Sleep Methods

I also recommend Pantley's "No Cry Sleep Solution". Lots of great tips and help setting up a sleep plan. It definitely takes more time and work than CIO but the effects last longer and you don't have to go through all the hell for both you and baby! Good luck!

I'm not a cio mom in any way shape or form either! I learned a lot and was able to formulate a sleep plan/routine for my kiddies by reading Dr. Sears Baby Sleep Book, The Baby Whisperer and The No-Cry Sleep Solution. All had great sleep info, tips, tricks and ideas. It's important for you to understand infant sleep to better help your little one learn to sleep and those 3 really helped me with that. I didn't follow one exclusively but used some from each that worked for us.

So that you know where I'm coming from, I'm totally unable to deal with CIO but I have co-slept with my kids, at times. Regardless, I had great success after reading the No Cry Sleep Solution. Elizabeth Pantley I believe, is the author. We didn't have any books with my 3 year old and getting him to bed is still a process. I bought the book after my 2nd child and it provides lots of solutions for parents and you can try what you want to try and avoid the suggestions you don't like. I kinda liked that approach. We went with three or four of her suggestions and now have an 18 month old that goes down for bedtime and naps within 5 minutes. It's AMAZING! I'm sure my results aren't common and after talking about it, my 18 month old will now go on a sleep strike. :-) Good luck!

I don't know your definition of co-sleeping. Some consider it bed sharing and some just in the same room.

But until our son was about 8mos old, he was sleeping in a swing in our room. As soon as he fell asleep, we would turn the swing off.

At about 8mos, we took a long weekend to get him adjusted to his crib completely and in another room.

If he started crying, one of us would check his diaper and make a bottle if it sounded like the "hungry cry". And sometimes all he'd need is some comfort of rubbing on his belly or head. There were a couple times that we had to bounce his mattress a little to help him relax... Like he'd have felt when I was walking while he was in the womb. But unless he needed a diaper and bottle, he didn't get out of the crib. After about 4 or 5 days, he got used to it and now at 2, he won't sleep in anything but his crib while at home.

ETA- I put our son on a schedule the best I could too.

With my first son we rocked him to sleep and it worked really well until he was about 20 months old and couldn't get him into his crib anymore without waking him up. So, at that point we got him a big boy bed and just laid beside him until he fell asleep and then slipped out of the bed. Around when he turned 2 I had to leave the room to tend to one of his brothers so I said to him "I have to go for a minute to help your brother. You lie here and try to go to sleep on your own." When I came back he was asleep and he's gone to sleep on his own ever since. Now, with my 2nd and 3rd (twins) I was basically forced to do CIO because my husband worked long hours and I couldn't rock one to sleep and leave my other kids alone in another room. I prefer not to do CIO but you gotta do what you gotta do!

The NUMBER ONE most important thing is eating to full capacity during the day. If you feed on a schedule or routine, and your baby is content, you may not realize that he could actually tuck in more calories. Stuff him stuff him stuff him. Do a nice night routine and walk away form his own crib in his own room. He'll sleep like a stone.

My step aunt-mother of 12 taught me that trick-she had all hers sleeping alone through the night by 3 months. It has worked with my kids. Technically, I guess you could say we did CIO, because we did not want to start a pattern of codependency at night, but they really never cried for more than a couple of minutes and didn't wake during the night. Once they learned that bed time was sleep time, they loved it. My son actually like crying to sleep though, once or twice I would peek in on him, and he would glare at me like, "Go away, I'm getting my cry on." and fall asleep moments later.
Oh, and if you increase the eating, it takes a few days for the body to register the change, so you may not see the increased sleep the very first night.

We had great success with The Baby Whisperer. That said, I also highly recommend reading Ferber's most recent edition of Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems. It's a terrific resource. Although Ferber is best-known for the "cry-it-out" method, his book explains a great deal about sleep and not just for babies. He covers many different scenarios and also offers multiple solutions (including for families who co-sleep). His advice is not strictly limited to cry-it-out (which in his plan is far more gentle than many people have made it). I'm not advocating cry-it-out, and we've never used it. I'm just saying his book is a great source of information about sleep in general.

I used modified CIO, letting my sons cry for 5 minutes, and than helping them sooth. If after I left they started crying again I would give them another 5 minutes. I never had to go in more than once.

ITA with Dori that it's important to understand infant sleep. They do have shorter sleep cycles.

Dr. Sears has some good information here:
http://www.askdrsears.com/html/7/T070200.asp

Even if we believed in CIO, we couldn't do it with our son due to hernia and other health issues from being a premie. We had success with Elizabth Pantley's "no cry" solutions. We've had some setbacks because of the health issues, but her techniques always help.

Good luck!

I agree that co sleeping is not good. I would put your son in a baby swing or buy a boppy vibrating seat, they are $50 but they make different sounds such as a heart beat. He will need to learn in some respect to self soothe. Good luck