My 5 month old has been waking up every 3 hours crying/screaming. I feed him 2 oz. eventhough he shouldn't be hungry, but it's just easier. I took him to the dr. and nothing is wrong and they suggested I just let him cry. I try but after 20 minutes or so I give up. Has anyone let their infant cry for long periods? Does this really work? Any advice would be appreciated.

Hi there. I have done this and you are going to get a lot of different feed back. But, it was hard to do and yes it's hard to listen to them cry, but for me the first night was about 1.5 hours and then the second night couldn't have been more than about 30 minutes and ever since, she has slept through the night with little or no trouble at all! It's not easy.....not everyone agrees on doing it, but it worked for us. Good luck and let us know how it works should you try it.

Have you tried just rocking him and not feeding him? I'm not a fan of CIO, but I don't judge those that do it. I personally couldn't listen to my child cry for long periods of time. I let her "fuss it out" but once it turns into a real cry I pick her up and rock her. She sleeps through the night and has for quite some time though, so when she wakes up it's usually because she's not feeling well (she's 9 mos.) Could your ds be teething?

I tried it a few times with my both of my kids and wont do it again. Everyone is different, but its not for me. Instinct is everything when parenting, and I feel that you should trust it. My daughter was sick and I didnt know it, and I just happened to pick that night to try it. When I finally went in 2 hours later she was still screaming. Come to find out the next day I took her to the dr and she had a double ear infection. I felt so bad knowing that she was having a painful ear infection and suffering and I wasn't there to comfort her. I tried it agian a few other times but it wasn't worth it at all. The next day she just clung to me and then she was scared at bedtime. Basically, it's hard to tell if theres really something wrong so I always play it safe. Plus sometimes babies just need to be comforted for no reason at all.
They're only young once, and someday they'll be grown and I'll wish that I had to wake up for a 3 am feeding!
I guess I'm just a softie though, I cant take the sound of my kids crying. But I dont hold anything against people who let their kids cry it out, and I know people who it has worked for.
Good luck!

Thanks for your replies...last night he slept from 7:30-4:30 WOW! Hopefully this will continue and I won't have to let him cry.

bap,
i don't belive in cio at all and certainly not before 6 months. most sleep experts would agree with this.
we never did it with ds and he has been sleeping through the night since he was 2.5 months old. before that he slept in his cradle, on us, in his pack n play, or anywhere else he wanted to.
i think when babies cry they are telling you they need something and they want that need to be met.
i know i'm going to get flamed for this by some people but this is just my opinion.
good luck.

My 5 month old has been waking up every 3 hours crying/screaming. I feed him 2 oz. eventhough he shouldn't be hungry, but it's just easier.

It is possible he's going through a growth spurt, and needs more to eat. I personally don't believe in letting babies cry it out, but my experience is a little different. My DS was born at 24 weeks gestation, and there is no way I would ever have let him cry. Now he's 2 and he won't go to sleep unless he is rocked or held, which normally is fine, but sometimes I wish I could just put him in his crib. I think you have to follow your insticts and your heart. I still argue with my mom about putting my DS to bed and letting him cry. I just cannot do it.

It is possible he's going through a growth spurt, and needs more to eat. I personally don't believe in letting babies cry it out, but my experience is a little different. My DS was born at 24 weeks gestation, and there is no way I would ever have let him cry. Now he's 2 and he won't go to sleep unless he is rocked or held, which normally is fine, but sometimes I wish I could just put him in his crib. I think you have to follow your insticts and your heart. I still argue with my mom about putting my DS to bed and letting him cry. I just cannot do it.


i totally agree. a growth spurt could be the culprit, as could teething.

My ds is 8 months and at about that age went from sleeping 9-7 to waking once a night to feed, then twice, then 3 times. This all really increased after we started him on solids (so much for the theory that they sleep better when their tummy is full). In hindsight, I realize now that he cut his first teeth at 4.5 months and just got into a pattern after that. At about 5.5 months he started on cereal and at about 6.5 months I started giving it to him about 1.5 hours after he had supper (1 hour before bed). Sometimes it worked, sometimes he still woke up but for the most part, he now goes from 9-6 or longer again.
CIO is hard and I would suggest holding off. I tried it with both my boys at around 5 months with no luck...I can't handle it and don't think it is good for them. With both of them, I started putting them down for naps at about 7.5 months while they were awake. For the first 2-3 times there were tears for 2-3 minutes or less and then off to sleep they went. I think they just need to be ready and every baby is different as to when they are ready. As other posters said, they are only young once.

I did CIO with my DD at about the age your child is right now. She was to the point that she didn't need to eat, but wanted her paci back. She was waking and crying every couple of hours which meant I was waking and getting up every couple of hours to get up and give her her paci back. I decided this need to change because we BOTH needed better quality sleep then that.

First night she cried for about 30min and it was better every night after (as a result we weaned her of the paci and she started sucking her thumb which was fine by me since I don't have to get up to give her her thumb!) I was a lucky one as my DD really took to CIO. Naps took more time but she eventually got the hang of it. I know some just don't take to it and will cry for hours. Now at 20mo old I can say she has slept through the night nearly every night since that first night of CIO (exceptions were a couple bouts of diarreah). Even during times of teething and other illnesses haven't phased her at bedtime. For us, along with CIO and consistancy of our routine, is the reason she is such a great sleeper now. She is a well rested sweet happy little girl and she actually loves to go "nite nite". She tells me when she's ready to go to bed.

Good luck with whatever you decide!

I was up and held and rocked my ds to sleep until he was about 7 mos old. He used a soother (pacifier) too....I'm a softy..but figured that eventually he's going to need to go to sleep on his own..so I started what I called gently cio..I'd only wait 30secs and go in and try not to pick him up and pat/rub his back (he started sleeping on his tummy then) I just had to be in the right mind..knowing that my dh and I would wake up many times...Eventually we stretched the times out min. by min. And, when he did start sleeping through..he would start teething and we were back at waking in the middle of the night, but I knew he was in pain so I'd go in and soothe him...and we were back to trying to get him back to sleeping through!!
Well, now he's a 13-14 hr sleeper and it's great!
My cousin swears by cio..she must have a better tolerance than I do, but it worked for her!

I wish you luck!
S :)
And, I also agree that he may be going through a growth spurt! He's still young and needs that feeding.