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Original poster

CC Whats the longest theyve cried for?

41 replies

kbaby · 20/12/2004 21:09

DD is 7months and weve decided to try CC. At the moment she goes to bed at 8 wakes at 11pm stayes awake until 1ish and then wakes again at 4 where she comes into bed and I bf her back to sleep.

Due to the constantly disturbed nights we need to sort it out.
Ive bough Ferbers book but wanted to know what was the worst I could expect? How long did you LO cry for each night and how many nights?

Appreciate the feedback
Thanks

OP posts:
zaphod · 20/12/2004 21:29

IME it takes about 3 to 5 days to work, and if you are following Ferber, you have to let them cry until they fall asleep. (Still going in at intervals). With mine, it took about an hour and a half on average the first night, and less each succeeding night. I used Ferber on all of my (5) children, and if you are willing to stick with it, it really works.

Having said that, it took 6 days to work for my last baby, but he is a very determined child, and I was nearly ready to give up, when he suddenly gave in and slept. HTH.

nailpolish · 20/12/2004 21:29

i didnt leave dd longer than 20 mins

GodBLOSSyoumerrygentlemen · 20/12/2004 21:35

The worst I had personally was 2.5 hours when trying to do it for 5am waking. That was only one day, though, and the next day he slept till 6.45am and kept doing that for the next few years. It was tough but incredibly effective and good!

I've asked around a lot, and it's rare to go more than 2.5 hours IF you have always stuck to CC properly. If you have tried it before and then given up after, say, an hour, they are likely to cry much, much longer. SO the lesson is don't start this until you're sure you can stick to it.

Typically it's over in 3-5 days for your age group if done properly. BUT be aware that it may improve for a few nights, then go backwards for one night before it's fixed. Don't lose heart when there's one night that's worse than before... that's normal.

wheresmyturkey · 20/12/2004 21:37

DD started at about half an hour (thats with a few pu/pd intervals) but was at about a minute after six days and now happily lies down and weaves goodnight when we put her down

wrapmefestively · 20/12/2004 21:45

About 45 minutes, gradually reducing. Problem licked inside a fortnight.

snowdonim · 20/12/2004 22:00

About 2.5 to 3 hours, by which time she was no nearer sleep, was hysterical and covered in snot and vomit. The following days she was pale, trembling and clung to me like glue. Never again.

pixiefish · 20/12/2004 22:05

I've had something similar snodomin- 30 mins of going in and telling her it was sleep time and following the advice and all I had was a desperate, puking, quivering mess who sobbed herself to sleep in my arms and who was still sobbing in her sleep 2 hours later. Also very insecure and clingy the next day- am hoping and praying that it'll fall into place when she's ready [hopeful smile]

otto · 21/12/2004 10:31

My ds was 7 months when we did it and he cried for about an hour and a half on the first night, then 30 minutes the following night and then about 1 minute the third night and then slept right through. I've been taking him to a sleep clinic and they warned that it can often be worse on the second night, so watch out for that.

Good luck

throckenrobin · 21/12/2004 10:32

I guess about 1.5 hours the first night, and hour the second and not at all by about 5 nights.

SabineJ · 21/12/2004 11:26

I have never used the CC method fully as I knew that I would not be able to let DS crying like this for more that 15 ~ 20 min.
However, I used quite a lot of the techniques like not talking to him and teaching him to fall asleep without BF or bottle.
It worked !! (Just perhaps a little longer than what has been reported by other mumns with CC).
Also, DS has a very strong temperament and I knew I would just have found myself in the same situation than snowdonim.
Good luck whatever you choose !

babydriver · 21/12/2004 13:10

I didn't have the heart for CC but found that the pick up/put down method set out in Tracey Hogg's Baby Whisperer book worked well for us. Like CC, you have to be prepared to stick with it. You might have to pu/pd up to 100 times the first night. But it does get better very quickly (matter of days) and you're not leaving your baby alone or allowing them to get so worked up to the point of being sick.

Before you go down the CC route, or pu/pd, don't forget to check some of the obvious stuff about whether your baby is getting cold or hungry at night - a long sleeved vest and a hearty evening meal also help!

littledonkeyrach · 21/12/2004 13:27

We did similat to Sabine, as I didn't want to let DD1 cry that much.
Also gradual withdrawal worked.

sleepdeprived · 21/12/2004 13:35

Those of you who talk about 1, 2, 3 hours the first night - I assume you mean during this time you were going in at, say, 5 then 10 then 15-min intervals, then sticking at 15 or whatever? Important to make this clear. Leaving them for a long stretch the first night is cold turkey, not cc.

