Has anyone CIO with a 5 month old?

DS2 turned 5 months yesterday and nap time is a disaster. I have to rock him to sleep. And that's getting harder. He fusses, pulls the paci in/out so I take it away (noth that he's crazy about it, he spits it out). He naps every 1.5-2 hours but the nap is generally only 30-40 minutes. I'm guessing he has a partial awakening and doens't know how to put himself back to sleep.

I have another DS so I just don't have the luxury of holding him 10 minutes for him to nap 30. As it is I'm starting to resent the sleep issue bc the lack of long naps makes it really difficult for me to spend any 1-1 quality time with my 4 yo. I often have to leave DS1 alone downstairs 10-15 minutes while I try to get DS2 to nap.

DS1 was/is a fantastic sleeper and napper. Put himself to sleep from about 8 weeks when I started putting him in awake for both naps and bedtime. He'd fall asleep in what seemed like 1 minute. STTN at 4 months.

Don't know what else to do except try CIO. I just know we can't go one like this. DS2 doesn't STTN yet either but is at least giving us some long stretches now.

If you CIO at a young age, did it work? And, how long would they cry for?

Re: Has anyone CIO with a 5 month old?

i know many people that were successful with CIO at 4 months, so i tried around 4.5 months. unfortunately it did not work for me - dd got so worked up that she couldnt catch her breath. i tried again a little over 6 months and it worked. it was 3 nights...3 lonnnggg nights but it worked. shes been sttn from 7-7 ever since.

imo, it cant hurt to try but realize ds may be too young

Has anyone CIO with a 5 month old?

I tried it at about 4 months and DS could have done it but I wasn't ready.

We did it again a month or so later and it worked. I am a fan of CIO.

Re: Has anyone CIO with a 5 month old?

We started @ around 5-6 months, we only really needed to do modified CIO for night time and it worked great. Never really worked for naps but I didn't push it to much.

Re: Has anyone CIO with a 5 month old?

Did it at almost 4 months and it was a smashing success.. did it only for bedtime though. He needed to be nursed to sleep before that and was waking 4-5x a night. The first night he cried 37 minutes, then 2, then stopped. He was always a decent napper but I think the CIO helped.

Re: Has anyone CIO with a 5 month old?

yes, dd was very young when I first did CIO. I only did it for bedtime at first... I just held her for naps. she's my 1st and I am a SAHM right now, so I was able to do so without it being an issue. I can understand your dilemma with your older child though - I say, give it a try. dd cried for I think 40minutes or so... but it was bedtime, so I let her go. I did go in every 5-10 minutes without picking her up. I'd probably just go up to 30minutes of CIO for a nap, jmo

Has anyone CIO with a 5 month old?

I tried at 5 months but neither DD or I could do it.
Tried again at 6 months and after 1 horrendous night, it worked. The second night was better and by the third she was pretty much good.

I will say that my DD did not respond well to me going back into the room (at 5, 10 minute intervals). She did much better when I stopped that.

Good luck!

Re: Has anyone CIO with a 5 month old?

I followed the Ferber Method with my older DS and it worked very quickly... he was STTN and was putting himself down for naps by the 3rd day.

My twins are close to 7 months now and they are great at night, but still nap in their swings. I am giving them another week in their swings and then I will transition them into their cribs. I have no problems doing the Ferber Method with them. I would not be able to do full blown CIO though... I'm just not strong enough for that!

Has anyone CIO with a 5 month old?

We did 8 months. We tried at 6 months but didnt work for us.

Re: Has anyone CIO with a 5 month old?

I have a 5 month old and an almost 4 year old too. My DS takes 3 to 4 40 min naps a day and takes 5-15 minutes to get him to fall asleep. I thought that was great because my DD was a nightmare! I found he is anticipating our usual routine for sleeping and protesting it so I change things up a little (use a pacifier or not use one, play one song while I'm getting him to fall asleep one time then another the next...)

Before I go and put him to sleep I make sure my DD is engaged in an activity (IPad, played oh, TV). Then when I am finished with the baby I will spend some time with DD.

Re: Has anyone CIO with a 5 month old?

DD is almost 6 mos and is a terrible sleeper, although we have some better days. I wish it only took 10-15 mins to get her to nap!! We are still in the nursing/rocking to sleep boat but need to sleep train soon. It's really hard but I hate hearing her cry. Not sure how much longer we can keep going like this though.

Re: Has anyone CIO with a 5 month old?

We did and it worked

Re: Has anyone CIO with a 5 month old?

In my opinion, I think 5 months is a tad early to try CIO. We did it at 7 months and it worked. Others have tried earlier and have been successful so you have to do what you are comfortable with.

Has anyone CIO with a 5 month old?

I tried CIO at 4 months and then at 5 months and then finally got it down at 6 months (kinda). At 4 months I tried the ferber method and he cried and cried and nothing would calm him down. Then the rest of the day he would cranky and wouldn't go down in his crib unless he was asleep. At 5 months it was a little better. I only did it for naps but still wasn't that much of a success. Right before he turned 6 months I forgot to turn the monitor sound on and woke up at 8AM once morning and he was still asleep (was getting up at 6AM). Realized I could do CIO. I only did it for naps and if he woke in the middle of the night I let him whine.

When I put him down for a nap I put the mobile on and the heartbeat on our sound machine. I put a blanket over him and say "naptime". I give him the paci and walk out. I wait like 5 minutes (I do dishes or take a shower) and then look at the monitor. If he seems ok then I leave him but sometimes he's turned the other way or lately trying to clib out (he's 7 months on Saturday). If I have to go in I turn him back on his back, give the paci, put the blanket on him and say "naptime". I usually only have to go in about 2 times. Look for his cues when he's tired. You'll figure it out. You just have to figure out what works best for you and baby. Good luck!