Oh, for Goodness Sake, it won't work!

[plummed]

Last night I decided to try the Pick Up/ Put Down Technique with my 8 month old DD. I am getting fed up of her not being able to sleep on her own, and I imagine she is too. Or at least she will be if we don't get it sorted out before she gets much older! But as I understand it, you pick them up when they cry and put them down when they stop. Problem is she stops crying as soon as I pick her up. And then as soon as I put her down she starts screaming. And am I supposed to stay in the room, or leave her on her own? Not that she stops crying long enough for me to go...

We tried for two hours last night before I gave up and lay down with her on our bed. By this time she was hysterical and screaming so much it was making her cough. DP was not happy about sharing our bed when he finally appeared. I managed to transfer her over to the cot, which is what I usually do and she slept until half three, which is a good three hours longer than usual, but then I'm guessing she was exhausted.

I don't know where to go from here. Do I try again? Or should I try something else instead?

You could try 'controlled crying' where you go in, reassure then leave, repeating until they stop crying and sleep. I don't know much about the fine details of timings and whether you leave it progressively longer between visits or shorter but searching on the web should bring up a 'plan'.

I think whatever you try, you need to pick one method and be prepared to stick with it. If you chop and change it just makes things worse and they end up confused.

we did pu/pd. it took a few tries but eventually worked!

ds was the same, he stopped crying as long as i held him then cried when put down, or even when i tried to put him down! i just put him down even though he cried, waited a few seconds cos my back was killing me! then picked him up again. it did eventually work in that we can put him down awake now and he'll get himself to sleep. ds was a bit older than 8 months though when we tried this method, a year old i think. maybe it'll work when your dd is a bit older?

however, he's been poorly lately and all that work seems to have gone out of the window! fantastic!

anyway, hth!

This didn't work with my DS as he just got even more upset if I was there, but as soon as I left the room he would calm down and settle off to sleep. He generally only cries now when he's 'over tired' and I know if I just leave him alone for a minute he'll settle down. I think he gets quite angry if I'm there hovering around but leaving him in his cot. It might be worth you trying leaving him for a few minutes to see if he calms down on his own..?

PU/PD can take a long time, but it has the advantage that it doesn't create negative associations of the cot like CC can. I would tell DP where to shove it. FGS you had a 2-hr ordeal which he could've just as easily done as you, and then to get uppity is beyond selfish.