How many times have I visited the CIO! Well, a couple of times for sure!
Finally did it! I thought of myself to be one of the non CIO types. But, you know what, it was important for my sanity and for a healthy family relationship! Till now, I kept going thinking that I do not want the babies to cry. The biggest culprit thus far was reflux! Our babies had major burping issues because of reflux, and reflux probably also lead to very less milk intake (one feed was around 3-4 oz almost up until 8-10 months for both)... which led to multiple feedings till very recently (and thus a lack of proper schedule). So, I refused to make them starve through the night and kept feeding them! Over all both the kids were pretty good night sleepers (besides RT's phase of frequent night wake ups around 6'ish month), so it was okay to get up and feed/burp them and put them to bed again (we do not co-sleep). But as they started turning in to these little toddlers, who ate pretty decently and who once in a blue moon completely slept through the night (STTN)... they decided that they wanted to be held for around 5-10 minutes after each feed (1-2 times in a night (per child) - totaling to up to 4 feeds a night)... sometimes our saga use to go on for an hour (especially for RT)! My mom has been with us off and on ever since the babes were born, so it was manageable... I could sleep in occasionally if it was a very bad night. But, with her leaving now, this was getting to a point where it was almost impossible to manage. So we decided to go for it!
The first night (April 7th), we let them have their first middle of the night feed (MOTNF). But, after RT's feed... she wanted to be held! So she got dropped in to her crib - after pacifying her, I left the room. And the CIO began! She cried for 2.5 hours off and on! For the first 1 hour... we tried to follow the Ferber method. But every time we pacified her, the crying just got stronger! She woke RM up just 5 mins in to her CIO. Though, he slept off in an hour! That was the only night RT cried... she has pretty much STTN since then and no MOTNF either. And I hope it stays that way!
As mentioned above, RM woke up because of RT's cries on April 7th. He slept (after using the Ferber method) in an hour. He has STTN once since then and the remaining nights he has gotten up, CIO for some time and slept on his own (it just seems like Ferber method doesn't do us very good... the kids get worked up too much when they see us and actually start settling themselves for the most part without us interfering). Every time the CIO time has gone down... with the shortest being around 7 minutes. There have been no MOTNF feeds ever since. Though, the wanting to be held part was also being carried forward during the nap times and during falling asleep for the night part as well. So we have had to try the CIO for those two settings as well (starting today - Mommy just has 2 hands and 2 overly active toddlers to handle!). Today for his nap, he cried for an hour and slept for 30 min - it was a crappy nap! Though he fell asleep in less than 10 minutes for tonight.
In short, it seems to be working. I just hope I am not speaking too soon! They both are still adjusting to the lack of almost 5 to 10 oz milk that they consumed at night, so our day time feeding is a little disturbed. Hopefully, this will also help in cutting down the total volume of milk that RM consumes and hopefully not ruin their teeth either. We will be giving a second try on getting rid off the reflux medication soon, and getting them used to falling asleep on their own will probably help if the reflux fights back (aka - the nasty burps)! Personally, I feel less like a zombie and better prep'ed when I get up in the morning. It hurts to see them cry so much - but this is for their and our good, and I am trying carry through all the tears and not give in! RT and RM have been also sleeping in longer in the morning (than the usual)... I guess they are finally starting to realize that they don't get picked up every time they get up!
Finally did it! I thought of myself to be one of the non CIO types. But, you know what, it was important for my sanity and for a healthy family relationship! Till now, I kept going thinking that I do not want the babies to cry. The biggest culprit thus far was reflux! Our babies had major burping issues because of reflux, and reflux probably also lead to very less milk intake (one feed was around 3-4 oz almost up until 8-10 months for both)... which led to multiple feedings till very recently (and thus a lack of proper schedule). So, I refused to make them starve through the night and kept feeding them! Over all both the kids were pretty good night sleepers (besides RT's phase of frequent night wake ups around 6'ish month), so it was okay to get up and feed/burp them and put them to bed again (we do not co-sleep). But as they started turning in to these little toddlers, who ate pretty decently and who once in a blue moon completely slept through the night (STTN)... they decided that they wanted to be held for around 5-10 minutes after each feed (1-2 times in a night (per child) - totaling to up to 4 feeds a night)... sometimes our saga use to go on for an hour (especially for RT)! My mom has been with us off and on ever since the babes were born, so it was manageable... I could sleep in occasionally if it was a very bad night. But, with her leaving now, this was getting to a point where it was almost impossible to manage. So we decided to go for it!
The first night (April 7th), we let them have their first middle of the night feed (MOTNF). But, after RT's feed... she wanted to be held! So she got dropped in to her crib - after pacifying her, I left the room. And the CIO began! She cried for 2.5 hours off and on! For the first 1 hour... we tried to follow the Ferber method. But every time we pacified her, the crying just got stronger! She woke RM up just 5 mins in to her CIO. Though, he slept off in an hour! That was the only night RT cried... she has pretty much STTN since then and no MOTNF either. And I hope it stays that way!
As mentioned above, RM woke up because of RT's cries on April 7th. He slept (after using the Ferber method) in an hour. He has STTN once since then and the remaining nights he has gotten up, CIO for some time and slept on his own (it just seems like Ferber method doesn't do us very good... the kids get worked up too much when they see us and actually start settling themselves for the most part without us interfering). Every time the CIO time has gone down... with the shortest being around 7 minutes. There have been no MOTNF feeds ever since. Though, the wanting to be held part was also being carried forward during the nap times and during falling asleep for the night part as well. So we have had to try the CIO for those two settings as well (starting today - Mommy just has 2 hands and 2 overly active toddlers to handle!). Today for his nap, he cried for an hour and slept for 30 min - it was a crappy nap! Though he fell asleep in less than 10 minutes for tonight.
In short, it seems to be working. I just hope I am not speaking too soon! They both are still adjusting to the lack of almost 5 to 10 oz milk that they consumed at night, so our day time feeding is a little disturbed. Hopefully, this will also help in cutting down the total volume of milk that RM consumes and hopefully not ruin their teeth either. We will be giving a second try on getting rid off the reflux medication soon, and getting them used to falling asleep on their own will probably help if the reflux fights back (aka - the nasty burps)! Personally, I feel less like a zombie and better prep'ed when I get up in the morning. It hurts to see them cry so much - but this is for their and our good, and I am trying carry through all the tears and not give in! RT and RM have been also sleeping in longer in the morning (than the usual)... I guess they are finally starting to realize that they don't get picked up every time they get up!
I'm glad this is working for you! One of those "I will never..." moments that comes back and bites us in the bum, eh?? The Ferber method is a complete disaster in our house too. Anytime Noah sees one of us his crying escalates to awful levels and goes on much longer than it does if we just stay out of the room.
ReplyDeleteYour kids might be like mine in the long term. Noah still goes through phases where he freaks out when I put him in bed and cries really hard for just a few minutes. Then he goes through phases where he doesn't make a peep when I put him down awake. Consistency is key here, I find. If I ever DO get Noah after letting him cry for awhile, he tends to get a lot more difficult in the following week.
I still do a MOTN feed, unless he sleeps straight through. He sleeps longer in the morning if I nurse him around 5am. He'll go back to bed until past 7. If he sleeps straight through until 6, he doesn't go back to sleep at all, even if I leave him in bed for an hour and a half. It's great that your little ones are sleeping later!!