Index: Cry It Out (CIO)

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17 thoughts on “Index: Cry It Out (CIO)”

  1. Hello, I just had a concern about CIO. I have followed the BW schedule eat,play,sleep. My baby is now 7months old and she has always had 2 naps lasting 1 and1/2 to 2 1/2 hours and the 3rd nap about 45 min to and hour. She is starting to work out of that 3rd nap, but somedays she still needs it. Then she sleeps about 11 hours at night. My concern is is that I swaddle her and give her a binkie and put her down. She usually loses the binkie within 2-20 minutes into her nap. Have I inhibited her ability to self soothe and should I let her CIO instead of giving her these props or is she a self soother prooving that she sleeps through the night and she always breaks out of the swaddle at night and stays asleep, but keeps in the swaddle for naps (sometimes I re-wrap then she goes down). I don't know if I need to fix something that is not broken. I use to let her CIO until 6 weeks old and she had a breathing episode that landed us in the NICU with all sorts of testing so when they sent us home from the hospital we had a monitor and if I let her CIO it would go off because her heart rate went to high. So I resorted to the props and have had heartache about it cause I was determined to stick it out exactly like BW. What would you do? Thanks for this blog and all of your advice. You are great!!

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  2. Tiff, BW isn't necessarily CIO. You can definitely do it without.The fact that she sleeps well I think means there is no problem. Lots of BW moms use pacifiers. If it works for her, I wouldn't worry about it. So long as she is sleeping well and in her own bed, I would say all is well 🙂

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  3. HELP!I have a 3 month, almost 4 month old and I am feeling so very lost. She hasn't been sleeping through the night so my husband and I have been trying to let her CIO. I know the book says she will make up for the calories during the day but she went from a fairly consistent 4 to 4 1/2 oz eater every 3 hours to a 3 oz eater! Her schedule is 7, 10, 1, 4, 7 and then a dream feed. Her nap from 7 to 10 I have to wake her and her other naps she is getting up very early and will not go back to sleep. I don't know what to do or if I need to change schedules with her or stick to letting her cry during the day. I felt like we were doing so well and then things just fell apart. I need her to sleep through the night and taking good naps. Help Please!

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  4. Hi. Just found your blog. Love it! I'm a bw and bwhisperer fan I have a 10 week old whose pretty good. 50% of the time she falls asleep on her own In crib after I've calmed her 15 minNightime takes about an hour to get to sleepShe's almost there, but I'm wondering if CIO Would just do the trick. I'm a little scared that it won't work and it wouldAll be for nothing….I'm praying about it too, trying to hear what God wants… But I'm still torn I want time with my husband back, time withFriends, and want to be able to put her downAnywhere for naps. Oh. And she's also a short mapper most of theTime.

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  5. Hello. I have a daughter who wakes up every 30 minutes to an hour at night. She's gaining weight extremely well, started solids, was checked for ear infections, tried 2 different medicines for silent reflux incase that was the reasoning… After making sure it wasn't physical, the doctor decided it was more behavioral so we started letting her CIO 3 days ago. Naps are horrible, she's always been tightly swaddled with a binky, now nothing. Last 2 days she screamed for an hour twice a day instead of taking 2 naps… Then at night she only woke up once to feed and woke up fussing twice each time for only 3 minutes. We have never had a night that good… But I'm worried about her not napping at all during the day. Today she screamed for an hour at each of her 2 nap times, 10 and 3, then no nap… I gave in after the hour. Am I doing something wrong? Should I stick with CIO during naps? At night I have been able to set her in her crib while awake and tonight she passed out right away not a single fuss, that has NEVER EVER EVER happened. Normall Nurse rock swaddle and binky to sleep, then she's up screaming 20 minutes later. Just so worried about her naps, I need advice!!!

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  6. My opinion would vary based on her age. Since you said she has started solids, I am going to guess she is older–close to 6 months. Being that old will mean she will be harder to get to sleep for naps after spending 6 months not falling asleep on her own.It sounds like you are having some success. i know when we started CIO with Brayden, night was the first thing to improve. If you are still having trouble, let me know her age and how things are going now.

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  7. Help! I don't know what to do! We tried CIO with our 5 month old for the first time last night. We tried the Ferber method and went in at 3 min, 5 min, 7 min, 10 min. This went on for an hour & a half. We finally threw in the towel at that point because she was screaming harder and harder every time. It was just escalating. She was getting more & more worked up & nowhere close to falling asleep. She was so upset that it took over 30 minutes to get her to sleep once we quit trying for the night. How long should we let this go on? I feel like we must be doing something wrong. She just didn't ever fall asleep like she should. She's having so much trouble falling asleep for naps & bed I'm just out of ideas.

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  8. How would you do CIO with an 8 week old who is swaddled. Should she be able to self soothe in spite of being swaddled? She is also very attached to her paci while awake. We discovered it helps keep her not so cranky when we are out of the house. Would you recommend completely doing away with the paci?

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    • The paci is always a hard call. None of my kids had a paci beicse I didn't want to play the paci game. Those who use it successfully say they have a rule that they either won't reinsert or only reinsert one time. I would recommend you look at the blog label "pacifier" for more info on it. And yes, you can do CIO while swaddled. Some babies don't do very well until they can either suck a thumb/finger/pacifier. Some are fine. I would also recommend you check out the "four S's" post I have. Good luck!

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  9. Also, I love your blog! You helped me through many a struggle with my first child(who is 2 now and has been an almost perfect sleeper since I started BW when he was 3 months old) and now my second! Hoping she will do as well as her big brother! Again, thank you so much!!! 🙂

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  10. I have a 6 week old that is very difficult to get to nap during the day, except in my arms. I don't want to keep this going. We discovered less than 2 weeks ago he has a milk protein allergy and was switched to Similac Allimentum. Could his tummy aches be the cause of his fussiness during the day? I was told it could take 2-4 weeks before symptoms improve. I have tried to let him CIO in the crib, but he keeps crying until someone gets him. Help, not sure what to do. Liz

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    • Hi Liz, the allergy definitely would cause his fussiness. I would wait until that is out of his system before cio. Will he sleep in a swing? If so, I would do some naps there to give yourself a break while you are waiting for the milk to get out of his system. Then I would go to CIO.

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  11. Hey there! In need of some advice…little background: I have two boys that I followed Babywise with and hAve had amazing success! My almost five year old still takes 2 hour naps! They both took the swaddle and it really made sleep training a touch easier. My third boy however has thrown a wrench in my system as he HATES the swaddle. So I chose at 3 weeks to let it go and I put him in a nap nanny. He has been sleeping there for naps and at night. He usually cries for a few minutes, then falls asleep. About two weeks ago he started waking early from every nap right at the 45 minute mark. He is now 8 weeks old and I feel I'm creating a bad habit with sleeping in the nap nanny because he is sleeping partially sitting up…also wondering if this could be why he is waking early, since he does look a little uncomfortable. Several days ago I decided to put him in the crib and let him sleep for naps and bedtime. I use the same routine to lay him down, just a different sleeping location. It is not going well at all…he literally lays in the crib sometimes cries, sometimes no crying, and will not fall asleep. His arms and legs are flaying the entire time. After an hour, sometimes and hour and twenty minutes I move him to the swing where he instantly falls asleep. I move him there because I want him to get a little sleep…but now it seems I'm building a new habit. I'm having trouble seeing the ending goal here. Should I leave him in the crib until he figures it out? Letting him cry it out…if so…how long? OR Should I continue this with using the swing after a certain point? Is the goal to teach him that this is when he is supposed to sleep or to get him to fall asleep on his own?

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