Help with CIO Method for Naptime

Well since I'm not a fan of CIO you probably won't like my answer but I say go pick him up. His crying is his only way of telling you something is wrong. Either he's hungry or has a wet diaper. I say go pick him up and try feeding/changing him. You'll get him back down for another nap. Don't worry. All this craziness will soon pass.....they grow up fast.

Yes, leave him in there. I would decide before putting him down, how long you intend for him to sleep. When that time is up, then go get him. I have noticed though that there is an exception when my daughter wakes up usually right at 45 minutes full of energy. I would go in there to comfort him and if he still looks tired, leave him in there for another 30 minutes to an hour.

Depending on how long his nap should be you could go back in and try to get him back to sleep. You could also wait 10-15 minutes to see if he goes back to sleep on their own. The CIO method does work just give it a week and be consistent. He will learn to sooth himself to sleep which is very healthy for your baby and you won't have a toddler with sleep issues later on.

... a lot of babies, rustle/wake/make noises/have intermittent 'wakings' during naps/sleep.. but unless he is crying/screaming... just hang back. Let him be. See if he will go back to sleep... instead of just going in right away and picking him up.
My son was like that... he could, be in the crib after a full nap, and just "play" in there for even 1/2 hour by himself... or he would just drift off back to sleep. I got to know HIS "pattern" of sleeping.

I did not make him "cry it out"... because he wasn't crying... he would go back to sleep. BUT, if I mis-took his cues and went in there to peek at him or pick him up.... then he did NOT get a full nap.... because "I" had actually woken him up, before he was ready. My son would even have tons of "soliloquies" in his crib and be babbling to himself, perfectly fine. But he'd fall back asleep.

Hello K.,
I am going to answer this as the mother of 5 and the grandmother of several. I am thinking aheas to when the child is 2 and really cranky or a teen and unbearably cranky. You have a new baby, this little one is only 6 months old... These little ones need to be loved and close to thier parents not set aside. I have been reading alot of" letting a child cry it out": think back to when you were a child what was that like for you? I have been known to reverse the baby monitor so the baby could hear me as I was doing things and that seemd to help some .
Why not try rocking and singing or just quietly talking to your baby? why not sit in the room and read out loud a book -- heck any book will do they just need to hear your voice. To feel the security of mom being around. Play music and Veggie Tales if you have to to help the child relax. A child that has been inside the womb for 9 months and close to all that you do and yes it is going to feel that its going to miss out on something! All people seem to fight sleep I know that I do! I lay down and think of 25 things I still have to do so that is not unusual. This doesn't make you a awful mother of course you are in that new learning stage that all of us had to go through. You willl do just fine and will be surprised of how much you have learned in another 12 months.
I have never seen a child that was let "cry it out" ever be a happy child and a contented one only insecure.
Just remember that parenthood is like riding a theme park ride-- lots of twists and turns with excitement and fear around every cornor and at the end excitement and joy and being ready to get on and go again. Good Luck

Hello there -

I did CIO at 5.5 months for my now 18 month old because she was only sleeping for two hour blocks all night long and I was just absolutely desperate for more sleep. I didn't expect her to sleep all night at that age - I just needed her to go at least three hours between feedings. So I stopped going to her if it had been less than three hours since her last nursing session. It took a little while but it worked and stretched out her feeding schedule enough that I could function.

For naps, what I do is leave her alone for (at least) 60 minutes, no matter what. If she was still awake after this time, I'd go to her. This has meant that she's had a few non-naps where she cried for the whole hour, but mostly she has slept. Now she almost always naps for 2-3 hours. She's also quite happy to hang out and relax in her crib. On the exceptionally rare days that she doesn't get enough nap, then I just adjust her schedule slightly so her next sleep period comes a little bit earlier (and I try to be flexible with her as we get close to that time, because I know she's likely to be a little cranky because she's tired.)

As far as the comment that CIO causes children to be insecure - everyone who meets her will tell you that my daughter is one of the most outgoing, happy, sunshiney little girls you will ever meet. She tells me about a thousand times a day that she is happy, and she is independent and absolutely _not_ clingy. So don't worry that it'll hurt your son!

Good luck to you! He'll figure out a good sleep schedule soon with you being consistent.

HP

I was not a fan of cio, but at 7 1/2 months, I just had to or I was going to litterally crash from lack of sleep. My daughter cried for 45 minutes the first night and then then 30 the next. It was the best thing for both of us because she is sleeping more and through the night. I may regret saying this, but fr the past 6 months, she has not woken up at night. I think maybe 3 times and I just let her go back to sleep. I would let him cry for another 15 minutes and then try to go get him if he does not stop or slow down. You know your baby's cries and if it sounds like somethings wrong, then you know to check on him. Good luck!!!

I'm not a fan of CIO, but I know that it works for some. 6mo seems way to young to me. That being said, if it helps any, both my kids went through the 20-45 mins per nap phase, and I was ready to pull my hair out!!! My son is now 3.5yo, and it took FOREVER to get him to sleep well. My daughter, however, is 7mo and has been sleeping through the night (12 hours with only one feeding) since she was about 3mo! She's currently in the 20-60 mins per nap phase, and while it's really not enough sleep, it's evidently enough for her. She sleeps through the night, is up for about 3.5hrs before her first nap, sleep 20-60 mins, is up for another 3-4 hours before another 20-60 min nap, then down for bed after 3-4 hours. The nap schedule is exhausting, but it'll get better. Like a lot of things involved with parenthood.... lol :)

I am not a fan of "cry it out." He's so little and just wants to be comforted.

You might as well start the policy I had with my son when he was a bit older than yours. Nap time is one hour minimum. He stays in bed. what he does in bed is up to him (cry, talk, play with toes, sleep, etc.) Until he was past 3 he always managed to fall asleep within that hour. Some times it happened 5 minutes before I planned to let him out. As your son gets older and doesn't need naps, you can continue this policy by calling it "quiet time". If he is too old to nap any more just restrict him to playing by himself in his room without bothering you. Gotta love the quiet time break in my day!