Do some people actually get the NCSS to work without serious crying? When we tried it, we ended up with 24/7 inconsolability really fast. He also cried for hours at bedtimes, getting so upset he had trouble latching on when offered a boob... which was completely uncharacteristic. I didn't find the actual content of NCSS to be distinct from Ferber, from the child's perspective.
If your child cries then you are not doing it the right way... hence the title, LOL! And I have to disagree about it being indistinct from Ferber. It could not be more opposite to that way of thinking!!
Yes; to equate it with Ferber seems very unfair to the author. I wouldn't say it "worked" for us exactly, but it did help, and did not involve extra crying. In particular, I found the advice about unlatching before DS was completely asleep very helpful, although I also found it took some learning to be sure about when was the right moment. I do remember that during that learning process, there were a few times when I unlatched him too soon and he got distressed. As far as I remember now, I then modified what I was doing so that if that happened once, I took it as my mistake and let him stay latched on until he was completely asleep that time - it wouldn't have seemed fair to risk repeated distress. Once I learned to read him better, though, I could take him off when he wasn't quite asleep but was close enough to it not to mind, and I think it may have helped with reducing the number of times he needed me on waking in the night. This segued pretty naturally into a last feed that wasn't a feed to sleep but was followed by his reading to himself, and then falling asleep by himself. Even when all it was doing was making me lie there for 10 mins instead of 30, it was a help! I think avoiding completely the crying to sleep, and the "stay there in the dark OR ELSE" stuff, has contributed to bedtimes being low stress here to this day. I remember friends being impressed when my toddler would be heard singing to himself and would a bit later go quiet, without needing to be put back to bed multiple times. Though of course, you never know whether anything you did really made a difference, he might have been like that anyway...
