Going to start CC tomorrow. Can I have support please

[JK123]

For the last few weeks, DD seems to be getting worse with her sleeping. She is now more or less slepping with me - she's 9 months. I am doing my best not to rock her as I want her to settle herself. I know she's tired but won't go for a nap unless I rock her. Eventually about 1-2 hours later, she's dropped off because she's tired. Her naps are all over the place. In the evening, it is taking me 30-45 minutes to put her to sleep and that is with me holding her and then I can put her in her cot. She wakes up frequently and holds my hand/fingers before nodding off again, but not very long. I don't want to do CC but getting her to nap/go to sleep in the evening is just too much. Hubby is off out with the boys tomorrow evening and so I think I should go ahead. I think I'm doing the right thing as DD needs to learn to self settle but I would just like a few words of support

JK, sure there'll be lots of support - this is MN

Have you been co-sleeping until now?

Is her bed in your room or in her own?

If all goes well it will take anything from 3-10 days for CC to work,
will Hubby & boys be ok with that, too?

Good luck!

DaddyJ, thanks. And yes DD has pretty much been co-slepping with me for about 6 months now. DD is usually put in her own room but when she wakes up in the middle of the night, she ends up in our bed. To be honest, I've been so tired over the last few weeks that I don't remember hearing her cry in the middle of the night. When I've woken up I've found her in our bed and I can't remember ever getting out of bed!! That's frightening. Hubby has actually been sleeping in the spare room for the 6 months but now wants to come back to our bed. Hubby is out with his friends. DD is our first baby.

Ah, the boys are the lads

And it sounds like DH will be supportive in all this?
Particularly the first few times
are going to be very heavy!

Have you read up on CC?
Anything you need to double-check?
Hope we can help!

You mentioned her naps during the day.
Are you going to leave them for now
and focus on the night first?

Need to get some kip myself now
(must go to bed earlier!)
but make sure you are absolutely certain
you want to do this
before starting CC.

Worst feeling in the world aborted CC attempts

I did cc. Worked up from one minute. Worked very quickly, but hard to do. Ds is a brilliant sleeper now. In hindsight I think he may have been over tired before I did cc, as he can't do without his sleep now. If you're calm and consistent it should be okay.

Thanks Cornsilk. I also intend to work from 1 minute. I think DD is overtired now but because she doesn't now how to sleep by herself, she's just struggling. Seems to waking up every 20 minutes now and wants my hand..to feel secure. Will have a chat with HV tomorrow morning just in case she recommends starting with day naps. Hubby is finally supporting me in this decision because he has heard from friends how their babies are doing so well and the fact that we have no time together!

Yes it's a good idea to let the HV know you are doing it. Mine was very supportive - recommended it in fact! If you have close neighbours it may be an idea to let them know so they don't worry. I didn't, but my neighbour was deaf so thought it would be okay!

JK, you co-sleep when she wakes up in the middle of the night
but how do you currently settle your lo for the night?
BF to sleep and then carry her into her bed?

Btw, if you need some reassuring but also thought provoking posts look on this thread
(flip it to read from beginning).

JK - good luck?

CC is not for everyone but can be very effective. Found I could only do it with full knowledge of pro's & cons & support of DH. Do think about it before you try on your own I would not have been able to. When it was really difficult we kept reassuring each other that we were doing what we felt was good for her. You have to be v commited & consistent to make it work.
Also be prepared for it to take a little time to work.

Has made a real diff to DD who is now a great sleeper (most of the time)

However you will definately need these

(((((((((((JK))))))))))

hi, its totally your choice if you do cc or not, and dont feel bad if you do. we were going to do it if the babywhisperer pickup put down stuff didnt work....but it did and now he sleeps through the night mostly. (he's 9 months too). i never thought it would work, but it was brilliant...for us. if you want to try something else much gentler first, you could give it a go. think its www.babywhisperer.com or do a google search for Tracy Hogg. self soothing was definately the key to independent sleep with us.
but if you do cc, then good luck with that too. we were glad we didnt have to, cos i was worried about longer term effects, but as i said, we were getting desperate and we would have if necessary.

JK how is it going??

Hi mums,

How's it going for me? Well it is going good better than I thought. I started with CC on Thursday night and DD cried for 1.5hrs
I started off by going in her room at 1, 2,3 4,5 minutes then increased to 15 minutes. The first 20 minutes were the hardest and I just wanted to go back and pick her up but I felt this was the right thing for her. DD did wake up at around 1am which she does every night and again I went in straightaway but then waited 10 minutes before going in again. She was asleep by the 15th minute. DD woke up again at 2am and this time if was just a bit of cry and she went back to sleep by herself and slept until 9am!!! God, I couldn't believe it!! In fact I had the best sleep for a long time and when I woke up, I ran into her room and she was awake just playing and smiling at me DD looked so fresh because she'd had a good night sleep. Since Friday night it has taken DD about 15 minutes to fall asleep - this is roughly the same time it is taking her during the day. I am amazed how quickly she is able to soothe herself and sleep for 12 hours and 1 hr at every nap time during the day. DD does look brighter and with lots of energy too so I really can't complain about CC. It feels good to know that I can now put her to sleep and she can sleep by herself. It also gives me some time to myself and I'm not sitting by her cot for 45 minutes waiting for her to nod off! I do feel bad for taking this approach but if it means that DD sleeps better, then I've done the right thing. Thank you all for your support.

Fabulous - I'm so glad it helped - well done for sticking with it - I know only too well how hard it is to hold out. A really refreshed & happy baby is worth it though. Well done again sounds like it has done dd good

JK - fab and well done to your clrver little dd