Encouraging CIO story

I decided to post our CIO progress with my 7 month old DD here, in hopes it may help other mommas out there. Back story; Emma has been cosleeping with us since week one of her life. For the first month or two, she would sleep well occasionally In her basinnet during the day. More often than not, she would sleep on me in a sling or wrap during the day for her naps, but would often sleep for hours. She then refused the sling, or would nap for 30 mins and wake up crying. What worked for us was to nurse to sleep and Cosleep for naps as well. During this time I read so many countless books and articles, tried so many strategies for her. Nothing would work, and I struggled with depression on and off, largely due to her sleep issues. I am an NICU nurse and I couldn't figure out how to help my daughter sleep. I eventually decided she just needs me that much, and we continued cosleeping. For the past few months, she has been waking 30min-1hr every night to nurse. I would often lay awake for hours in between. My mood worsened. I felt like no one noticed, and when I told friends and family about Emma, I was offered little support. I love my DH, but he always looks to me for advice, and it was very hard on our relationship. I did not have the answers. I did not want to be "the bad mom" and make my baby cry to sleep without me. As much as her poor sleeping affected me, she was always a happy and smiley girl during the day while awake. We tried to put her crib next to ours, and do gentle cio finally, with me offering the times checks. This did NOT work, and it only made her more angry, and more upset with me for not bringing her back to bed. Eventually one night she pushed herself so far back in the crib and hit her head, leashing out this painful cry I brought her back. I did even more reading and found moms in similar scenarios, people offering them the support that they both NEEDED sleep, and all of these attempts at training were creating more tears and more mixed messages to baby.. So why not CIO? If she would sleep with less crying I indeed would be doing the right thing for her, and how would I know without trying? We are on night three. I'm putting this here to inspire some hope that CIO can indeed work for some babies depending on temperament and timing. If you are especially struggling with depression please don't lose hope. It does get better, "this too shall pass."Our routine is bath, lotion and massage, diaper change, sleep sack, story then nurse.Night 1 730 nurse and bed 750 woke up 827 back to bed 900 up 906 asleep 1244awake 1250 asleep 0140 awake, feed 0545 awake, feed640 up for dayNight two 715 fed 20 min, bed 730 asleep 1200 awake, back to bed in few 1230 awake, fed 15 min 330 awake, fed 20 min 400 back to bed 715 awake for dayPreviously, Emma's always been ready for bed around 7-730, and she always is our alarm, waking me up by the same time the following morning. The earliest she's ever gotten up was 630. Last night, my DH got a callout from work and had to leave, also had a shower this morning (her bedroom is adjacent to only bathroom) and she slept through that. She still has been doing well for naps (sleeps 1.5-2.5 hrs, two naps a day), so once she's comfortable at bed I will tackle those with her. via /r/Parenting http://ift.tt/2dzGqpz