https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Tue, 12 May 2026 20:30:22 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-youyour-lo-was-a-cio-drop-out#post-1896183 Fri, 10 Oct 2014 02:08:19 +0000 Cherrybee 1896183@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I'm not a drop-out yet! It's just taking me a bit longer to graduate - I keep repeating the first year!! :silly: </p> <p>My excuses have been as follows: </p> <p>- Maybe she's too young for it now.<br /> - It's a wonder week!<br /> - She just started crawling, cut her some slack<br /> - Agh! She's pulling up. She's gonna fall back and hit he head if we leave her!<br /> - She's just started walking, cut her some slack.<br /> - She's ill (used many times)<br /> - She's teething (used many times) </p> <p>Recently we decided to give it a real go.... night number 1 she cried for an hour but that was okay.... she eventually slept. Night number 2 she was hysterical so after an hour of this we went in and her nappy had leaked - she was soaking wet. I felt awful. I might be near to dropping out now...... </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-youyour-lo-was-a-cio-drop-out#post-1896112 Thu, 09 Oct 2014 22:07:04 +0000 daniellemybelle 1896112@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We are sorta dropouts in that I gave up on nap training &amp; I have not been consistent about night wakings/feedings.</p> <p>We did CIO for bedtime starting at about 4 months I think and we had to retrain a few times. I would stick with it and then we'd have a setback (travel, illness) and I couldn't make her CIO when everything was topsy turvy, so I'd go back to nursing her to sleep. But the most recent round did work and now she puts herself to sleep at night.</p> <p>Naps... oh naps. She would cry for a full hour every time and fall asleep sitting up, and that kept up for a week. I gave up and naps are still pretty bad. I feel like we might need to try again because nothing really works.</p> <p>Wakeups... We have CIO'd for STTN and it was hard but not as bad as I thought, and she started STTN. But then we had illnesses, and we moved, and now at almost 12 months I am up with her once or twice a night... I don't want to do CIO again because she has not been eating/drinking good lately and I feel like she does need to nurse. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-youyour-lo-was-a-cio-drop-out#post-1896106 Thu, 09 Oct 2014 21:58:44 +0000 Mrs. Sunshine 1896106@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Like @Revel we had several half hearted attempts at CIO before we actually stuck with it. I always felt SO guilty for not sticking with it those times because I felt as though all her crying was for no reason. As tired as I was of our sleep routine neither she nor I were ready. Around 7 months we tried it again (i think this was attempt 4) &amp; we actually stuck with it for more than a day! It worked for naps first (i set a timer for 20 minutes, if she was still crying g after that I went to get her &amp; tried again later) &amp; then by 8 months she would no longer fall asleep while nursing so we did it for nights too. I wasn't comfortable with indefinite crying so I set a timer for 30 minutes for night but I never had to go in to comfort her. She took to it right away. We just had to find a time when we were ready for it. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-youyour-lo-was-a-cio-drop-out#post-1896064 Thu, 09 Oct 2014 21:04:41 +0000 Revel 1896064@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We had some half-hearted attempts when LO was around 6 months old, but didn’t actually give a modified CIO a chance until she was 11 months. It worked great for falling asleep on her own but we didn't really stick with it for night wakings, and we still have one wakeup even now at 16 months.</p> <p>Didn't read all the comments but I firmly believe YOU need to be ready as much as your LO. I will say it wasn't as bad as I expected for us, but you need to get to the right place to do it. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-youyour-lo-was-a-cio-drop-out#post-1896051 Thu, 09 Oct 2014 21:00:27 +0000 Jass 1896051@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@mae i dont have advice but i will say if you are not 100 percent into it or are anxious about it your LO will sense that. Anytime i am anxious about my lo sleep she gets it and never goes to sleep. I am waiting andgiving her a month or so if her sleep doesnt improve by 6 months may be we will give sleep training a try. Me and my DH are real softies.<br /> P.s. I am reading a wonderful blog nurshable.com which says just wait it out insted of CIO. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-youyour-lo-was-a-cio-drop-out#post-1895924 Thu, 09 Oct 2014 19:35:02 +0000 looch 1895924@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mae: Sorry to post and run, but here's the run down....short version, lol.