Controlled crying

[prickleyfairy]

Mia still wakes 2-3 times in the night, and it's really starting to get me down i'm just so tired, and DH and i are ratty with one another because we are tired. We've tried everything-feeding her later, filling her up during the day, warm baths, dreamdfeed, and shes now on 3 meals a day as well as her milk but she still wakes up.

I don't like listening to her cry...but we have to do something, who has done the controlled crying, and would you say it's worth a few days of pain to get her to sleep, so she has a happier mummy and daddy?

How often would we have to go in and reasure her? Would we have to do the same each time she woke up??

Amy xx

 

[kellie80]

We did it with Aimee whan she was 11 months old cos she was waking up around 10 times a night. We started off going into reassure her every 10 minutes for the first half hour, then every 20 minutes till she went off. On the first night she screamed for 1 hour then went off. She woke another 4 times in the night each time she cried herself to sleep in 20 minutes. It only took one night which really suprised me as i was expecting about a week, the 2nd night she almost slept through. I just went into her lay her down and gave her a dummy and calmed her down and left straight away. Hope it works for you!

 

[Lindsay]

Hi hun

We did controlled crying when Jacob was 6 months, if I remember it took about a week before he started to settle himself with no crying at all. We used to go in every 2 mins, then 3 mins until it got to 10mins - we didn't leave him for longer than 10mins. We did it though because he couldn't go to sleep on his own, he needed to be rocked to sleep in our arms and would wake up as soon as we put him in his cot. I am going to be really honest with you, controlled crying did not help with the waking during the nights, he still did (and still does) I found that it was worse during the night listening to him cry (sorry if this isn't what you wanted to hear hun) I will probably be blasted by lots of people for saying what I am going to say but even now Jacob will wake up during the night and we bring him in with us now. Last night he went to sleep at 7.30pm in his cot (he falls asleep on his bottle still!) and woke at 1.30am when we brought him in with us. He settled himself and then slept until I had to get up for work at 7am. I made the decision that I couldn't be performing in the night when I am at work. I hope that you get sorted hun - I know how hard it is especially when you are so tired. sending you ((((hugs)))

Xxx

 

[nathanmum]

we started when nathan was around 7 months old. we done the put hime down leave him to cry til we couldnt bear it then cuddle settle down ect. when he woke in night we just picked him up said its nighttime and put him down and let him cry it out. it took him about 2 days to go down awake and sleep through. im really glad we did it. i would recommend at first putting them down when they are sleepy/tired if you put them down awakish then youve got no chance. dont say right its 7 o clock strict bedtime your just setting yourself up to fail, you can build up to that.

 

[Em78]

we have done it both for getting him to go to sleep alone and then later if he started waking in the night.

its not easy and i would def receommend doing it when you are both there as its a lot easier than doing it alone.

the first night we went in every 2 mins, then after about ten mins we went in twice more and he was alseep with half an hour total, next night it took 15 mins, next night five and then the next it was literlly about 30 seconds of a slight grizzle before he just put his head down and closed his eyes. this was when he was about 3 months i guess but he was going through the night, it was just to get him to go to bed alone.

it was harder when he started waking in the night again and he would go for about an hour (maybe having dozed off halfway through and then woke up again) and he did carry on waking like that for a couple of weeks - sometimes it was only for 10 mins sometimes longer.

we still use it sometimes if he wakes in the night. its totally a personal choice but i want him to know once he is in bed thats it - not coming out unless something is really wrong. so even if he needs some calpol or something he has it in his cot and then we leave again. as i said this is just how we do things and i dont think there is a right and wrong way - just your way!

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

[Melly+2]

wot we did hun was to let hope be up most of the day, coz she was waking constantly in the night, then about half past 9 we would give her a bath and give her a massage, then we would give jer a last bottle in the evening and then bed, it oln ly took a few days and now she sleeps through. do you always put your baby in the cot when she sleeps during the day or does she sleep in a bouncy chair x

 

[Alfiesmummy]

YES DO IT HUN! best thing iv ever done with Alfie, and i never actually went and picked him up id walk over to him stroke his face and say shhhhh gently. We started doing it when he was really young because what else can you do when you know that hes clean fed and winded at that age the only other thing they want is cuddles and attention, i give Alfie so many hugs and attention in the day i wanted him to learn very quickly NO bedtime is bedtime first time we did it we took him to bed at 5 (he was tired bless him) and we bathed changed and fed him and he cried and he cried for about half an hour, then fell asleep, i went up every five mins and he eventually knew he wasnt getting picked up, after about 3 nights i think it was he cried for 20 minutes then it went to ten then to five then to not crying at all, now he sleeps through from 5.30pm - 5.30am back down by 5.45am till 8am i wouldnt look back

