Ok so my son currently can fall asleep on his own and in his own bed. He for several months has woken up between 9-11. I am finally so tired of it. I am now taking harder classes with twice as much homework so I NEED to be able to stay up and not have to take my son into my bed. Oh that's the thing I've tried so many times to rock him back to sleep or let him fall asleep on his own but he wont. He will be awake for hours. No matter what I do, unless I take him to my bed and he can cuddle with me there. I also can't and wont do CIO. I live with my family and my parents room is right above his room, and you can hear a mouse walk across the floor.
He's had plenty to eat at dinner, he wakes up even more if I give him something to drink, will just stare at me if I rock and then eventually start to play, he will cry if I sit next to his crib, wakes up more if I sing. What else can I do??
Maybe put him to bed an hour later and try the analog clock thing. The ticking is supposed to mimic the heartbeat.
Sorry I posted to the wrong question
Different people have different definitions or understanding of what CIO means. Does this mean you can't have him cry at all, ever? Or does it mean that you won't leave him to cry & cry until he falls asleep? There is a big difference. If you can't have him cry at all, ever, I'm of no use to you & you can stop reading now. If you would be okay with him crying unattended for a few minutes at a time and would only have to deal with that for a week or two until he has learned to fall asleep and stay asleep all by himself with no crying, then I have a great suggestion for you.
What has happened is that your son is used to having certain things around him to be able to fall asleep - mainly you. If he needs you to fall asleep in the first place, he will need you again when he wakes during the night (and every one of us does wake during the night). I was against letting my kids just cry & cry also. But the kind of sleep training I will describe totally worked for me. I had a nighttime routine that was the same every night - bath, book, bottle, bed. Any routine is fine, as long as it is consistent. I had a set bedtime that was the same every night. I then put my kid in his crib and said goodnight. If he didn't cry, I left him alone - even if he wasn't sleeping. If he did start to cry, I would let him cry for 2 minutes. Then I went back in the room and hugged him & talked to him & kissed him WITHOUT PICKING HIM UP. He had to stay in the crib. After a few minutes I would leave again. If he started crying, I would let him cry for 3 minutes & then I would go in again. I repeated this, lengthening the time I was gone by 1 minute each time. The first night took awhile, the second not as much. And within a week, he wasn't crying at all when I put him down & he wasn't waking during the night. For me, it worked - because I wasn't just leaving him to cry & get traumatized. I was consistently coming back - he knew I was coming back - he didn't feel abandoned. At some point, he just decided it wasn't worth crying long enough to make me come back. It was a bit of work those first few nights, but it paid off big time down the line. Good luck!
My baby is the type that wakes up, even if she's exhausted, 5-8 hours after she falls asleep. People don't believe me, especially my inlaws...until she spends the night over there. =) That means if I were to put her to bed at 8pm, she will wake up no later then 4am. So I pushed her bed time back, worked like a charm for us.
Good Luck.
