No Cry sleep solution.

[anonymama]

In brief, what is the no-cry sleep solution in a nutshell? (I can't believe it's worth reading a whole book on it; in my exp. all these parenting books usually peddle one idea which is repeated over 200 pages - so am sure there will be a MNer who can provide a useful synopsis).

DS2 is 4mths. Have breastfed him to sleep since he was born, as it feels churlish not to - it's on tap after all. But am wondering if I am making a rod for my own back. At 4mths is he too young to be considered a candidate for sleep training of any sort? (At night, he wakes, gets fed, and then goes back in his cot no worries - daytime naps are variable).

bump!!

Have absolutely no idea about a no cry technique, but as for 4 month year olds and sleep training, I did controlled crying at 4 and a half months and it worked, he got the idea pretty quickly.

Good luck with the no cry stuff, hope it works because although I don't think it is bad for babies to scream it was jolly difficult on my nerves.

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Have forgotten what the book said as it was so useless to us. I ended up calling it the No Sleep Cry Solution.

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It's definitely not controlled crying, but it IS another prescriptive way of doing things, albeit with a "heart". All IMO of course. I hated the writing style. I hated the way you had to stress over keeping a diary of the time they woke up and what you did beforehand etc etc.

Don't really care what NCSS says, it worked for me and that's all that was important
Actually had to google them as I don't know who they are, thats how little I care
I will make up my own mind about what I do for my child and if you read my response I wasn't advocating it for anyone else, was just talking about my experience of if a baby of that age could be trained.

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The NCSS is shorthand for No Cry Sleep Solution.

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NCSS worked for us. As has been said before it's anti the controlled crying, but does tend to be written in an annoying style.

Has useful ideas, I foudn the idea of keeping a diary of sleep useful to see just how much ds was getting and there's a table which gives a rough guide of how much sleep a child should have.

Has its uses, I woud'nt follow to the letter, just skim the chapters for your dc and try it.

Have just searched MN for other posts on CC, and seems that most MNers believe that 4mths is too young to let them "cry it out" (despite what annoyingly smug SIL advises). This is my gut feeling too, and I usually just boob him to sleep and enjoy the big cuddle. It was just that tonight, a dog barked outside, and he woke up again and wouldn't take a boob, and was going mental. It has taken us 2hrs to get him settled. Good old DH has just got him to sleep by rocking him on his knee whilst I've been on MN.

(Don't ask me what we did with DS1, my mind seems to have been wiped... Think he was more of cryer in the daytime, but quite good at bedtime).

Thank god for MN and DP!! Hoorah! Time for my bed now!!

ten10, thanks for your posts. Everyone finds their own way, and good for you if you managed to get your baby to sleep well so young. There are some schools of thought that babies who can "self soothe" get better and more sleep throughout their infancy and childhood, which is good for their growth and development. FWIW will try CC if DS2 not settling well by the end of the year.

And thanks everyone else. It's good to have a range of viewpoints. Child-rearing is not an easy job when you are giving it your best shot!

I don't have much time now but wanted to share my experience, dd is now nearly 3 and we have used this book mostly as a guide to provide us with reassurance and confidence, I felt it was well written sensible and helpful.

dd sleeps well and particularly the going to sleep part was helpful dd is usually asleep within 10-20 of going to bed.

I have also used the Toddler book.

over the years we have had good periods and bad periods of sleep, mostly connected with developmental stages both physical and emotional.
these books have helped us make sense of it and muddle through

The thing I liked about the NCSS is that rather than prescribe One True Way of solving sleep problems, it presents several different ideas that may work for you, and you pick the ones you think will help and give them a go. I'd say, get a copy from the library, read the relevant chapters (skip the filler), take what you like and leave the rest.