Can I let my baby cry it out at 7 months old?
ByAfter being soothed to sleep i put him in his bed ASLEEP he wakes up about an hour later wanting us to pick him up, and sooth him back to sleep should we let him cry it out??? I dont like the thought of it but does anyone know if it works??
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7 Comments
April 8th, 2010 at 11:02 pm
I wouldn’t let a baby of any age cry it out. That is so awful. All you’re teaching your baby is that they can’t depend on you to take care of them when they need something, even if they just want to be held, that is a real need for a baby.
April 8th, 2010 at 11:11 pm
7 months is a tricky age… .its the age when he starts to learn behavioral cause and effect.
Before 6 months, babies don’t have the ability to mentally think, “If I do this, this will happen”… At about 6, maybe 7 months, they do. When they wake up and cry, they are starting to learn that “If I cry, someone will come soothe me”.
For the next month or so, its a pretty gray area. My best advice is to let him cry it out a few mintues. Hopefully, most of the time, he will calm himself back down and go back to sleep… but he may just work himself up into such a frenzy that he won’t be able to sleep unless you soothe him. If you are forced to go in a soothe him… don’t soothe him all the back to sleep. Just enough to calm him down so that you can lay him back in his crib and he puts hiself to sleep.
The key is to get him to learn that he can put himself to sleep on his own and that he doesn’t need you there for it.
Good luck.
April 9th, 2010 at 12:05 am
absolutely.
We started at 5 mths with our daughter.
Just a few mins at a time. 5 mins the first night before going to her… and not picking her up, just rubing her back and shhing her… then 10 mins the next night
After about 5 or 6 nights, she no longer cried for more than 30 seconds. Shes 16 mths now and goes to sleep with absolutely no hassel. and sleeps 12 hours.
April 9th, 2010 at 12:58 am
The CIO method is a direly personal choice – it’s been a battle between my husband and I since day 1 lol – he agrees with it but I can’t handle it. It’s not reccomended before 4 months of age, but after that it’s said to be something that you can choose to do at your disgression. As far as her waking an hour later, mine does this, too and it generally ends up being that she is hungry and will fall back to sleep after eating… I found a method that works better than CIO, but this is just my opinion – I read about it – go pick her up when she cries but do not talk to her, sing to her or pay her any more attention that whats needed to rock her back to sleep – after you have covered all needs bases – soiled diaper, hunger, sick…etc… try this – it has worked better for me then when we tried the CIO method. But to answer your question – it’s your decision – she’s past that “4th trimester stage” so if you feel it’ll work for you, go for it
April 9th, 2010 at 1:14 am
i don’t agree with letting them cry it out, they are crying for reassurance and to be left alone must be so distressing for them,try sitting next to the cot, try patting and shushing, reducing it down to just being in sight until eventually they can settle themselves. spending time in the cot during the day playing with you there for reassurance makes it more familiar. its important they fll asleep in the cot aswell.
April 9th, 2010 at 1:44 am
Go in, tell him “I love you, its sleep time now” and lay him back down (he’ll be standing again before you even get to the door but you’ll have made your point) and then leave. Commit to trying it for two weeks, but know this…… seriously.. heed my warning. IF you decide that you are going to let him cry it out and you back down or give in, even once…. you have to start allllll over again and he will ‘up the ante’ the next time you try because you will have taught him that if he just cries loud and long enough, you’ll come… its the same with 2 and 3 year olds…. if you commit to something you MUST see it through or they start thinking they run the show…. which is cute sometimes but can be extremely dangerous for the child to be a child that doesnt listen. I know you were asking about letting him cry it out at 7 months but these are the times where you lay the groundwork for the future…. so whats it going to be? Is it bed time when Mommy says bed time? or is it bed time when baby feels like it?
April 9th, 2010 at 2:11 am
I wouldn’t. I think the issue here is that you’re putting him in his cot when he’s already asleep. Everyone, including babies, go through several different stages of sleep during the night…during a lighter stage of sleep is when it’s easier to be woken up. It seems to me like you’re putting baby down asleep and then when he’s reaching a light sleep stage later on he’s waking up disorientated “huh…I was being cuddled by mummy but now I’m alone, what’s going on? where am I? where’s mummy?”. One book I read likened it to you going to sleep snuggled in your bed and then waking up sometime later to find you’re on the kitchen floor…you’re not just going to go back to sleep again, you’re going to wake up fully and wonder how the heck you got there! Same thing with babies. Another issue is that with you soothing him to sleep he begins to rely on you to get to sleep each time so that when he wakes up he can’t just nod off again instead cries for mummy because that’s the only way he knows how to fall asleep.
Even so, I do not believe you should just go cold turkey and let him cry himself to sleep. Instead, try putting him down into his cot sleepy but still awake so that he has the chance to fall asleep on his own. It may not be totally possible at first (i.e. you may have to put him down sleepy and then pat his back or stroke his hair to reassure him) but I think this will help him go to sleep and stay asleep. For other information and ideas for helping your baby sleep I recommend reading The No-Cry Sleep Solution by Elizabeth Pantley.