I really don't like the idea of controlled crying but after nearly 10 months of having very little sleep, and the prospect of going back to a stressful full time job in three weeks time, I'm at the end of my tether.
I've tried all of the more 'gentle' techniques and things are getting worse rather than better Co-sleeping also isn't an option.
LO used to at least go down to sleep easily - swaddled for day naps/grobag for bedtime, dummy in, placed in Amby nature nest and he would settle himself to sleep. However over the last month or so he's crawling, standing up etc and so we had to transfer him into a cot. He can also get out of any swaddle so he's now in his grobag for both bedtime and naps (used to be in grobag for just bedtime).
When placed in his cot he will just crawl around, stand up, play at first until he gets so tired that it moves to crying, etc, etc.
I've tried cuddling to sleep which normally works at bedtime, but it's just taken me 1.5 hours to get him down for his afternoon nap that way, and was a battle.
During the night he can waken up to 8 times, sometimes for his dummy, other times we need to spend 1 hour + cuddling back to sleep. I have now attached his dummy to his grobag so he's starting to get the hang of putting it back in himself.
Anyway before this turns into a book, with three weeks left before going back to work I need to do something. So, how do I go about controlled crying step by step? One of the things I'm not sure about is when you go back in after X minutes do you wait until they are settled again, or just let them know you're there and walk back out.
Often I need to literally hold LO down otherwise he just clambers everywhere and gets himself into more of a state. So with CC would I need to wait until he's settled again lying down, or walk away and let him go down himself?
Thanks for your help!