controlled crying: when do you start?

[ranirani]

My baby boy is just 2 weeks old, and he is not much of a crier really. But he devceloped a new habit now: when I put him on the breast, he sucks for 5-10 mins, then nods off, and as soon as I put him down, 5 mins later wakes up again. I put him to the breast, the sawe story- falls asleep after 5 mins. It can repeat itself 7 times in a row.
My in lows insist i should let him cry a bit, but I have read it is too early to start CC. For Christ's sake, he is only 2 weeks old! But they say: you are gonna have a problem because you will be tied up to him all the time, and I am self employed ( my DH as well) so I have to find few hours a day to do soem computer work. I still feel it is n way too early to start practicing CC. when do you actually start?

2 weeks is very little and leaving your baby to cry is a completely personal thing. Do whatever you feel comfortable with and don't let your inlaws pressure you. I think 2 weeks is too young to form bad habits anyway (I read somewhere this was after 3 months?)

With my DS I waited till he was about 6-8 weeks before I let him cry before immediately attending to him - then what I did was agree (for my sake not his) a time limit of 2 mins before going to him (and I actually had to time it as it felt like ages). I know this was still quite young but this was what I felt comfortable with. My DS is now 18 weeks old, a really happy baby in the daytime and self settles for naps and bedtime very well. Sometimes leaving them to cry a bit teaches them that they don't always need you to be ok but making sure you attend to their needs makes them confident that if they are distressed mummy (or daddy!) will be there (when they are a bit older you can "read" their cries too and figure out what a distressed one sounds like). I think this has made my DS a happy baby who often wakes in the morning and spends 10-15 mins chatting to himself before he decides he "needs" me.

Hope this helps!