Crying It Out (CIO)

So anyone who's a parent knows what CIO stands for: letting your baby Cry It Out. That means, in a nutshell, instead of running in to comfort them in the middle of the night when she cries, you leave her there. You have to let her scream for as long as it takes and eventually she'll figure out you're not coming and fall asleep. The theory is that the baby learns that night time is for sleep time and she learns to self-soothe and she becomes a more independent sleeper. She should cry for a pretty long time the first few nights and then less and less as she figures it out.

Sound heartless??? I sure thought so. Last week was the worst week sleep-wise we've ever had with Miss MaeMae. Even topping when she was a baby. We would put her to bed and she'd wake up around 1am and wouldn't go back to sleep till around 4am or so and then I'd have to wake up at 6 to go to work. We were total zombies. Nothing I tried worked: nursing her, rocking, putting to bed with me, etc. NOTHING. It was torture. Kevin and I were so cranky and exhausted and work was hell. It was horrible.

Last Friday, in tears all day long, I asked about 5 people at work what we should do. All these folks have kids of their own so I figured they'd have some insight. Every single one of them said we needed to let her CIO. They said she was old enough now to figure out that night time was for sleeping and it wouldn't damage her, etc. My vice-principal said that w/ her first child (she has 3), she did what we've been doing and would run in every time the baby cried or made noise and her daughter didn't start sleeping through the night till she was 4 YEARS old. Then w/ her 2nd and 3rd kids, they just let them cry and they've been great sleepers since 3 months. She said you can tell the difference between a "I'm hurt" cry and a "I'm up and want to get up" cry. I agreed with that. Everyone said it was horrible the first few nights but that it was so worth it and all their kids were great sleepers after trying it.

Kevin and I decided to try it. We were at a loss of what else to try. The whole family was miserable...Maelin was exhausted, we were zombies and something had to change.

Sunday night was the big test. At 2am, I heard MaeMae start whimpering. Usually, this is when I'd run in there and start rocking her and the "for god's sake, go back to sleep!" game would begin. I got up and sat on the couch and Kevin came with me and we listened to her whimpering become cries, cries become sobs, sobs become screams. It was horrible. She sounded miserable, angry, confused and I felt like a horrible mommy. I kept whispering to her that we were there, but her screams continued. It took EVERYTHING I had to not run to her and pick her up. Only the thought of her having sleep problems till she was 4 years old kept me from doing it. Also, they were right...I could tell she was crying a "mad" cry, not a "hurt" cry.

After 25 minutes of listening to my baby scream (the longest 25 minutes ever), her screams turned to sobs, which turned to hiccups which turned to ..... silence. It worked. Baby put herself to sleep.

Of course, I was wide awake, so I stayed up till 5am, but Maelin slept till 8am. Of course, we're on spring break now (whoo-hoo!), so I'm lucky that I don't have to work this week or I'd still be exhausted.

Monday night came. I prepared for another night of long crying. 3am. Maelin wakes up and starts screaming. I get up and sit and listen to her...the screams are not as loud as Sunday night and after 15 minutes, they are gone completely. Baby put herself back to sleep after 15 minutes. Could CIO be working????

Tuesday night. I'm in bed and it's 4am. I hear vague crying and I turn the monitor off and just lay there. After 5 minutes, I turn it back on fully expecting to hear screaming. Nope....nothing. I wait 5 minutes more. Nothing. Maelin has put herself back to sleep after 5 minutes. I say a quick prayer of thanks to everyone and go back to sleep.

Wednesday night. I put baby to bed and I go read. I'm feeling very energetic and thinking of all the stuff I have to do to get ready for her first birthday party on Saturday. I fall asleep. I hear baby crying at.....7am. Could it be?????

Maelin slept through the night!!! For the first time in 2 months, it seems as though CIO has worked. Maelin figured out that nighttime is sleep time and did not wake up!! She's in a great mood, I'm in a great mood, we've all had enough sleep and life is great!

I'm sure we'll have some setbacks, but for now I'm sooooooo happy that we stuck it out and tried it. It was a miserable few days but so worth it. I'll keep you posted on how it continues to work out.