Wanting to Hear from Moms Who Did Cio in the Middle of the Night

I realize you don't want to hear negative comments, but three months is too young even for people who still think that the proven-bad CIO method is good. Crying it out can cause brain damage, and it just teaches her that you aren't coming when she uses the only method she has to communicate. Denying that it's bad doesn't make it ok. Even the so-called experts who recommended it have now said it's bad. Refusing to hear that it's wrong doesn't make you right.

It's not just food, it's comfort. She wants YOU.

We did the CIO and it only took 3 days...but we did not do it until 9 months when he was waking to feed out of habit and not out of hunger. At 3 months, the baby still needs to eat quite often, which means night time feedings. I would wait a little longer before trying CIO.
Also, my daughter was 3 when we finally stopped feeding my son at night and the crying did not wake her at all. So, I don't think you will need to worry about that.

Don't even get me started on CIO! I don't agree with it for one but CERTAINLY NOT on a 3-12 month old! Not that I would for older either. The first 3 months post birth is considered the 4th "Trimester" because that is when the babe is doing all the growing that it isn't able to do in the womb otherwise they would be way to large to birth.

To answer your question FEED your hungry INFANT! Breast milk is digested faster and more efficiently than formula so if they are hungry you need to feed them, especially if it has been 8 hours since their last feeding. If it is a matter of you wanting to more sleep during that nursing time then bring the babe in bed with you, latch babe on and sleep. Everyone wins!

K I am totally for the cio method as I have done it with both my girls. My oldest is now 3/12 and my youngest is 18 months. But there are some rules about the cio that need to be followed. Fist you can't do it until they are at least 4 months and it works better if they are 6months and then again at 12 months old. You also have to look at why she is waking. If she is nursing every time then she is still hungry and needs to eat. Don't deny her that. All babies are different so just because your first didn't need to eat after 8 weeks that doesn't mean your second isn't still hungry at 3 months. Also the reason you need to wait until she is older is because at this age she lacks the ability to put two and two together.....the whole concept that it is bedtime and that no matter how long I cry I won't be able to get up until morning. So you still got sometime before you should try the cio. With my first I did it at 11 months cause she would still wake up once a night but she no longer wanted to eat, she just wanted to play so i knew she was ready to sleep through the night. It took 2 weeks before she went to sleep peacefully. My second I did it at 12 months and she never even cried I just laid her in bed awake and she went to sleep. So give it time and when she is ready it will all work out.

I would also like to say that I think it is really rude of all the mothers who posted negative comments on the cio method even after M. ask for you NOT to respond if you had negative opinions. This sight is for us to be able to ask questions and find support. If you don't like the cio method you didn't have to respond. It would have been different if she asked what we all thought about the cio method but she didn't. So I would hope in the future we can all respect what is being asked.

Your last line reads, "Please don't respond with opinions that are negative to cio!!!" I'm not trying to be confrontational but it doesn't sound to me like you want an honest opinion. It sounds like you are looking for people who will give you "permission" to ignore your child's only form of communication. Here is a link that may help.

8 INFANT SLEEP FACTS EVERY PARENT SHOULD KNOW http://askdrsears.com/html/7/T070200.asp

I used the CIO method, but not that young... Try a paci or a swadle me maybe that will work. Not being negative, just saying its not good for a 3 month old to use the CIO. Or maybe try a bottle of water. Call your pedi and ask bc IMO I think you should wait till their 6 months or so to do that. Also ask your doc about a little cereal before bed.

I used CIO with my son with great success. However, 3 months is too young. Much much. I would not begin CIO until at least 5-6 months old, because a 3-month-old does not even know how to put herself back to sleep well yet. Each baby is different, of course, and some will respond better to the technique than others. But I would still hold off for a couple of months.

EDIT: I also agree that it's pretty rude that so many people responded with negative opinions about CIO. She didn't ask your opinion of CIO, she asked the correct way to do it in her case. If she can't come here and ask this sort of question without getting a barrage of judgment for her parenting techniques, where should she go? If you don't approve of CIO, don't answer the question.

It's abusive and neglectful to not feed a child that's really hungry period. She's 3 months for heavens sake. I'm not against CIO for a much older child. But she's only 3 months!

Doctors do not know everything and they rarely agree. One doctor told my daughter my grandson wasn't big enough and she wasn't feeding him enough when he's quite normal and has little fat rolls in all the right places. Then the same wack job told her she should not be feeding him at night and to let him cry it out. Make up your mind lady. He eats when he's hungry day and night. Other doctors would say wait until older.

I didn't get my knowledge from a book. I get my knowledge from real world hands on training. It's too young.

Mmmm, I think you have to think about this in different terms. I feel like kids and in the first your since they grow so much have growing spurts. Lets be honest everyone's body has times when it doesn't need so much food and at times babies will do with a bit less, when not feeling well, teething, etc. I noticed my boys would need more every few months plus even when they were eating solid food, meaning more food at times not formula or breast milk. At times it varied with the food or formula or breast milk. I can recall with all 3 being up around 5 am with a bottle or breast (depends on which kid it was) to feed him.

I would let mine cry maybe 5 mins then I knew I better get up and do something, honest I thought it was strange but usually they needed something sometimes I'd even get away with holding them and they'd go back to sleep.

