Worked for us (Controlled Crying)

Member Name: LIZR315

Product:	Controlled Crying
Date:	11/11/08 (386 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Baby learns to settle themselves

Disadvantages: Crying!

Hi all. I know this is a troubled area but I thought I'd write about my experience. I would always say to mums 'You know your own baby best so you do what you think is right' but at times it is hard to stop yourself offering advice.

I'm Mum to a 8 month old little boy. He went into his own room from day 1 at home. We put him in a moses basket in his cot and then into his cot at 8 weeks. I put him down awake for naps since a few weeks old.

I'm sure other reviewers have written in length about the method but I'll still sum it up.

1. Watch for tired signs in your baby. When they are very young it is hard to spot. With my baby when he was very young it was a case of thinking well he's been active after his feed for approx 30 -45 mins I bet he's getting tired. If we saw one yawn that was it. If he yawned more you had missed the window of opportunity to get him down and would then become overstimulated and get over tired. Now he's older they are really obvious. He does lots of eye rubbing and gets narky but he's also got a set nap time now.

2. Take baby to their sleeping area and put them down awake. I would draw the curtains and shush him quite loudly while I was doing it. Wrap them up. Close the door and leave them to it.

3. Then wait for the cries! I never used a dummy, comforter or sounds. I would let him cry for 20 mins and give him the opportunity to sort himself out and go to sleep. If he went quiet for a minute or so then started up again I would started the 20 mins again. Here some people would go in to comfort about 2 minutes into the crying and reassure then withdraw, gradually making that time longer but I never did. Yes he did cry but eventually he dropped off. Things got easier when he learned how to suck his fingers.

Now we have a baby who is able to get himself to sleep - providing he's not hungry of course.

I really liked the method. Early on I would sit by the monitor, biting my nails, listenign to him crying but as he got better at it it gave me more time to get things done. I watched my fellow mums spend ages rocking their children to sleep jumping up at their first parple.

If you are going to do this, you need to be strong and have set parameters and stick to them.

Summary: A method to get baby to settle themselves