 

[Nic'n'Keeley]

alfie sleeps from 5pm to 5 am...? god keeley sleeps from half 9pm til 5 am i'm gonna kidnap you lol

 

[Alfiesmummy]

lol yeah but then he goes back to sleep till 8am then has 3 naps in the day i can see im going to have loads of angry tired women wanting to lynch me now

 

[Nic'n'Keeley]

god thats good how did you do it? keeley cries for about half hour in her cot with me keep going back to put the dummy back in before she falls asleep

 

[Melly+2]

hope can go from 5pm til 7.30am, she has done that a couple of times now x

 

[Alfiesmummy]

I did it with him from when he was about 4 weeks old and at first he did cry but he learnt quickly that he wouldnt get his own way, he would sleep through till about twelve them 3 then six then nine, then he cut out the 12 feed, then he cut out the 3 feed and went till 5 and hes only just started going back down till 8 b4 i had to get up with him, and i did the same with that he was drifting to sleep so i thought great get him to have an extra hour and as soon as i put him down he started wingeing i stood there for about 5 minutes thinking i wonder if he will go to sleep and he did and now he does it every morning and i get a couple hours extra sleep

 

[Nic'n'Keeley]

god i'm jealous lol

 

[Alfiesmummy]

IM A NO NONSENSE MUMMY! well at night i am during the day im a push over the smallest cry im like im here baby but no i need me time and at night time thats when i get it. bless his heart but youknow as soon as iv bathed him and put him down he looks so clean and beautifull that i just want to pick him up and cuddle him ... but only made that mistake once im like him i learn quickly

 

[prickleyfairy]

Thanks for all the replies...God i envy you fingerscrossed...hopefully that will be Mia in a few weeks!!

As it's the weekend, and DH is off tomorrow....we are going to give it a go tonight. Mia dosnt really have a problem getting herself to sleep its the waking 2/3 times a night...so wish us luck, and will let you know how we get on.

Amy xx

 

[Keely]

good luck

xxxx

 

[Kelly G]

i hope it went well amy

 

[Alfiesmummy]

how did it go hun?

 

[prickleyfairy]

Well i'm surprised...it went alot better than i thought. Mia had her last milk feed at 7.30, she then went to bed awake at 8pm, and was asleep after 10 minutes, she then woke at 11.30pm so we left her for 10 minute-she grizzled a little and then fell asleep.

Mia then woke again at 3.30am, she grizzled again for about 10 minutes so i went in to see her and said shh shh and left again and after another 10 minutes she fell asleep....i could'nt believe she settled so well without her milk-normally i'm up out of bed straight away,pick her up and feed her. She then woke at 5.30am and started crying by this time she hadnt had a feed since 7.30pm which is a long time to go, so i fed her(should i of fed her, or let her settle again?) but after she was fed she went back to sleep till 8.30 this morning!!!

I did think she would of screamed the house down cos i didnt feed her in the night-it just goes to show she didnt really need the 2 feeds in the night she was having. Going to try again tonight.....so hopefully soon she wont wake up at all!

Thanx for your support girls

Amy xx

 

[Kelly G]

Thats great!

This was happening with Olivia as soon as she grizzled in the night i would get up and feed her! She was only waking up once tho between 1 and 2am but she was only taking a couple of ounces of milk so we knew she wasnt really hungry!

I started leaving her a bit or getting up and putting her dummy in, at first it seemed like i was up every 5 minutes putting her dummy in again, and i was tired the next day as i found myself laying awake waiting for her to wake again!

Anyway i carried on and eventually after christmas she started to wake later and later, at one point she was waking between 5 and 6 having a feed then going off untill 7.45 when i had to wake her to get her ready to take Brooke to school!

Now she has her last feed at 8 and is in bed by 8.30 and she wakes between 7 and 7.30! Sometimes she wakes earlier but i just leave her in her cot untill she cries then i get her up and feed her!

My next aim tis to try and get her to bed a little earlier! Im hoping this will come in time tho!

It is hard tho isn't it! We did the controlled crying with Brooke when she about 10 months and it was heartbreaking but it did work!

I do hope this is the end of the sleepless night for you tho!
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