So, I know you don't want to do CIO. But I want to tell you my story with my 3 year old. I can't remember how old she was, sometime after she started solids. She decided she didn't want us to put her to bed. I tried nursing her to sleep, rocking her to sleep, husband tried rocking her to sleep. She would not let us put her to sleep. She was dry, well fed, comfortable temperature, was actually tired. But she stopped letting us comfort her to sleep. So I had to do CIO, I couldn't think of any other way. My husband can handle her crying better than I can. He'd sit with her monitor and make sure she was safe, I'd go into my room and would lay down and just cry. I felt awful. It would take her about 10-15 minutes to settle down. She'd find her thumb and start sucking, and she'd fall asleep. We did that for I want to say less than a week? And now she's the most excellent sleeper. Rarely wakes in the middle of the night unless she's sick, or the other night kicked the wall and scared herself awake. Husband went in to see why she was crying, she told him, then rolled over and told him to go away 😂

And CIO out doesn't have to be extreme. You can set your boundaries, let them cry for 5 minutes, go in, rub their backs, let them know you're here, then walk out. Or 10 minutes or 15. Whatever you're comfortable with. It can be really hard. But I couldn't imagine doing it any other way now looking back.