I never intended to CIO, but it's happening now and I'm a wreck. DH is traveling and I spent an hour rocking H to sleep before putting her in her crib so I could cook dinner. She has been screaming off and on for 15 minutes. I don't know if I'll make it, but I just can't keep spending upwards of an hour trying to get her to sleep. I'll still be nursing overnight.
There's no real point to this. I just needed to talk to people who would understand.
hostess / eggplant / 11068 posts
Huuuuuuuuuuuuugs.
*pouring you wine*
*lighting you a cigarette*
*anything else you might want or need*
cantaloupe / 6692 posts
Hugs. 
I know what you mean. We haven't done CIO yet but I know the feeling about spending so much time with no outcome.
blogger / honeydew / 7081 posts
HUGE hugs! I started a few desperate threads here while in the throes of CIO.
It gets better. Its hard, and then it gets better. Can you break out the wine? Find a good TV show, set the timer (if you're doing checks), and focus on the TV until the timer buzzes.
GOLD / watermelon / 14076 posts
I totally get it. I was a mess when we did CIO. I always felt a lot better when she greeted me with a big smile the next morning. ((HUGS))
coconut / 8472 posts
It will be so worth it. Just try to stay strong. We did CIO and he goes to sleep now with no crying and stays asleep for 10-12 hours. Whereas before he was sleeping in 2-3 hour chunks and had to be nursed to sleep.
pineapple / 12053 posts
it's ok. even if you don't dive into CIO head first. it's fine to have a mental health break and give LO some time (even if crying!). crying won't break her. you love her and she loves you! good luck mama!
nectarine / 2521 posts
@avivoca: Ugh. I've sat outside the door of the nursery and cried with a glass of wine when nothing else would work and he just had to CIO. That being said, wine cures many things and hope you are able to have a big glass tonight 
apricot / 313 posts
I found doing the checks made me feel better. I'd go in make sure she was safe/ok. Let her know I loved her and walked out. The first night she cried for an hr. It killed me, but it worked. It was a slow process but she now goes to sleep on her own no problems. If she doesn't want to sleep right away she plays quietly and then falls asleep shortly after. Don't beat yourself up, lots of people do cio and their babies are just fine. I never thought I was gonna be that mom, but in the end what kind of mom would I of been if I had lost it. You need you time too!
watermelon / 14467 posts
@Rubies: @kml636: @redsmarties: I wish I could drink. My freezer stash is nil since I used most of it when i was sick. I'm going to get absolutely plastered when I finally drink all the drinks I've promised myself when I wean.
@Danizaur: 
@lawbee11: @birdofafeather: thank you!
@Dandelion: Thank you!
@ShootingStar: I hope she moves to just one wake up. She's been waking up 3-4 times for the past several weeks.
coconut / 8472 posts
@avivoca: Yeah, we used to get at least 3 a night, too. With CIO it went down to 1, then I started making sure we were tanking him up with food during the day and he dropped the last wake up. The only time he does it now is if he hasn't eaten enough during the day.
pear / 1563 posts
I was a very reluctant sleep trainer but there was much less crying than I expected and it really was the best thing for all of us. LOs sleep got so much better. Even though she still wakes at least once a night at 13 months to nurse, it's working for us at the moment.
Good luck, I hope your LO is asleep now!
grapefruit / 4079 posts
I know it's hard but I am so glad we did it. We are down to either one wake up or a 12 hour stretch without any. I started with naps and then did bedtime but thats just because one day it was so hard to get him to nap and I had taken all I could. I will be honest, it will get worse before it gets better. Day 2 was the worse but then magically by day 4 it was over. hugs!
wonderful cherry / 21504 posts
@avivoca: how is it going? We did CIO in much the same way- just got to a point where we could. Not. Rock her. One more night. She was screaming if we rocked her or if we put her down, so we put her down. I was in tears, saying we were doing it wrong, it wasn't fair to her.., it sucked and then it got SO much better. I'm sorry you have to do it alone though, that's even harder. I hope she is sleeping now and you can relax!
grapefruit / 4988 posts
Hugs! It gets better. My LO's sleep got sooo much better after we did it. It was rough but worth it. And (knock on wood), we have never needed to do it again.
papaya / 10473 posts
Big hugs. I never wanted to sleep train, but it was necessary for my marriage and my sanity. I hope she learns that sleep feels good and catches on quick!
honeydew / 7303 posts
goooood luck! I never wanted to either, but it was a necessity at 11.5 months and hours of multiple wakes up a night. Lifechanger!
pineapple / 12802 posts
It will be ok!
