(Not sure if this is the right topic or not...)
I try really, really hard not to judge people's parenting, but when I recently found out that some (very distant) family members were using the CIO method on their 4 week old daughter (up to an hour!!!), I couldn't help but say OMG. In my opinion, that's just way too young!
ETA: This bothered me enough to consider saying something (nicely), but in the end, it sounded like they had done their research and this was their decision so I let it be.
GOLD / pineapple / 12662 posts
Makes me wonder what information they have/received that suggested going that route?
GOLD / pomelo / 5737 posts
It's definitely too young, I wonder if the baby is colicky/unsoothable?
nectarine / 2878 posts
Too young in my opinion and I could not have done that...to each their own I guess!
grapefruit / 4056 posts
That just doesn't seem right to me. At 4 weeks they have no mechanisms to self soothe, so it seems cruel. Full disclosure: I tried CIO twice, at the 4 month and 9 month sleep regression. Both times I rescued him within 15 minutes because it was causing too much stress for everyone (me, DH, S, and our cat and dog), so we aren't a CIO household.
GOLD / pineapple / 12662 posts
I also think this is indicative of the (unrealistic) expectation for young babies to sleep through the night.
coconut / 8861 posts
Whoa, way too young. Colic typically doesn't set in until 6 weeks anyway. By that point, we were a Happiest Baby family. Still are, but close to doing CIO at 6 months now.
GOLD / cantaloupe / 6581 posts
This is actually really interesting to me, because before I got on HB, my SIL told me how she sleep-trained her kiddos around 6-8 weeks, and not knowing anything about anything baby-related, it sounded reasonable to me! Now that I'm on here, I'm realizing that most parents CIO at a much later date, and I know I have a lot more research to do!
pear / 1570 posts
Just hearing about this makes me want to cry. 4 weeks is so teeny tiny 
pear / 1698 posts
I'm going to be the unpopular person and say I don't see a problem with it as long as the baby is gaining weight and is healthy. We started sleep training at 3 weeks, and my LO was sleeping 6+ hours straight by 4 weeks, 8+ hours straight by 8 weeks. She's now almost 5 months old and is such a happy well rested baby. She sleeps 10+ hours now. Our pediatrician actually reccommended CIO at her 1 month appt. We used The Moms on Call method which start at 2 weeks old. (It's not full CIO at that age of course!)
We had awesome results. I don't believe we have caused any damage to our daughter by letting her cry once in awhile.
hostess / wonderful grape / 20803 posts
Seems cruel to me. At 4 wks old they don't know what the heck is going on and crying is their only way of communicating. I feel like until 3-4 months sleep training is not the way to go.
I think letting a newborn fuss a bit is ok, but crying for an hour straight? THat's too much.
GOLD / papaya / 10206 posts
I'm firmly in the 'to each their own' camp, but I'm also a total wuss and my 4 week old never left my arms! lol!!
GOLD / cantaloupe / 6581 posts
@LemonLong: I appreciate your perspective!! My SIL did something similar, and I'm still trying to find what I want to do, but I'm glad you chimed in, I was starting to think my SIL was the only person on earth that did that 
GOLD / pomelo / 5737 posts
@LemonLong: Wow! I haven't heard of that, but that's a great result.
pineapple / 12053 posts
that seems young and for way too long of a time too. i've read a good amount and like PPs have said, it seems like they have no mechanisms to self sooth at that point. i just recently started to let my 7 week old cry before going down for naps to see if she could fall asleep on her own, but my max was 5 minutes! she has fallen asleep after crying within that time frame, so i feel comfortable with it, but i have to give myself something to do in that time or i will go in there!
nectarine / 2217 posts
@LemonLong: i don't have much time to post right now but just wanted to say that we did more or less a similar thing for our LO and have the same results. he's been sttn since around 3 months and has never had a night waking since then (9.5months now). it doesn't seem to be a popular thing in this community to begin CIO type methods 'early', but most of the moms i know irl do begin soon after birth and have babies/children who sleep well and are well rounded in general :). of course there are right and wrong ways to do everything, but it's nice to know i'm not the only one, too! 
grapefruit / 4066 posts
this makes me really sad- a 4 week old is crying because they need something, not because they are trying to manipulate you. it is their only form of communication and they do not have self soothing capabilities yet. an hour is way too long, if they are crying for that long- they are hungry or need something!
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