I have a 9 month old who doesn't sleep. Tell me everything about CC

[1t6y9o]

How do I start. What do I do? When is the best time to start? He has a sore throat. Wait until he's 100% better?

Will bedtimes ever be pleasant ?

Any tips, tricks, success stories please!

Definitely wait till you're 100% sure your baby is totally well (so when throat is better) ...it is hard doing cc but it usually is sorted in a few nights and the first is always the hardest...can be up to 1 and a half hours till they settle so you need to be prepared for that...do as others send with going in but not picking up etc in increasing intervals (this does seem to make them cry a bit more when you go out so be prepared for that too) but the second night it'll be about half an hour and third you'll probably not even have to go in. You'll prob find less night wakings too but I still fed after a set time at night to start with (then started stretching this time out ). It's so great when you can put them into their cots awake...my babies were all really quite high maintenance and I wouldn't fave believed it would work but it did abd made a world of difference - but I was ready and knew they needed to learn to sleep . People will say it's cruel but I think it's cruel not letting children learn how to self settle and it won't always 'just happen one day'. In my line of work I speak to lots of parents of much older children who still don't sleep and take hours to settle .
The no cry book is good but it's not a cc book .

I have just started gradual retreat as outlined in the link provided here, thank you PP!

It only took 27 minutes from start to finish and I don't feel it was cruel. I was right there and offered plenty of comfort. I'm amazed it didn't take longer.

I will go down this route and see what happens. If it works then yes I guess it is a gentler approach.

You have to look at the bigger picture ... my eldest is being negatively affected by the fact I have no energy, am miserable and snappy. Similarly, I don't have the energy to play or do fun things with my baby. It's worth trying as my children aren't growing up in a happy home at the moment!

Yeah, you are going to have to break the rocking to sleep thing. Imo it will take some crying however you do it. Cc works fastest so in my opinion is the least cruel on everyone. I'm strongly supportive of it since my dd1. She did continue to fuss a bit at bed times, but some kids just seem to cry a bit to sleep. My mum said I did. Don't start when he is unwell though.

I'm being strict with myself about putting dd2 down awake. Yes, sometimes she cries but usually only a few minutes (day time a different screaming story, I think it's her age so resorting to sling / pram / car / anything that works....)

You can make it better, good luck

Well done. That's great, keep it up and hopefully things will improve all night long

It took 8 minutes tonight and he barely grumbled. We did have 3 wakings last night so be interesting to see how many tonight. It's such a relief to have him settle in the cot. It feels gentle and I feel that's it's loving and supportive to him.

HUGE HUGE big massive thank you to the person who posted the link to the gradual retreat method. We are making so much progress