I had a ped in Fl with my first child she was a doctor and a mom she had get this 5 kids all under 10 years old...I was impressed. So she had me about 3 months old put a teaspoon of rice cereal in the bottle, yes I know I've heard all the mom's freak on this but hey she was a doctor and a mom I figured she knew what she was talking about. For my first child it worked it helped him we just did it at the 11pm bottle he'd make it until about 5 am...I thought it was great he's fine, he's a great reader, great kid so it didn't hurt him. Each one of my kids ever different.

Just wanted to share my experience and wish you the best....they are all so different.

I am not opposed to CIO I did it with both of my children, but not that young. If your baby uses a pacifier that was how I stopped the night feedings. I would try the pacifier if it worked then great but if I gave it and they kept crying then I knew they were still hungry and still needed the night feeding. If they aren't taking a full bottle and going back to sleep after only an ounce then that could be another sign that they are just waking out of habit and not hunger. I think three months is kind of young to do cry it out. I think I would be uncomfortable that young. I waited until 6 months with both of my children and it worked wonderfully. Good luck

I cio'd my two older, and when my 3 month old is older, I will if I need to. Right now, he (like yours) sleeps awesome until about 3-5 am. I will ( and I know you said you tried) give him his paci two or three times. Usually he goes back to sleep. If he really starts crying and not just being fussy, I will feed him and he slurps it down like there is no tommorrow! If the binky that usually works doesn't, feed him. He's growing and hungry. Wait untiil he's older to really enforce the CIO method.

At 3 months you are looking at a growth spurt. Feed her she's hungry. They happen every 2-3 months like clockwork.
I hate CIO ,tried it , it doesn't work all it does is cause stress in everyone involved. And it ripped my heart out. It teaches mom to ignore babies cries and teaches baby mommy isn't there for her when she needs her.

Aside from that if you are going to do it wait till she is older. remember she hasn't been on this planet very long she's still trying to figure everything out, and she needs the only thing she's really familiar with close to her, you, cause it's a scary world.

I was told to wait until they were 4 months old to try cio. Apparently, at 4 months old their digestive systems mature, and they should be able to sleep through the night. We did it at 4 months with the first and around 7 months for our second. I waited to let the second one cio because I didn't want her to wake up the household.

Here's what my husband and I did with our son, who was about 5 1/2 months at the time. When we did this he was waking two to three times per night to nurse. I started reducing the amount of time he nursed every night ( you could do every other night if you would prefer, it will just take a bit longer) So if you have been nursing for 6 minutes, only offer 5 1/2 minutes of nursing tonight. When there are multiple feedings per night, you also increase by 15 minutes per night, the amount of time between feedings. So you would do 5 minutes of nursing every 4.25 hours tomorrow, 4 1/2 minutes every 4 1/2 hours the next night, and so on. We found this method in Dr. Richard Ferber's book (which made a lot of sense to me, you may want to try reading it to see what you think), and it worked really well for us. According to the book, most kids stop waking to eat before you can reduce them down to nothing, my son stopped waking to feed after 4 or 5 nights. I thought a gradual approach was better than just trying to quit cold turkey, which seemed pretty awful to me.
Also, make sure when you go in to feed him, you keep it as utilitarian as possible, no lights, no conversation, just nurse and back to bed. You want to show him that nighttime is for sleeping.
Best of luck!

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I'm not against cio, I did it with both of my boys...at 12 months. I think 3 months is way to young not to feed in the middle of the night. Some babies are just like that, my first one at 10 oz every two hours at 2 months. He is 5 and is as tall as an average 8 year old. He still eats me out of house and home! Maybe try uping her intake? I did that with my second one and that helped. Whatever you decide good luck! It does end, I promise!

I hate to say that I don't know what cio is, but a lot of my baby and toddler patients who have sleep and hunger issues, also have blood sugar issues. It doesn't matter how full the tummy is, if the blood sugar is crashing, the brain will signal that they need to eat. And getting nutrition has nothing to do with how often you are eating, but how able you are to absorb nutrients after you consume them. Vaccinated babies and babies who have had antibiotics can have very inefficient guts. So there is a whole picture here that needs to be addressed, Blood sugar is a survival mechanism, not a ploy for attention.

My oldest daughter began sttn at 8 weeks but at about 3.5 months she started waking up again (UGH!!) I tried cio once but she went back to sleep and woke up 20 minutes later so I knew she was hungry. At her 4 month check-up I mentioned it to the dr. and he said "Oh, well she's 14 lbs., she should be on solids" as if I should have known that. That very night I started giving her cereal and she never woke up again during the night. Apparently at 13 lbs. is when "they" suggest solids. You may call your pedi and ask what they think.... Good luck!

my dr told me that once they are 11-12 lbs that they can metabollicly sleep thru the night. are you using a paci? she is waking up because that is her schedule. when she wakes, i would give her a paci. at this age there should be no nipple/paci confusion, so if you are concerned about using one, i wouldnt be. my dd slept thru the night at 4 mos, but only after we got her over the habit of waking up for that middle of the night feed. keep trying and good luck!

She really is way to young for CIO. I don't care how many times they say is sufficent...each child is different. Some of mine were big eaters. If i remember it peaked about 3 months. This is where i am different then some mothers. At three months i was feeding cereal. A nice little bowl before bed. It helped so much. I know that not all babies are the same. I do know that mine needed a little more food than the average bear. Don't worry... none of them are over weight or ever have been... that is a cereal myth. Nor did they have any digestive issues. (they are 14, 13, 8 and 6)

If you little one is still hungry in the middle of the night... it is normal...please still feed her. Maybe you could use a white noise machine for your 27 month old? There is no way at 3 months they are expected to sleep through the night.