CC - please share your experiences!

[ToonLass]

If you have done CC could you please share your experiences - good and bad.

I don't want this to be a debate - I understand why people are really against it but I also understand how it feels to be utterly desperate.

Cloudy I could have written all of your posts (except the CC at 9 wks) You might be able to look through my previous posts.

Ask the GP for Ranitidine. My DD was often awake for 96 hr shifts without even a nap. I was told it was normal For 3/4 days p/w it was often 27/28 hr stints. I got slated by HV for putting my DD on her side but it was one of the few things that worked. The car seat helped as did the bouncy chair. Or crib tilted at one end.

Once the reflux went, at 5mths I started CC and right from the very 1st evening she did (& touch wood still does!) 11.5 hrs a night. I went in at 2 mins, 3 mins, 5 mins.....& have never had to wait 7.

To answer the OP - we did CC at about 7 months with our DS....prior to this hos sleep was all over the shop and he'd often need a feed to ferry back to sleep. I did some night weaning beforehand by gradually cutting night feeds down from 20 minutes a time to about 2 so that I was confident he wasn't taking in much milk overnight and wouldn't miss this and then we went for it. We did it for naps and night time and it works wonders! Absolutely amazing after about 3 nights and we just felt like we got our lives back. No ill effects from DS who still seems to love us etc. He was so much happier tbh once he wasn't overtired all the time! All I'd say is if you're going to do it make sure you're really committed otherwise you could just end up making it worse if you keep cracking after 10 minutes!!!! Xx

Excuse the typos.....

Cloud, poor you. How dare your baby seek comfort from her mother at 9 weeks old. She should know better. What a demanding little so-and-so.

Unbelievably cruel. I can't fathom how anyone would think it okay to leave such a tiny human to cry themselves to sleep. Completely wrong.

Your baby is 9 weeks old!!!!!!!! What were you expecting?! If you'd been writing that post at 9 months I might have a bit of sympathy for your cold-heartedness but your journey has only just begun.

I have a couple queries about CC maybe someone could answer.

Firstly, DD feeds a lot during the night - generally 4 times. How does CC work at night wakenings when she is used to getting milk? She's never gone all night without a feed before, and I would also end up very uncomfortable!!

Secondly, DD does not settle at my mere presence. So, when checking them, I know she would end up getting more worked up when I came in but didn't touch her etc. Her cries are piercing, and although I've never left her for longer than a few minutes to cry before, the cries have escalated quickly and remained at the same intensity until I have fed her/picked her up.

You could try replacing one or two of these feeds with water in a bottle as she's probably looking for comfort rather than being hungry. It might help her to stop associating breastmilk as the only way to go to sleep.

She won't take a bottle, even of ebm

Oh bugger. I had one of those too. Fussy wee monkeys.

We tried to stick to the same routine if she woke in the night. Settle her then do the gradual leaving until she re-settled.

Thanks, will do a bit more research.
She's getting a couple of teeth through just now which is contributing to her ever worsening night time wakenings, so going to wait until that passes then reassess the situation!

When did woke at night we have her water from 8m rather than milk. She had a couple of gulps and pushed it away. We found she then slept better as knew there wasn't a big yummy bottle of milk when she woke up.

At 19 months she sleeps through from 7-5 and if she wakes in the night can settle herself back to sleep. When she wakes at 5 she has a bottle of tea (I know, I know but won't drink milk) and she goes off for another couple of hours.

It's really hard Cloudy and stressful but you literally have to just put your life on hold for the first 3 months at least. Fuck the ironing and everything else. Just concentrate on you and your little one. She'll soon feel safe and secure and start settling into a routine and life will start being a little more manageable. It is extremely hard work, it's tiring and I believe your lucky if throwing the baby out of the window hadn't crossed even sleep deprived patents mind at least once but it gets better very very quickly.

I have 3 children and they were all different but they had me totally at their neck and call for the first 3 months until they settled into their little routine which we could gently tweak.

Maybe try one of those rocking swings in the day time. DD slept like an angel during the day in one. With DS it was a bouncy chair, ticked with my foot whilst I had a cup of tea. DD2 liked me pushing her in her pushchair which I did until she fell asleep and I'd sit in the park reading the paper with a coffee until she woke.

You don't need a consultant, you just need to be kinder to yourself and your DD.

I don't think it's the actual milk she's waking up for, just the closeness and contact with me. Everyone says I'll miss these days when DD is older and not so dependant on me - maybe I should just get on with it and give her what she wants to make her feel safe and secure.

Cloudy PLEASE stop doing CC with a 9 week old refluxy baby..... I understand how tough and soul destroying the sleep deprivation is believe me (you only have to look up my old threads....my DD suffers with silent reflux and cmpi) but leaving a newborn baby who is IN PAIN to cry is cruel.

You seem to have completely unrealistic expectations about a newborn baby....and perhaps the fog of sleep deprivation is stopping you from seeing the obvious:

....couldn't bare to hear dd cry, and would go in and pick her up everytime....but she learned that if she makes enough noise, I would go and pick her up! of course she did! Babies cry to ensure their survival! They are supposed to learn this, it is normal and necessary!

She wasn't hungry, nappy was dry and empty, her temperature was fine, so I plopped her dummy in and left. Cue the full on horror film screaming! Just to make sure I wasn't missing something, I picked her up, and she instantly fell silent. you are missing something, she stopped crying when you picked her up because she wanted YOU!

And guess what? She's still screaming her head off now. Every time I think "oh maybe there is actually something wrong" and pick her up, she falls silent. I tried letting her sleep on my chest, but she is trying to lift her head up and look around - eyes red, she's yawning and rubbing her ears, she just won't give up the ghost!! It's as if she's scared she will miss something if she goes to sleep! yes, she is probably scared to go to sleep because she is scared she will be left again....

I don't want to labour the point or pile on the guilt....you have my full sympathy, the first 3-4 months with a refluxy baby are HELL!!!! But you will survive. Please read this thread, I've given lots of advice on reflux, as have others, so I'm not going to type it all out again....but please get some support (and I can't understand why your sleep consultant didn't say: you won't get the sleeping sorted until the reflux is under control?!)

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/2398021-AIBU-to-be-struggling-with-my-newborn