Cry it out Method-Does it work on a baby that is 10 months old & is standing up in the crib already?

Question

My son just won't sleep unless he is being held. i know I have created this needy habit. I tried letting him CIO a month ago and he cried longer and longer everday and then on the fourth night slept all the way through the night with no crying only to start the crying all over again on nights 5 6 and 7 at which point we gave up. He gets up every hour on the hour pretty much and won't stop crying until he gets picked up and then either nursed or rocked back to sleep and if I put him back down to quickly he stands up and is trying to climb out of the crib into my arms. Screaming and sobbing. I know he is not hungry at night or a diaper problem or teething. As soon as I pick him up it stops immediately. I am desperate and it is starting to affect my marriage not to mention our 2 1/2 old that sleeps in the next room. I am tired of sleeping in a chair holding him all night because he won't let me put him down. please help me I am desperate to try anything. Do i just lay him back down?

Answer 1

Hello. I had the same problem. My daughter, who is now 3, just would not sleep. She'd cry and cry until we picked her up. I know that I made her this way - she was my first and I held her a lot not realizing this would be a problem later on down the road. I found the key was to be consistent. If we changed or gave in - all our hard work was gone. We would lay her down, let her cry for 2 minutes, go in, pick her up, calm her down and lay her back down. The next time, we would let her cry for 4 minutes, go in, pick her up, calm her down and lay her back down. Then 6 minutes, etc and keep doing that till they stop. The key though is to keep laying them down after you have comforted them so they know you are still there. They just need reassurance that you are still there - and you are - but longer and longer in between. I'm going to tell you this will be hard. There were times when my husband had to hold me back because I couldn't stand the crying and was going to get her. BUT IT PAID OFF! She started laying down without crying (after about a week of this). The other thing you can do too is have a specific routine every night before you lay him down. Give them a snack, brush teeth, change into pajamas and give a bottle, lay down and read a story or whatever you want. I found a routine also helped and still does. And dont worry about them standing in the crib unless they can climb out. When they are tired, they will lay down on their own and go to sleep.
Good luck!

Answer 2

Celebrate... has the best response. My pediatrician said 5 minutes though. My babies slept through the night at 8 and 12 weeks because we used this method. The CIO method is used to teach the baby how to sooth themselves so they can get a better nights sleep. It is so hard to hear them cry, but when you both sleep for 8 hours the tears will be a glorious memory! Good Luck!

Answer 3

Be consistent. It will be hard but it wont mess him up at all as long as he gets lots of love during the day!!! Try again!! Sleep with one his his blankets for a few nights and put it in his crib so he can smell you at night. Also a relaxing CD might help. Don't worry when he stands up when he gets tired enough he will lay down and go to sleep. He needs to know that you mean business so dont go back in there, that often upset him even more.

Answer 4

It still works at this age. You need to let him CIO, don't listen to anyone who tells you "it's mean" or "it's wrong" becaise it's neither mean or wrong--what it is, is the right way of doing things.

Let him cry for 10 minutes. Go back in his room, and tell him "time to sleep". Maybe turn on the radio softly or sing to him. Don't pick him up though. Many parents think the CIO method is sticking your kid in the crib and abandoning them--wrong. You can (and should) go back in every few minutes to calm them down. After they're calm, leave again and let them CIO some more. (Let them cry 5 more minutes each time)

Eventually, he'll realize that he can cry all he wants but it's not going to do him any good so he'll stop. Stick with it..it's hard, but it's whats best. Good luck :-)

ETA: Someone suggested co-sleeping, but I can tell you that's the wrong way to go. That's just creating another bad habit.

Answer 5

I read in a magazine that when the baby is inside the womb it is being nutured, cared for and lulled to sleep 24/7 so even if you hold your baby for 18 hours that is still a 25% cut down from what it is used to. It also said dont worry about spoiling the baby in the first year.

Answer 6

I would let him cry for 10 minutes or so. If he's still at it, go in and without talking or making eye contact simply cover him up, give him his pacifier (if he uses one), turn on some soft music and walk back out. He will most likely struggle back up before you get out of the room, but go out anyway.

It might take several tries at this, but it does eventually work.

Answer 7

Try this book: The No-Cry Sleep Solution.

Answer 8

Try using a crib toy or placing something familiar by him. Maybe even place a pic of the family in the crib. This may be a hard habit to overcome. I wish you the best of luck.

Answer 9

Have you tried co-sleeping? We more often than not had our son in bed with us. We bought a toddler bed rail and put it on our bed so he didnt always have to be in-between us. We all got to sleep through the night. Although I understand it is not for everyone.
It was a great solution for us. Now at 23 months our son is in a big boy bed which he loves (Finding Nemo Toddler Bed) he very rarely sleeps with us anymore. The transition from our bed to his own big bed went better than we could have anticipated.
Good Luck