We started doing CIO on the day before Thanksgiving. We did the normal bedtime routine: bath, playtime, bottle while rocking, then we would burp her and lay her down. (Well, I made DH do it the first 4-5 nights, I just couldn't handle not comforting her). The first night he set the timer for 5mins, went in and comforted her until she was no longer breathing heavily, then laid her back down and reset the timer for 10mins. After that he went in and comforted her (also gave her a nice cool paci/drink) and then laid her back down. She was out after that AND slept through the night (which she's done MAYBE twice since she turned 4 mths, now she's almost 9mths).
Then the next night, he added a min. to each interval. So he set the timer for 6 mins, then 11 mins. She ended up sleeping through the night that night too. Then the next night, he set it for 7 mins & 12 mins. She cried through the 7 mins and then he set the timer again and 3 mins later she stopped and we didn't hear from her again until around 1245a and then we comforted her and she slept until around 830-9. Now she sleeps through the night almost every night, except for maybe 1-2nights. And when she does wake up she usually gets herself back to sleep.
It's still hard for me. I did it tonight and after 7mins I went in there and rocked her for a while and I haven't heard from her yet. sometimes I break and I just rock her to sleep, but she usually still sleeps through the night. She's teething too (that second tooth is KILLING her) so it's hard not to comfort her when I know she's hurting. Anyway, hope this helps some. Good luck.
Oh, edited to answer your questions directly:
Did you do it for nighttime, naps, or both? Nighttime only. I still rock her at naps.
- How long did it take your baby approximately to get to sleep at first, then how long did it take to work? She has slept through the night almost every night since we started that.
- Do you give up at naps, or set a time limit? I don't know exactly what you mean here, but once she started STTN she stopped taking as long of naps. She naps now for about 30-45mins 2x a day, whereas before STTN she napped for 1-3hours, twice a day. I figure the more sleep, the better, so I do try to rock her back to sleep when she wakes up after 30-45mins, but she usually isn't having it.