Ferber Method/CIO

Although Crying it out is highly debated and controversial, I can honestly say it is the best thing I could've done for my precious son. At 6 weeks, he began sleeping 6 1/2 hours consistently... every single night. It was amazing and we felt so lucky and blessed to have such a great sleeper. Unfortunately, it did not last. Around 3 months old, he started waking 4-5 times a night. I thought it was just a growth spurt or some kind of phase and that it would pass. It didn't. As time went on, he began waking every 45 minutes-2 hours at night. I felt lucky to get a 3 hour stretch on nights when he was extra tired. I began researching and even took a trip to the doctor and discovered that I had created this little waking machine. I nursed/rocked/bounced him to sleep every night and he had become so dependent on it that he could not fall back to sleep at night after completing a sleep cycle. If you are here, you have probably read/heard all about this. I began doing some research and started a bedtime routine hoping it would help bubby transition into a sleep state. I then started gentle, no-cry methods to help him sleep on his own. NOTHING worked. He continued to wake constantly. I felt I couldn't be a good parent during the day when I was so sleep-deprived I could barely function. I was getting more sleep when we first brought him home as a newborn. Not only was I exhausted, but so was he. At 6 months, I finally decided I would give the Ferber method a try. I had been anti-CIO all the way up until this moment. I honestly had no idea what else to do. I'm not going to lie, the first night was ROUGH! He cried for 2 hours before he finally fell asleep. I felt like a horrible mother but I knew this was the right thing for us. After he finally fell asleep, he slept for 5 straight hours!! I as amazed! He woke up, ate and went right back to sleep and woke up again in the morning happy and refreshed. We had a couple more rough nights after that but a week later and he now cries for 5-15 minutes and falls asleep and only wakes 1-2 times a night (which is totally fine for me). He does sometimes wake quite early (5 or 6) and I just bring him into bed with me so we can both get a couple more hours of sleep. We are both much more happy, relaxed, and rested. I do only recommend CIO as a last resort but if you are interested in trying the Ferber method, I highly recommend buying the book and reading it before beginning. Good luck to you & I hope you get the needed sleep you have been waiting for. :)