Cry it out :(

[Neverknowing]

I recently posted about my 8 month old DDs sleep and decided I would continue to breastfeed to sleep and co sleep with her as we were both happy.
I just found out I need an operation soon though and so need DD to learn to sleep through the night ASAP as she will just be with DP at night and he obviously cannot breastfeed her (and must be at work by 7am). I have spoken to other mums at baby group who have recommended CIO, which honestly I've always been very against but needs must and all. I'm extremely sad about it tonight, it's the first night we're doing it and I'm about to put her down.
Anyways sorry for the waffle (can you tell I'm feeling horribly guilty) can anyone tell me if this worked for them and if it did how long it took?!

riddles that's how mine started to self settle, it was a very gradual thing so sometimes would need comfort from me others not and then it just got less and less. Increased when they were sick, etc and did keep going through phases where they seemed to really need more comfort.
I just thought you meant that getting your DD to self settle at bedtime meant she was able to self settle when she woke as often it doesn't work like that.

I disagree though that needing assistance to fall asleep at night means they will definitely need assistance to fall asleep in the day. It depends on the baby, some sleep great at nap times without assistance but are difficult at night, others great at night and poor nappers.
My DN sleeps great for his naps, puts himself to sleep and sleeps for a long time. He has always been like this, could lay in cot/sofa/pram and go straight to sleep. At bedtime though, he's a lot trickier, needs rocking/feeding to sleep and lots of comfort.

You've just got to do what works best for you at a particular time. They change so much and what works brilliantly now may not work at all in a few months. It's always just when you think you've cracked it, something else happens and you've got to re-think

Thank you!! The op shouldn't be too bad they just have to watch me to check it's working after! Hence I didn't really want to do it when DD was younger but it's slightly unavoidable now.
I'm going to continue the way I'm going and keep people updated, I think it's taking longer because I've lacked consistency which is probably making it a whole lot worse for DD

Going in for op on Monday! Feels very soon.
I think I forgot to say that DD is sleeping a lot better she sleeps the full 11-12 hours at night now and settles herself.
She's still crying when we put her down but literally only for five mins and then sleeps through the night, which is amazing and she doesn't rely on me to go to sleep.
During the day if I put her down she will not stop crying but if she's sitting with me or my partner and gets tired cranky she'll put herself to sleep which is amazing.

For everyone thinking of doing this I would recommend deciding on a plan and sticking to it. I think it's been harder for me and DD because I listened to so much different advice and kept changing things.
It's made her sleep better and she's a happier baby it was definitely hard but I'm glad I did it. She's happier even during the days because she gets enough sleep at night and can put herself sleep during the day when she gets tired. It's amazing.
Me and my DP also get time together in the evenings and don't have to stress about her waking up. EVERYTHING is better and I don't have to stress about going into hospital.

I've really wanted to update this thread for a while but kept forgetting.
CC hasn't worked for us. By day 7 she was still crying and became upset when it got to about six as she knew we were putting her to bed soon. She would scream through her bath and it was horrible for her. I think CC helped her to learn to fall asleep alone as the method we now use would NEVER have worked before and she clearly sleeping a lot deeper. Before we started DD would refuse to go to sleep, I would start at seven and she would still be biting and hitting me by eleven while feeding to sleep. She would also wake at the tiniest little noise.
Basically now we rock her until she's drowsy and then stroke her cheek to sleep, we're aiming to do 'gradual withdrawal' but we're letting DD lead this. She sleeps all the way through the night (12 hours) without waking up and sleeps very deeply so we can go into her room and check on her without her waking up. It's such a nice time before bed and not stressful like before, we also get time in the evening when she's asleep to recoup and be a couple!
We are both sleeping in the living room which is why I think she's sleeping so well. I have a feeling when we sleep in the bedroom she'll start waking in the night again so you may see another thread very soon!
I would advise anyone in the same situation to stick to it for a few days, don't give it and do it half heartedly as I think it prolonged the pain for our DD. I would also that you will know if your DC is too distressed and if they are maybe try something else as continuing for so long was horrible for our DD and she even stopped loving her bath ! Luckily it doesn't look like it caused any lasting damage and she loves bedtime again.