reassuring every 20 minutes, for how long do you continue? Under instructions to not give up, I'm having visions of having to keep it up for many many hours

1. What do you do if/when baby wakes after the first settling period? Do you start again with the 2, 5, 10, 20 reassurance intervals or start with the interval that you got to the last time?

1. If starting CC for night time sleeps, do you follow the same regime for naps?

You're supposed to keep it up until they are asleep. Even if they make themselves sick with. Crying you are supposed to just clean it up with no fuss and carry on. Sounds awful doesn't it.
If it helps we did it with ds and the first night was 45 mins of crying second night 4 mins and third night nothing. We are currently doing it again though as he has taken to standing up in his cot.
2) if baby has settled and then starts again start from the beginning again
3) not sure about this we didn't as he's always been ok at naps.

This does work! I did it with dd1 and it only took 3 nights to crack it! About to start with dd2 so these reminders have helped! Good luck! Be strong!

Ok so this is what I did - it took 2 hours in the middle of the night and the most I have to go in now is once and yes it does go against some of the rules.
Once baby is in cot leave the room.if crying starts wait 5 minutes then go in and cuddle,kiss and put back down no talking or shushing.if crying continues wait 5 minutes then go back in and do the same thing and keep going until asleep.if 5 minutes has passed and the crying starts again go straight in and start the process again x