CIO

hearing your baby cry can be heartbreaking. other times i can't help but laugh at the crazy mad faces my little drama king makes. we were spending a long time putting wilson down for naps and at night. we had to make sure he was sound asleep then slowly put him in his crib where i could end up shushing and patting him for another 10 minutes or so. It was a long and exhausting process. I have friends who have let their babies cry it out at 4 weeks old and some who have great sleepers who have never had to cio. our particular child is very intense and i was afraid he'd never be able to cry it out without making himself sick or popping a blood vessel. one day i had spend a solid 40 minutes rocking him and he kept waking himself up. i needed to use the restroom so badly that i figured i'd put him in his crib and he'd be fine, even if crying, for a few minutes. i put him down, he cried. i ran to the restroom. by the time i came back he had stopped crying and was sound asleep. i may be a mean selfish momma, but there are things to be done! bottles to be washed, sleep to be had - by ME! i reassure myself by thinking "what if i didn't hear him crying?" i tried to play a similar mind game with myself if i heard him poop when he was a newborn when he was sleeping with a "what if had been in the other room and didn't hear, i would have no idea and wouldn't wake him to change him" that game never worked as i was more afraid of diaper rash and blowouts. there are times when it's not feasible to let wilson cry it out. but he makes it very clear, very quickly. i don't know if i'm using a particular technique or if i'm ferberizing him. i let him cry 5 min, go in and shush/pat for 1-3 min let him cry 6-7 then 1-3 min shush/pat, 10 min cry - 1-3 min shush/pat. i usually don't have to go in more than 3 times. if i do, it's usually a sign he's not ready.