Controlled Crying/Comforting: Did You Do It & Did It Work Out For You?

[Maruschke]

CC was a life saver for us, worked in TWO NIGHTS where everything else had failed dismally. DD1 started sleeping through the night, without tears, and my sanity returned . All kids and parents are different, works for some and not for others...

[Beach Mama]

I'm not sure if it was CC but a form of I guess, but with both of mine after 4-5 mths of literally trying everything and in the end, me wanting to run off and join the circus, we let them cry. We sat and shhh'd and patted and then shut the door and went in and out, and with both of them it took one night. J went from waking 1-2 hourly for FOUR months non-stop (hence my circus craving tendencies - surely that would have been more fun?) we did just this, and after that one night, the following night he went 5 hours and then increased to what he does now which is sleep 7-7. If he does wake up we cuddle him and hug and retuck and he goes back to sleep. Iz was the same and both kids were 7-8 mths old when we did it. We would NEVER do it with a baby under 6 mths - in fact even once they hit 6 mths I still felt they were too young.

I am also not sure what we would have done if we had to do it over the course of a number of nights/weeks. I also completely understand WHY people do it at a younger age. Especially when you have tried everything, when you feel like you are literally going to die from tiredness, when your babies cries actually don't register on the care factor because you are so brainlessly tired that you just need to do something.
Each to their own as in everything else in parenting.

[Heaven]

DD was an absolutely horrendous sleeper until over a year old but we never did CC. We contemplated it when we felt like there were no other options and didn't know what to do. But when it came down to it there was no way we could go through with it, it felt really wrong for us. She was crying because she wanted to be near me and would settle as soon as I held her and I couldn't deny her that if that's what she needed. So we gave up trying to change her and just went with it and that's what actually worked for us in the end. She started sleeping through at 16 months and now sleeps from around 8.30pm to 6am without waking. She is happy to run to bed and goes to sleep without any fuss. It was a long 16 months but was totally worth it. I am for a better sleeper this time though, lol.

[Shanti]

We never needed to do CC. Not only did we feel it was wrong for our DD (after many things we've read about it) but also we haven't had to. There have always been other ways. First 4mths, well she was a newborn and waked frequently but by 4mths DD slept REALLY well between 4mths and 8.5mths and only woke once in the night and would feed back to sleep! She was pretty easy!! By 8.5mths/9mths of age, DD started needing to be co-slept with us as the separation anxiety kicked in and from then on, her sleep was REALLY difficult. We found the best way for DD without upsetting her or letting her cry, was lying down with her until she fell asleep.

DD is 21mths now and sleeps really well most nights, and most of the night until 530am/6am. If she does wake at night, she can settle herself back to sleep otherwise she comes into bed with us and settles very quickly.
She's even started sleeping in her own 'big bed' now at night and asks us to sleep in there rather than bed with us! If she wakes in the night she will come down the hall and find us and climb into bed with us. She's doing so well and we are so proud that we've always done the 'gentle parenting' thing. It's really been the best way for DD. Besides, if we'd left DD to cry we wouldn't have been able to get to sleep listening to her anyway!!!

In saying all that, we are hoping this 2nd bub will be a better sleeper because DD really was very difficult for us between 9mths and 15mths and we weren't getting much sleep!!!!

[Muraho]

Never. I had serious misgivings about it when pregnant, and this was confirmed the more reading I did.

That's not to say I haven't walked out of the room when Rhino has been screaming - sometimes you do need to take a breather. But not to the point where he went to sleep crying. Either I go back in after a minute, or my DH takes over. I just can not agree with any form of 'controlled' crying or CIO or any of that whatsoever.

Unfortunately, I am the minority in my friends circles. I was constantly recommended the E z z o book which was very much of the belief that babies manipulate through crying and that it's sinful to 'give in' to their crying - so I've had to fight an uphill battle against what those around me recommend.

[Marley&Me]

Old thread, but just wanted to add that it worked for us. The first time I tried I knew she wasn't ready by her screams, it was very traumatic. But I waited a few more weeks and then it worked fantastically. I could tell by the difference in the cries. Second time round it was a tired, protesting kind of cry. Almost like a 'but i don't wanna go to sleep yet!' kinda cry. After a few days she was settling on her own I will add that she has a dummy too, so that helped the settling process. If she would still wake during the night or after only one sleep cycle during a day sleep I would always go in and settle her. I'd roll her on her side and rub her back or pat her bum until she went back to sleep. Eventually she could slip from one sleep cycle to the next on her own. And I've never looked back