Hellobee Boards

I don't have a lot of experience with this, so hopefully other's have better advice, but the few times I had to do CIO with Xander, when I went in to do the checks, he continued to cry while I was there. I just gave him his pacifier, rubbed his belly, said "Shh shh, mommy loves you, try get some sleep" and then left, all the while he was crying. He eventually just stopped and fell asleep.

BUT Xander's always been a pretty good sleeper, so I realize my experience may be different than others!

When you give your LO her pacifier, will she suck it or just spit it out? Usually if Xander's actually hungry, he immediately spits out the pacifier and continue to do so, but if he's not hungry, he'll take it (although sometimes I have to offer it multiple times before he takes it).

@JoJoGirl: Has she EVER gone longer sleeping and skipped that first wake up to eat?

I read in the Baby Whisperer that if you think they are just waking at a certain time out of habit, what you could try to do to break the habit is actually wake them about an hour earlier and feed them then instead of at that SET TIME that they are always waking up. But I don't remember all the details because I didn't have this issue. But it might be worth looking into if you think it's just a habit!

@JoJoGirl: haha, I hear you. The only reason I know Xander's awake is because I'll get up at 5:00 to my alarm and check the video monitor and in he's there playing with his feet!

HOPEFULLY someone else will have some more advice for you! I know that Xander's the easiest baby on the planet, so I don't really give good advice...

@JoJoGirl: The whole point when you do checks is to have them NOT fall asleep while you're in there--the point IS to have them fall asleep on their own so they don't come to depend on you or anything else in order to fall asleep. My LO often cried through the checks, and then ramped up as soon as I left the room. He did, however, usually calm down pretty quickly, and then go bvack and forth between crying/whining and babbling to himself or being quiet.

It is really hard, but you might be surprised by your LO--she might calm down much faster than you think--or she might cry for an hour. but either way, doing the checks helped me reassure myself that LO was ok--not hurt, not scared, just angry at me, lol. Which made it easier to leave the room.

@JoJoGirl: ah gotcha...I think that's really up to you then--if you want to soothe til she stops crying or just stay for 30 seconds and then leave, crying or not. I found that it was almost worse to soothe til he stopped crying because he would start again as soon as I walked away. It is SO scary and I literally had anxiety the night we started doing it. BUt we made it through! I suggest doing it on a weekend if possible so you can rest over the weekend if it is a rough few nights. You can do it!!!

@JoJoGirl: you can do it mama!! is your DH on board too? My Dh was seriously like, "Ok,we are going to be up ALL NIGHT, let's figure out some tv shows we can watch on the ipad in bed while we listen to him scream" lol. It ended up not being bad at all, but having his support was great!

@JoJoGirl: I don't have any advice but I really want to hear how it goes! Our pediatrician also gave us the green light for sleep training to drop the first feeding but I'm so so scared and I don't want to do it! I mean, I do but I don't, ya know? My DH is also on board and pushing me to...keep us posted, maybe your success will give me the strength to do it too!

i just read your other post and thought I would comment here, I'm so sorry you are so exhausted and at the end of your rope My LO just recently started STTN around 10 months, and we sleep trained at 6.5 months, so I know how tiring it can be!

Have you tried waiting 5-10 minutes before going to her at night? You might be surprised, she might put herself back to sleep. You mentioned she goes down awake at the beginning of the night, so I am inclined to say she may actually be hungry when she wakes up around 2 or 3 since she is 5 months old. I would try waiting 10 minutes and seeing what happens. I would be nervous about night weaning her because she is only 10% weight.

Best thing is to have a game plan ahead of time. What if she goes back to sleep without eating at 2am, but then wakes at 3am? Both you and your DH need to be on the same page. Good luck!

@JoJoGirl: did you do checks during those 7-8 min? I know it seems like an ETERNITY but sometimes waiting an extra few minutes does the trick, and they calm down...sometimes my LO has had to cry for more than 10 min in the car or stroller, so I felt comfortable with that personally.

You can also try shortening nursing sessions by a few minutes each night, instead of just stopping cold turkey? That might help get her used to nursing less. Or offer a bottle at night and put an oz less each night.

@JoJoGirl: We had the 5 am wake for a while, a little younger than your LO I think, and eventually I stopped nursing him and just rocked him/attempted to put him back in his crib. He slept on me for a while after 5, and eventually grew out of it and stayed put. Not helpful, I know. I think baby sleep, in general, isn't linear. Ours was ok, then awful, then good, then not great, and then perfect. There's just no telling.