Done the CC thang successfully to get my 21 Month Old to go to sleep by herself but what do you do when she wakes in night?

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Erm, that's basically it! Lol, i put my message in the title... oppps.

Yes dd was too big to rock to sleep and couldn't continue sitting by her cot, sometimes for hours on end in the evening. So braced myself and did the Controlled crying thing. After a hard week, shes now quite happily going off by herself. And I now have joined the hoards of parents who look forward to bedtime rather than dreading it!

However, I am at a loss at what to do in the early hours if she wakes. (this only happens once or twice a fortnight) but it happend the other night and i was so worried about the neighbours, i didnt dare do anymore controlled crying in the middle of the night and so i gave in to her demands and gave her a bottle of milk. (she didnt need it Im sure) She went off straight after it. But then last night she woke again at 4am and i dont want her to get into the habit of thinking that she can wake and have milk every night. So I refused her milk and kept going in and lying her back down and telling her it was the middle of the night and go to sleep,,, etc... she went back to sleep after a hour of this... i must admit at times i was convinced she did need milk but obviously she didn't...

I dont know if this is the official way of dealing with it... I wondered if anyone else did? I know a lot of people don't like Controlled Crying but i genuinely think for my daughter, it was the only way to get her to go to sleep by herself...

ds did this and we did cc in the night. because he knew the drill, as it were, it only took 20 mins twice before he got it.

But it sounds like you don't need to do that if persuasion works. only an hour! you lucky lucky thing....

You're supposed to do cc exactly as you would at bedtime, so if it's only an occasional thing, you should leave her 15-20 mins intially, and then increase by 5 mins each visit if necessary.

As already said. Continue with cc. If persisting give a cup of water instead of milk. My ds soon gave up on the idea of a drink when he realised it was only water he was getting

great, thank you. I thought so! But it just feels so different in the silence of the night, doesn't it! I guess Ill only have to do it a few more times before she catches on!

You're doing the right thing from the sounds of it. I'm not a regular on the sleep thread but IMO I wouldn't give her milk and she's old enough to understand it's nighttime, sleeptime. CC worked for us and he sleeps very well now. I hope it goes ok for you tonight. You sound a bit apprehensive of the night ahead? But worth persevering with definitely. My mother always tells me I didn't sleep through the night till I was five. You don't want to have to deal with that!