Anyone considering cc, please read the Ferber book as it's not as simple as it sounds. (I nearly didn't - thought I understood it but really didn't have all the info.) I used Tracy Hogg's Pick-Up-Put-Down technique for a week or so before resorting to cc, so I think DS was getting used to the idea of fewer nighttime cuddles, but using cc I only needed to let him cry for a max of 5 minutes at a time, although this went on for 2.5 hours. He slept 12h the next night and has done so for 5 out of 7 nights since - and even the nights where he's woken have been NOTHING like the all-night marathons we used to suffer.

mears · 21/12/2004 13:43

I would leave it a bit longet before starting. See here

bluemoon · 21/12/2004 13:53

Sleepdeprived is right, read the Ferber very carefully and decide what sort of time you will be able to last before going in.

I have to say though that I also strongly agree with mears. I would never have done cc with dd at 7 months even though most people say you can at 6 months +. I don't think they're old enough to understand what's happening. We did it with dd at 15 months when she was going through her first real going to bed rebellions, previously to that she'd been a relatively good sleeper without me having to do cc or withhold affection / b/f in the night during the early months. I think that a lot of babies wake at night still needing a feed at 7 months old. When you say your dd is awake for two hours between 11pm-1am, what's happening then? Do you feed her? Rock her? If you're avoiding feeding her then I'd be tempted to feed her, she may be one of those babies who need a 'dream feed' type top up and she might then sleep through?

If there's an issue like she's genuinely hungry then doing cc wouldn't be kind on anyone.

sleepdeprived · 21/12/2004 14:07

Agree with bluemoon. DS is 11 months, and I wouldnt have been happy doing it earlier. Note that with Ferber you decide the maximum length of time you're comfortable with your baby crying for.

snowdonim · 21/12/2004 17:53

Just to confirm, my experience was with going in every few minutes. I wouldn't dream of leaving a baby for hours on its own.

zsooz · 21/12/2004 22:28

really got upset tonight. I have recently introduced CC which has been a godsend abd very successful. My DS is nearly 7 months but I went to drop off some pressies for my brother and they have a 15 day old baby which they have already started on the CC. Am I a wuss? I even cried on the way home as I was upset for her all alone upstairs in the dark whilst we were downstairs.Surely that's too young? I must be hormonal

80sMum · 21/12/2004 22:45

15 days is far too young for a baby to be left to cry imo. No wonder you cried on the way home; I would have too. Poor little mite. I would suggest a child should be at the very least 6-9 months old before cc is appropriate. Before that, it just seems cruel.

TinselTamum · 21/12/2004 22:49

I would have thought it was downright damaging on a child that age. Incredibly heartless too.

Gwenick · 21/12/2004 23:01

Did this with DS1 when he was 6 months old. At the time he was sleeping in our bed, waking every hour for a feed and feeding for over 1hr. He wouldn't sleep anywhere on his own but the pushchair or my breast so CC it was.

day 1 - went in a 2,5,10,15 and finally 30 minute intervals. He went 2hrs 52 minutes before finally falling alseep - covered in snot, the works. He woke up once during the night, but before I had a chance to go into him he'd done a little whimper and went back to sleep.

day 2 - took about 30 minutes

day 3 - 10 minutes

He then 'stuck' at 10 minutes for about 2 weeks (didn't bother going in during those 10 minutes after a while) and then suddenly one day screamed as I was leaving the room and then when quiet. Now he's 4yrs old he's been like a dream ever since

xmashampermunker · 21/12/2004 23:10

FFS - 15 DAYS?! That's inhuman. I've hesitated before posting 'inhuman', for obvious reasons, but decided it describes how I feel about it best.

lockets · 21/12/2004 23:14

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

Gwenick · 21/12/2004 23:16

meant also to add the 15 days it WAY to early to be doing it. We didn't start until DS1 was 6 months old and that was the minimum age recommended to us by the sleep clinic

xmashampermunker · 21/12/2004 23:16

I felt the same Lockets - I made a person! (Actually, that's still pretty damn incredible to me - the first time my body's done something right in a long time!).

And there is no way that that person would've been left in a room to cry at a fortnight old. Heck, I don't leave him crying now (fussing, yes, outright crying no) and he's 8.5 months!

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