crying to sleep

hi ladys

I was wondering what your thoughts are on letting your child cry to sleep. My doctor wants me to do that to jake who is just over 6months. He was sleeping tough the night from being born till around 3 weeks ago. He now wakes me about 10times a night. His doctor has done a check up and says nothing is wrong. But not to sure

What do you all think?

Thanks

There are other options than crying it out... I don't know them though!

If you search the net you might be able to find some literature or articles... check your local library.

Unfortunately or fortunately, I found that crying it out worked best for me. And not the method where you go in every couple of minutes, that made Hannah cry longer! Mine was the truly mean and nasty shut-the-door-and-don't-look-back type of crying it out (After I had exhausted every single other possibility). But that's just me. I'll google for ya.

I think the big(gest) thing about CIO is it's effects that it can have on not only the baby but you.
As a baby cries it's body releases cortisol and as you hear your baby cry your own body also releases a nice dose of cortisol too. This hormone is actually what your body releases in times of stress it has been showen (I believe) that babies who CIO have a lower stress thresh hold when they are older and it makes them more vulnerable to disease like heart conditions and diabetes (organ failure) and also can attribute to substance abuse. Also for the mother who recieves a healthy dose of the cortisol it makes their ability to cope with the stress of crying lower and makes them more vulnerable to PND and other such ailments.
BUT.
In saying all that.
I was a CIO baby am not a drunken pot smoking hippie with dodgy heart valves and a bad case of the sugar munchies!
And I see absolutely no reason why it is such a problem because as soon as babies learn to CIO and self settle they are less likely to do it. So I really think the whole terrifying part that you child will become a drunken pot smoking hippie with dodgy heart valves and a bad case of the sugar munchies is minimal.
I hope I've helped instead of hindered!

Peronsally I see nothing wrong with controlled crying, it's what we've done and we don't have many issues now.

We let her cry for 10 mins...go in, check on her, reassure her, but don't pick her up, then leave her for another 10 mins...she now won't grizzle longer then 10 mins. Usually much less if at all.

I did what Nikki did - shut the door and let Maya get on with it. Her longest session was 2 hours 45 minutes I was on the phone to PLunketline the whole time coz the lady knew if she hung up I would go in and get Maya and feed her to shut her up.

The reason why a lot of babies lose the plot about sleep at around 6 mths is that's when they begin to develop a recall memory - they learn to associate crying with the response ie. feeding, cuddles etc. So they know if they cry, they'll be comforted, whereas younger babies cry purely from physical need. That's why it is important to deal with the bad sleep behaviours in older babies otherwise they become ongoing.

It took us about a week of mammoth crying sessions, which got shorter each day, before she got the message, and she's been a brilliant sleeper ever since (now the problem we hve is actually getting her to GO to bed!)

6mos is a tough stage, it's the first separation anxiety stage (of many ). So the first thing you can do is introduce some familiar cuddle toy or something because he's probably just half-waking and then realising you're not there before all out crying.

Briona at 6mos was still having two feeds a night, 10pm and 2am. But she suddenly started waking 3 times a night and I knew she didn't need anything from me. So the first time she woke I would do in and do the regular feed, second time I went in without talking, gave a really brief cuddle then tucked her back in, and third time was another feed again. Even that was probably a bit soft but I found that she settled pretty quickly, which assured me that she really wasn't hungry at that middle wake-up time. Whenever you do go in, make sure you are the boringest mum in the world! They seem to go back to sleep a lot quicker.

Good luck on this one! And keep a note of what works for when I get asking questions in 6mos' time Oh and if your Doctor has just given him a check-over, now would be the best time to start.

I have been trying to take a self imposed "break" from the internet, but so far it's not working ! Anyway, Erin has been having somewhat disrupted sleep lately, and I'm putting it down to teething... when I go in, IF I go in - I never pick her up unless she's reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeally screaming, and then it's only to check her nappy. This doesn't happen very often, so usually it's going in after ten minutes, giving her Bunny, a pat on the tummy and head, switching her music back on, tucking her back in and leaving. I'm hoping it stops altogether soon though, because Liz iz right - it's really rough on us mums & dads. I especially hate it since I know she's so much chirpier when she gets a good long sleep, or if I know it's her teeth etc.

I hated the crying to sleep for any baby younger than about 4mos... I don't think Hannah ever was left like that but she was quite a placid little bub. On the other hand, Briona had silent reflux and sometimes we had no choice but to let her cry (scream) to sleep - holding her made no difference But I'm never really comfortable with controlled crying until they've passed the "newborn" stage.

Jack was kind of like Jake would wake so many times for no reason I would go in put his dummy in and leave he would go through cycles have a week of 10 times a night and then a week of once a night. When i got preg this time I would get so angry at his crying I would have to take ten minutes out to calm down befor he would go to sleep and what do you know within a wee he was sleeping through. The no cry sleep solution is a great book tho I reccomend it if you don't want to leave Jake to cry.

Oooohh I can remember having nights like that .... and it seems like it will never end!! Try this website, hope it is helpful for you, good luck
www.thesleepstore.co.nz