Author Topic: please help with wo/wi method. It's so hard  (Read 4126 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline Little Dot

  • New, But Posting Steadily!
  • **
  • Showing Appreciation 3
  • Gender: Female
  • Posts: 54
  • Location: Newcastle, UK
please help with wo/wi method. It's so hard
« on: May 05, 2006, 20:08:09 pm »
Henrysmama, you gave me some tips on starting wo/wi with my 17 month old and I got going with it last night. It was the best bedtime ever! I did the usual routine, put her in the cot and left the room. I pottered around upstairs and listened. She stood, chatted a bit, shouted a little but didn't cry at all and after 20 minutes of slight whinging went off to sleep all by herself. I couldn't believe it. She slept all night and didn't wake at 2ish as she usually does. She woke at 4.30am but we have been having early wakings for a while now. I'm dealing with one thing at a time.

Tonight I felt really confident, did the same routine and put her in her cot. She shouted and chatted for 10 minutes or so, then started getting a bit whingy but there was no crying so I didn't go in. After a few minutes of this she started crying a little but it was a frustrated, angry type cry like she was shouting at me 'this isn't what we do!" I still stayed out the room. After about 15 minutes of this shouting she started to get quite upset and there was some continuous crying so I went in and lay her down. I left immediately and then the crying started like I have never heard her cry before, not even when we got rid of the dummy at 9 months or when we did our pu/pd sleep training at 8 months. She was getting so worked up, her nose was running and she was hot and bothered. I counted 5 and went in, came out even though she was still crying (what I would normally do is pick her up and calm her so she was obviously expecting that), counted to 10, went in and so on. Was I supposed to add 5 every time I came out and started a new count? Well that's what I did but I'm not sure if that is correct. It was so hard hearing her like that. She was hysterical and doing that hyperventilating type cry, you know, when they are so upset they can hardly catch their breath. It broke my heart. I continued for another 20 mins or so with her standing and screaming at the top of her lungs. Everytime I lay her down she wrapped her arms so tightly around me and had one leg almost out of the cot! I just kept telling myself she would go to sleep soon.
It started to get a bit much for me and she was so tired that the next time I went in I stroked her head a bit longer, just until the cry calmed a bit. I did everything over again but each time just stroking her head to calm her down. I know I shouldn't have done this and have probably failed and made tonight a complete waste of time but I am still determined. I didn't do half of what I normally do. I just need some clarification from you over the counting and what to do when she is that hysterical. I'm not expecting miracles on night number 2 or anything like that but I just want to make sure I am doing the right thing and not making matters worse for her. Plus, do I do exactly the same thing in the night?
Thank you x
Kate

Mum to Erin (22.11.04)