Cry it out at 4.5 months??

[paz479]

Has anyone tried the cry it out method at 4.5? How hard is is it?? What happens if baby continually cries for over 20 minutes? My baby is a good sleeper at night but very bad Napper. If I try this method will it effect her night time sleep?? Also are the intervals 3,5,12?

I personally don’t agree with sleep training, but I’m pretty sure you shouldn’t attempt any kind of it before a baby is six months old.

Your baby is still very young. If she sleeps well at night then it’s more than likely she just doesn’t need a lot of day time sleep. When you say she’s a bad napper how do you mean?

It's a route I really didn't want to go down! She probably gets between 10-12 hours at night. She won't nap anywhere unless it's in my arms. I also have to do a lot of rocking to get her to sleep. How many hours in the day should she be getting???

I can tell she's tired because she will sleep in my arms for an hour or so but in the cot she's wide awake kicking her feet in the air or screaming as soon as I put her down

All babies are different in terms of how much sleep they need. Just like us the amount varies from day to day.
She's too young for cry it out, she's crying because she wants the comfort of being held/rocked. Doing it in the day when its light also sends mixed messages.

It will stress her out she is too little for that kind of method

I do have black out blinds in her room, thought that might help her nap in her cot. If I let her keep sleeping in my arms will she eventually just grow out of it? She's getting heavy!!! Why do u think she needs the comfort in the day and not the night?

My 4 month old was a bit like that when we moved him into his cot he has so much more room than his Moses basket so rolls around swinging his arms and legs. I went back to swaddling him and he now goes down happy. I think he likes being snuggled up like when they are in your arms. We have a swaddle bag so it makes it easier.

Why not try other methods? You could try and put her down in her cot and sit next to her, soothing her, until she goes to sleep. Then gradually reduce the amount of interaction until you reach the point where you can just leave her. It's called gradual retreat and works well, though it will take a few days at least. You have a good sleeper anyway so she should respond well to a change in nap habits.

I have tried patting and shhhs, I have also tried pick up put down again. Sometimes I get the odd 30-40 minute nap in her cot from doing that but other times Iv tried for an hour then she's over tired and having none of it and we've missed a nap opportunity!

May be a little too young. I did around 8 months. Dd is now the best sleeper- 11 -12 hours from then on and continuing to now a few years later. As a baby she awoke almost every hour

Leaving a baby to cry is a form of torture. Their brain reacts to it the same way as to physical pain. If you wouldn't hit your baby, you shouldn't leave her crying either, because there isn't really a difference.

I personally wouldn't consider cry it out as a method on any aged child, but to subject a 4 month old to it is downright cruel. If she is sleeping well at night she may not need long daytime naps.

I wouldn't use cry it out she's far too young. Does she nap in her pram? My DD napped happily in my arms but never her cot or bed in the day, the pram was a compromise we were both happy with. To start with I rocked in it in the hall and eventually she would fall asleep by herself in it.

Nope she doesn't! Sometimes like the cot you can get the odd nap out of her in there but usually as soon as she's put down it's game over!! How much sleep should she be getting in the day if she roughly has 11 hours at night??

4 months is way too young for crying it out, she will only be this little for such a short time, just rock her to sleep in the day

If you cant do this i.e. if you have another child to look after, have you tried a bouncy chair or swing? Mine loved being in the chair having a look around and would often nod off.

It’s really hard, my DS was the same and would only nap on me and my DD now 3 months is just going through her sleep regression so I feel your pain. For my DS I used shushing and patting on me and then side settling in the cot. His room was pitch black and I had a loud white noise thing. I gradually tried to do less until he could go in less and less drowsy. It was a pain in the arse but it eventually worked. Took a good few weeks. I still stayed in the room with him and did gradual retreat from 6-7 months which involved controlled crying really using intervals of 1,2,4,6,8 minutes. I think we only ever got to 6 minutes once or twice. He started sleeping through from 8 months and has been pretty good since then.

My DD feeds to sleep and I’m using the same methods to try and wean her from it. We also have a sleepyhead for her which I know not everyone agrees with but has worked well for us. Can’t wait to get my bedroom back though and get the stupid white noise penguin out. Good luck - it will get better

Your 4.5 months baby sleeps 10-12 hours a night and you want to sleep train for naps?

Little Z Sleep Podcast and her 4-5 month e coaching. Life savers!

Cry it out is one of the cruelest things you could ever do to a child.

It's not that I want to sleep train I just want her to be able to get some sleep in the day in her cot, cause even though she sleeps at night she still needs sleep in the day she's only a baby!! Thank you for all the helpful advice

Mine just sleeps in me during the day

Mine was like this until about 5months. I'd say embrace the naps being on you for now and she will grow out of it. Mine did really well transferring into the sleepyhead for naps, I think because it's cosy enough to feel like he's still being held.

But also...12hrs a night at 4.5mo is amazing! I'd kill for that now!!

Mine is still like this at 16 months! Will sleep like a baby (pun intended) at night but will not go in his cot in the day for love nor money.
To be honest I gave up trying at around 4 months and he just napped on me, in the pushchair or in the car.
It's worked for us because my husband and I like a bit of cuddle time with DS while he naps and we know that he won't nap for ever.
Just giving another perspective

Another one here still the same at 15 months. He is fine in cot at night but not at all in the day. He napped in my arms until I went back to work, now he falls asleep in the pram.

What times are her naps and how are you putting her down?