</p> <p>My son was swaddled and slept decently until 6 months of age. When he was breaking out of the swaddle, we realized it would be an optimal time to sleep train. So I read Ferber, I read Weissbluth, I read Moms on Call. I couldn't do full extinction, so we decided on Ferber with timed checks. We didn't know if we would be successful with doing nights first or both nights and naps, so we decided to go whole hog, because my son is a creature of habit.</p> <p>We were mildly successful in night training, my husband had to do the checks, while I sat OUTSIDE on the patio, ridic I know. The problem was I didn't have it in me to do the timed checks and hear the crying during the day, so I would rock my son to sleep for naps and lie to my husband about it later. Surprise, surprise, night training fell apart and we decided just to continue cosleeping. We tried the same thing again a month or so later, again with me sabotaging the naps and lying to my husband.</p> <p>At 11 months, we introduced a lovey, the Fisher Price Glo Worm. It was what my son needed, to give him a sense of control. We'd put him in his crib with it and he'd play the music until he fell asleep. It worked for about 6 months, until he decided to quit the crib. We transitioned him to a futon and he also did fine there.</p> <p>When he turned 2, we basically threw him for a huge loop with an international move. He began crying one night and we couldn't calm him down. He threw himself across the room and we made the mistake of bringing him into bed with us, where he remains almost 2 years later. </p> <p>That's the short version, lol. It is the truth, as ridiculous as it sounds. I used to be embarrassed about it, but if it helps you at all, it's worth it to me to share. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-youyour-lo-was-a-cio-drop-out#post-1895921 Thu, 09 Oct 2014 19:34:09 +0000 BrandNewMom 1895921@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mae: We are! 4 days of 45 mins of CIO and she NEVER fell asleep. My kid has a very strong opinion, and her opinion is that she WILL be nursed to sleep until she is bored with it! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-youyour-lo-was-a-cio-drop-out#post-1895891 Thu, 09 Oct 2014 19:15:25 +0000 hilsy85 1895891@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We tried at 5 months and failed bc I just couldn't handle it. We tried again at 6.5 months and it was much better. Success in 3 nights. She might just be too young! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-youyour-lo-was-a-cio-drop-out#post-1895846 Thu, 09 Oct 2014 18:52:27 +0000 catomd00 1895846@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>It doesn't work on all babies (you'll be hard pressed to find anything that works on everyone!) from what I have read and what people have told me, it's not fool proof. They may still regress during developmental leaps, teething, sickness, etc sometimes to the point of having to go through the CIO process all over again. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-youyour-lo-was-a-cio-drop-out#post-1895839 Thu, 09 Oct 2014 18:47:46 +0000 Raindrop 1895839@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mae: I thought that would only happen once... it happened all the time for us. We tried 5 times over the course of 10 days (time to wash his bed sheets and let carpets dry from cleaning... no matter how we covered the carpet... throw up always got on it! Resolve is your friend). </p> <p>Maybe you can try again? It might have been a fluke. :) *fingers crossed for you* Good luck!</p> <p>I'm sad to say what we do now... is hang out with him in his room till we know he's dead asleep and we sneak out. When we are tired we just throw him in bed with us. Not ideal at all! It's all we can do. We know some day he will grow out of wanting to us to be there when he sleeps. So right now I'm just happy to snuggle with him while he lets us.</p> <p>ETA we try CIO every few months... still throwing up... didn't want to be a debbie downer just letting you know what we have gone through! :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-youyour-lo-was-a-cio-drop-out#post-1895834 Thu, 09 Oct 2014 18:44:58 +0000 Anagram 1895834@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mae: one of my closest mom friends had a baby who would cry till she threw up, so they didn't "drop out" per se...but postponed. They waited a month or two, tried again and that time, there was crying but no throwing up so they went through with it and got their LO to Sttn after a week or so. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-youyour-lo-was-a-cio-drop-out#post-1895827 Thu, 09 Oct 2014 18:42:12 +0000 Mae 1895827@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Raindrop: thats what happened to us. Night 1 LO threw up and I gave up. