Anyone tried CC and it didnt work?

[wrensmum]

Hi, My DD is 10 mnths old, I've been following the NCSS and when she's well she will normally wake once or twice a night and be easy to sooth back. However, she's been ill, cold, cough, tummy bug and, 3 new teeth in the past mnth, since christmas. I'm not exhausted yet but thats because we're in survival mode and have found a way of coping. However, our relationship is almost dead and something needs to change. After reading the thread on controlled crying, I'm beginning to wonder about it again. Anyone tried it and it didnt work, and why do you think it didnt work?

We tried it on our DD (now 5) when she was around about 10 months old as she was a terrible sleeper and I was going back to work so we were desperate and tried it as a last resort.

It absolutely did not work for us - DD cried and cried and cried even though we followed all the 'rules' etc - effectively she cried on an off all through the night (and when I say cried I mean screamed)- we carried on for 2-3 weeks, people kept saying she would give up - she didn't - in fact we ended up having to switch her room with the spare room as she started to absolutely freak out when she went into her room.

Absolutely hideous nightmare which damaged us all!

I am not evangelical about no controlled crying but I can say our one experiment was a disaster - it absolutely didn't work for DD - however that said NOTHING worked for her - not even a nice sleep consultant lady who came to our house could sort her - she eventually started sleeping through on her own last year bless her - luckily DS (now 3)just slept from 3 months without the need to resort to anything or we would probably be homicidal maniacs by now

I tried it with my ds and it didn't work. After 3 weeks, he was still full on screaming for 2 hours a night. Was a truely traumatic experience for all concerned. I'm pretty sure it was his teeth though. Once they came through, we tried a modified version recommended by our local sleep clinic (going in every 30 seconds to one minute for as long as necessary) and it did work relatively quickly.

It worked for my DS but IMO if it's going to work it works quickly - you should see significant results within 3 nights and it should have worked completely within a week. If this isn't happening, I'd say stop before it all gets too distressing.

Also, if you do do it, be aware that sleep problems will still arise after subsequent illnesses, teething eps etc and you may well need to resort to it again (although again it should be quick). DS, for example usually needs 1 night of it (and he won't cry for as long as the first time we did it) after a sleep disturbance. Once you have done it, it is difficult to find another way of settling them should problems arise again, which is definitely worth bearing in mind.

i tried ncss when ds was waking every 90mins to 2 hours every night to be bf back to sleep. It was useless to me even though I treated it like a bible! What did work was CC - but when ds was 8.5mo. Took about 4 - 5 nights. I went in frequently (2 mins, 2 mins, 3 mins, 4 mins , 4 mins) REALLY gradually building up to about 20 mins (cannot recall exactly now as ds is 3.7yrs). It was the only thing that worked for me.

tried it with ds1, who is now 6 yrs old, and it is one of our biggest regrets. Way too upsetting for everyone and the effects are still way too strong on him even now imo. We co-sleep with ds2 and it is great. He is a happy confident baby, able to sleep anywhere/anytime. And our relationship is fine too

personally I would not recommend cc