The cry out approach for baby to sleep through the night
By kimko5099
@kimko5099 (195)
United States
March 30, 2007 12:06pm CST
I had some problems earlier with getting my ten month old to sleep through the night. I was getting up to nurse him to sleep around three to four times in the middle of the night and he also sleeps the bed with me. I was never a believer in the cry out approach and was uncomfortable with it, but I was also so exhausted. So I just tried it out and let my baby cry just for a minute or so. He would cry a little bit, roll around alot, and finally go back to sleep. We did this for a couple of days and finally cut out the night feedings. Thank goodness! Now he sleeps through the night! This is the only thing that has worked, so now I am reccommending it to any mothers having the same problem. I dont reccommend this is the beginning months because that is still when your baby needs you, but Good Luck!
2 people like this
5 responses
@Myrrdin (3599)
• Canada
30 Mar 07
My exwife was also skeptical of the cry it out approach, but it really does work, and if you are not letting them cry for too long there is no harm. And your right about the beginning months, I didn't do it with my daughter until about 8 or 9 months.
1 person likes this
@ryleesmama (560)
• United States
31 Mar 07
Thanks for the advice. I have a hard time letiing my daughter cry for too long. Now as she gets a little bit older I will let her fuss at night and she either falls back to sleep or starts screaming. If she starts screaming then I will nurse her back to sleep. She also sleeps with me so sometimes it is just easier to turn over and nurse her because I just want to sleep. I can't wait till she sleeps longer.
@kimko5099 (195)
• United States
31 Mar 07
My baby was the same way. He was so use to nursing back to sleep that he would scream even if i just tried to hold him, he would push me away. So in the beginning I would just leave him alone and he would cry only for one or two minutes then he would crawl back to me and put his head on my stomach and fall asleep. I had to be careful not to move him right away or he would get back up. Now he just rolls around and falls back asleep. it is really hard in the beginning back it will work eventually, and also every baby is different. Good Luck to you!
@jchampany (1130)
• United States
30 Mar 07
Yes, it does work. I have also done this with my daughter. It was more for her to just go to sleep in the first place. When she was a baby she slept all the time. As she got to around 10-11 months she would not go to sleep at all, even though it was very obvious she was ready for bed. She didn't sleep with me. I started to just put her in her crib when she was ready for bed and let her cry until she fell asleep. Of course, if the crying went on too long I would go get her. This really worked though, now she is 20 months and for the last couple of months she knows when she is ready for bed. Now bedtime is telling her it's time for ni-night ( sometimes she actually tells me) and she will run to give her brother a kiss goodnight then to her room and wait for me to come tuck her in. Now she just lays down and goes to sleep. It is much more peaceful for me and much better for her.
@sunshine4 (8703)
• United States
30 Mar 07
It is the hardest thing to hear your baby cry. A minute seems like an hour. I also used this approach with my children and it worked like a charm. I think it was harder on me than on them.
@happy2bmommy (305)
• United States
30 Mar 07
so so true! i hated to hear my baby cry. it would always break my heart, but i knew it had to be done. it was either i go crazy with him waking up every night or i was going to go crazy hearing him cry for a few days. so i tried the letting him cry approach, and wow, it worked. even though it made me feel bad a guilty, i knew it had to be done. even my dr told me that it had to be done. just like he said, as long as i know that he is warm, clean and fed, it is ok for him to cry. his view is that the baby needs to learn. but i completely agree with you, the baby cant actually be a "baby". it has to be at least 6 months in order for this to work. that is when they actually "learn". any younger, and its something they dont understand. they jut want to be comforted.