I never wanted to sleep train, but I was losing my mind and not functioning like a human. In the end he was visibly much happier and so was i!
watermelon / 14467 posts
@Foodnerd81: She 's been asleep for about an hour and 15 minutes. I went in to do a check and she flipped out, so I picked her up and hugged her for a few minutes before I put her down. She fell asleep 10 minutes later. I can't wait to squeeze her little self when she wakes up.
I hope she goes back to waking up between 10:30-11:00 for a feed. The last couple of weeks she has been getting up to nurse about an hour after going down. She was teething and had the beginning of an ear infection, so I think it became habit. FX she sleeps!
cantaloupe / 6669 posts
HUGS HUGS HUGS!!!
You are a great mama! We have done a lot of CIO & it sucks but sometimes it's the only option! LO CIO'd for all night wake-ups a few weeks ago & it's been life altering. No regrets.
Good luck!
grapefruit / 4079 posts
@daniellemybelle: how long did she cry? We've tried it and M has cried over an hour and I break.
cantaloupe / 6669 posts
@ladybee: The longest was 45 minutes but it wasn't hard crying the whole time. I told myself that 1 hour was my breaking point, too, but luckily we never made it to that point.
How much does he usually eat at night? LO had basically night weaned & was just comfort nursing. Maybe you need to slowly cut back bottles first?
Oh and did you do checks or extinction? I was a big believer in checks UNTIL we did extinction - I think crying is definitely prolonged with checks.
grapefruit / 4079 posts
@daniellemybelle: full on extinction here. Checks tick him off! He wakes between 4 and 5am and I give him 5 ounces of water. I thought for sure that would break him!
pomegranate / 3160 posts
@avivoca: Following along...I just posted a thread asking about MOTN CIO, too. We're also dealing with the wakeup an hour and a half after putting her down. WHY?!
Hope it went alright!
watermelon / 14467 posts
@daniellemybelle: Last night wasn't bad! I put rocked her a bit and put her in her crib at 7:30. She screeched off and on (but not the huge crocodile tears we had the first night) before going to sleep at 7:45. She slept until 1:00!!!!!
@ms.janedoe: I don't understand that wake-up. It bothers me. Sometimes I think she was being ornery, but other times she might have legitimately been hungry. I hope yours goes well!
watermelon / 14467 posts
@jetsa: Last night we had three wake-ups, but I don't know if I should count the last one because I only switched sides and shoved my boob in her mouth. Yay for early morning co-sleeping! I only feed her in bed now.
grapefruit / 4663 posts
@avivoca: thats not bad. We used to do that but now DS won't go back to sleep in our bed silly kid!
blogger / kiwi / 588 posts
We did cry it out when LO was around 5.5 months old. LO kept waking up every 1-2 hours and I would try to nurse him back to sleep, sometimes it would work, sometimes not. I was getting tired and I was back to work already so something had to be done.
My partner had to be the one to do the check-ins (2, 5, 10 mins, etc) because I couldn't stand hearing LO cry. I would sit out on the patio and read so I couldn't hear anything. I think it took about two weeks, but after the first week we already saw an improvement in his nighttime sleep and (miraculously) his daytime naps. I continued to keep him on one MOTN feeding after 4am. But if he cried before then my partner would attend to him.
LO is 15 months now and there have been sleep hiccups due to teething, illness, travel, etc. But he knows how to fall asleep on his own for nighttime and naps. CIO was hard at the time, but we do not regret our choice to do it.
You'll get through it. The wake-ups will get less frequent and the crying/screaming will get shorter. Just remind yourself and your LO that you are doing this for the both of you.
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