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-youyour-lo-was-a-cio-drop-out#post-1895789 Thu, 09 Oct 2014 17:27:21 +0000 Raindrop 1895789@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We are totally drop outs but it's because when LO gets really upset he actually throws up. So every time we tried CIO he would throw up and we would have to clean EVERYTHING and he would end up sleeping with us anyways. *sigh* </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-youyour-lo-was-a-cio-drop-out#post-1895766 Thu, 09 Oct 2014 17:11:47 +0000 plantains 1895766@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mae: to be honest, it is all so fuzzy now I can't remember for sure! I think the first week was rough and it got much better after that. We didn't have the overnight or 2-3 night success that others have had though, we had to stick with it. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-youyour-lo-was-a-cio-drop-out#post-1895750 Thu, 09 Oct 2014 17:03:18 +0000 Mae 1895750@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@looch: how did you know it wouldn't work v just taking longer?</p> <p>@plantains: how long did it take until she was at say 10 min or less/night ?</p> <p>@catomd00: I think if I had confidence it would work I'd get ok with it. But I've heard ppl say it didn't work for them and I don't know if that's bc they gave up too soon or bc it actually doesn't work on some babies. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-youyour-lo-was-a-cio-drop-out#post-1895743 Thu, 09 Oct 2014 16:55:57 +0000 catomd00 1895743@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>It sounds like you're not comfortable with it and I think that's the biggest point of success for CIO because you have to be consistent. I haven't done it though so that's my inexperience opinion. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-youyour-lo-was-a-cio-drop-out#post-1895732 Thu, 09 Oct 2014 16:43:38 +0000 looch 1895732@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I guess we are technically CIO dropouts. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-youyour-lo-was-a-cio-drop-out#post-1895729 Thu, 09 Oct 2014 16:39:39 +0000 plantains 1895729@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mae: we tried initially at 4.5/5 months but we weren't fully commited and gave in. We stopped, regrouped and tried again 2 weeks before the 6 month mark because I was due to go to work. We focused initially on getting her to fall asleep on her own but didn't try to eliminate MOTN wakings. Eventually when she was successfully falling asleep on her own, we dropped the night wakings one at a time.</p> <p>I will say that the first night we did it she cried for almost 3 hours. Every night she cried less and we eventually got to the point where she cried for 5 mins when we put her down. A week later, she was going down without a peep, still does. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-youyour-lo-was-a-cio-drop-out#post-1895715 Thu, 09 Oct 2014 16:30:25 +0000 Mae 1895715@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@plantains: what did your path to success with it look like? </p> <p>@loveisstrange: same question. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-youyour-lo-was-a-cio-drop-out#post-1895663 Thu, 09 Oct 2014 15:45:36 +0000 loveisstrange 1895663@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>C is SO stubborn. Like, crazy "i will stay up ALL day at because I just dont want to nap, damnit, and you cant make me" stubborn. CIO worked for us. 100%. </p> <p>However, we had to do it extinction style (checks just made her angry and confused.) and we had to be super strict. Like @plantains: said, any wavering set us back in a big way. If you're not committed, it wont work. Period.</p> <p>Yes, its hard... but to me it was worth it. 3-4 nights of crying was worth a happier, healthier, better rested mom and baby. It ended up being fairly quick for us, less than a week. She's 2.5 and is still a great sleeper outside of sickness, teething and jet lag. That being said, it's not for everybody. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-youyour-lo-was-a-cio-drop-out#post-1895651 Thu, 09 Oct 2014 15:35:40 +0000 plantains 1895651@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We didn't drop out, but I will say that my DD was very stubborn but we stuck with it and it worked. If we wavered for a moment though it would typically set us back a week. At that age if she sensed any weakness she would never stop crying. </p> <p>Can you have your DH do it and you leave the house for a bit? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/if-youyour-lo-was-a-cio-drop-out#post-1895626 Thu, 09 Oct 2014 15:23:54 +0000 Mae 1895626@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Why? Do you think your LO was just not the right personality for it? Do you think the timing was wrong? Do you think it might have worked but you just didn't have it in you to stick with it? </p> <p>My husband is sort of pushing for CIO(Ferber) and if I had a sense of confidence that it would work I think I would be more convinced. But I'm just fearful that my LO is too stubborn for it to work. And my lack of confidence in the program means that I don't have much stick-to-itiveness to try it, which I'm sure doesn't help (we sort of started trying this week but night 1 my LO got so upset she threw up and I declared the experiment over, basically) </p>