Has anyone let their baby cry it out?

I tried with my daughter and she would get herself into such a state she would puke, and vomit, and choke. It must be terrible to be crying out for help and to be totally ignored. Do what you feel needs and works for you.

Yes, but in a very controlled way - not leaving them to cry for hours!! 

Does he fall asleep by himself when you put him to bed initially?

Yes.

But first, you have to figure out if the kid is hungry, wet, in pain, etc.

If not and it seems to be a pattern developing, then we did not pick them up. We would rub their backs for a moment or two, then walk to the door. Worked for us with all our kids.

I wasn't a cry-it-out mom; more of a let them sleep with me, family bed kind of mom. 

I think this is one of those things that there really is no best answer, but rather picking the one that works for you, the baby and your family. 

CIO has more to do with putting a child down to sleep than it does with waking in the night.  I wonder if it's happening at approximately the same time each night?  If it is, he may be having trouble transitioning to REM sleep because of a dream.  If it is the case where it's happening consistently at the same time, I would recommend going in and gently nudging or rustling him about 5 minutes prior to the typical start time. Don't wake him, but a gentle disruption of the sleep pattern may force his brain over that hurdle and get him to REM sleep.

Another possibility is that with the change of seasons, he may be getting too hot or too cold in his room and that could be disrupting his sleep. Check that his clothing and ventilation is appropriate.  No matter the season, one of mine likes a ceiling fan on in the room for the white noise and air circulation.

Finally, if it's none of those things, I wouldn't let it go 15 - 20 minutes if it's in the middle of the night.  I would go in right away and soothe him back to sleep by gentle back patting or rubs.  I wouldn't get him out of his crib.

I was thinking these things or also teething. His mouth might hurt and that's why bottles aren't appealing either. 

It isn't it it, but I'm sure you're doing a great job 

Another book recommendation, if you are interested, is Richard Ferber's Solve Your Child's Sleep problems.

Good luck!

This was me and my DD too. I know it works for some, but for us it just wasn't feasible. I agree with the others, find out what's wrong first before trying CIO. Is he hungry? having a bad dream? Getting a new tooth?

ETA, this too shall pass. I had to physically shake my now 9 YO DD to get her to wake up this morning. She proceeded to try and roll over and go back to sleep. 

I did. It was horrible and I cried right along with DS. But I'd do it again.

He was about 8 months old. We had moved at 6 months, gone on vacation, and he was teething. Once we were settled again, I really, really tried to establish good sleeping habits again. The routine of bath, book, and then nursing him to a drowsy state, going in and patting him, going in and holding his hand, bringing him into bed with us... I really did try. But it wasn't working and then one day we were playing on the playroom floor and I fell asleep--probably for about 15 minutes. It scared the crud out of me and I new things had to change. It was just too dangerous. (The playroom was right off the kitchen, with the stove, dog dishes, chairs to climb on--this kid got into everything.) DH worked from 5 am to 7 pm and it was just me there at home.

We did CIO and that kid lasted for 45 minutes the first night and longer the second night. By the second night, I was a sobbing mess outside his bedroom door. But I'd agreed to try it for a week. The third night, I gave him a blankie that I'd been sleeping with to get my scent on it. He woke up, I went in to soothe him and gave him the blanket. He's slept through the night for the last 18 years.

I felt horrible doing it, but it was dangerous for me to only be getting 3-4 hours of sleep for weeks on end. I never noticed any trust issues and this was a kid who would let you know what he was feeling. I really tried to give him extra snuggles during the day and would take the blanket with us when I nursed. He was definitely attached to that blanket for longer than he should have, but it was better than the alternative. I want to say that maybe it was Brazelton? who was an advocate of the blankie?

*If you do the blankie route--get 3. One to have, one to wash and one to lose. We left one in a hotel room when he was about 5 and never got it back. Luckily we had backups!

I'm happy to say that DD didn't need CIO. She was happy to snuggle in bed with us at 3 am. When she would wake up, I'd just go and get her and bring her in with us.

I did CIO for naps. I waited until we had been away and her pattern was disrupted anyway. It took three times and problem solved.

We had got in the habit of soothing her to sleep in the glider. I think being held and the rock motion helped put her back to sleep.

It got to the point where the motion of putting her back in her cot, woke her up again.

I think the big mistake we made was ever taking her out of the crib. I also encouraged her to sleep with a toy. It became her dolly. She eventually started rubbing the dolly three pieces of yarn, her hair and that became her soother.

After that if she woke in the night and couldn't find dolly she might cry. But giving her dolly and not speaking.. she would be back to sleep before I left the room.

Yes. The first one took less than a week. Cried for about 20-30 minutes the first night and decreased from there. The second one, whew, could work itself into a state. At almost 11 months and still waking to eat 2-3 times a night I couldn't do it anymore. At that point I put him down awake every single time. If he started crying, me going in and patting him wouldn't work. I had to pick him up and rock him. I couldn't bring him into my bed like the first one because he wouldn't settle down. So he had to cry. Once I started putting him down awake it took about 2 weeks and he no longer woke up crying. When he cried in the middle of the night, I would slowly get his bottle. Sometimes he'd fall back asleep before I got to his room. It was soooo hard but it was the only way with him. My first did better with the going in after 5 minutes, pat on the back, etc. good luck!!

I did once. I went in at 5 minute intervals.
The kid outlasted me. At 45 minutes I caved.
It too her more than an hour to calm down.

After that, we co-slept happily until she was ready for her own room.
It was family-bliss. Everyone slept better.
It worked great for us, but may not be good for all families.

It may seem like a pain at the time to rock, soothe and comfort.
But, let me tell you, soon, you will wish they were small again and could be rocked, soothed and comforted.

They grow up too fast. Like the country song says, "You're gonna miss this"


Hugs!

Yes, we did CIO for both our boys. Not that we let them cry for hours, but, we would let them cry for a few minutes, go to them, re-cover them, and walk away, no talking to them or anything. The only difference for us, we started it at about 8 weeks old (no judging please, it was something we had talked long and hard about and for us it was the best option), it completely worked in no time at all. Our oldest slept through the night at 10 weeks and our youngest at 12 weeks.