If not CIO then what...?

[BarryMcguigan]

My one year old can not fall asleep on their own. They will fall asleep whilst BF or in the car if tired enough.

I'm back at work now and a pretty average night will go like this -

Normal and nicely structured day with two nice naps in cot (or in car at a push) naps and food and bedtime routine all as they 'should be' every day. Baby eats very well and breastfeeds.

7pm bf to sleep
8wake up rock to sleep
9wake up rock to sleep
11 wake up rock to sleep
3/4 wake up bf
5/6/7 stirring frequently and in bed with me to bf in demand back to sleep.

At the 5/6 month mark we used pick
Up put down with 'no crying' to ease baby into being laid down awake and shushed to sleep but that's stopped working on the last few months since baby can stand up and sit up in cot.

I won't CIO but what else do I have?

Hopeful bump

Secrets of the Baby Whisperer.

I was half crazy with sleep deprivation. Baby Would Not Sleep. Baby whisperer methods sorted us. No CIO.

Thank you! I will look into it

We’ve just started using the Lucy Wolfe book with our 10 month old who was always breast fed or rocked to sleep. It’s a ‘stay and soothe’ approach. We’re only 4 days in but it’s working well so far.

@birdybirdbird in simple terms putting them in cot and standing close and patting but not picking up?

Pretty much @BarryMcguigan We shush as well but avoid hand/finger holding and you have to judge whether being picked up will be helpful or just make it worse. She suggests trying different touches to see what they like, my LO like having his arm stroked. It took 90 mins the first night - very little crying (I have no stomach for it at all!), just occasional bursts and lots of him crawling, sitting, standing. An hour on night two and has kept going down. She suggests which ever parent they sleep better for doing the first couple of night, then the other do a couple, then alternating. My DH started as he’s s lot calmer than me and we wanted to break the feed to sleep. I’m currently winning on quickest time though!

Sorry that’s a bit garbled. Said baby is currently trying to clamber all over me! She has an Instagram account with some useful bits on.

What we did with our four when we night weaned off the breast was I went and slept somewhere else and left DH to it. So they were never left alone but there was no milk on offer. First night they cried for a bit but second and third night was minutes then slept through, by a week I could go back to sleeping next to them. Was about 14 months as well. The first three moved into their own rooms at that stage but DS the last had to stay with us until he was 2 and a 1/2 as his room was being built.