So I have a question for all you mom's out there...
But first of all, so I think Ruthie & I are doing pretty good when it comes to sleeping at night. She will sleep about a 5-6 hour stretch now at first and then do 2-3 hour stretches after that. I am happy with that! I really believe in having a routine for her and think that she understands when it is time for bed. We take a bath, have a little massage time, drink medicine, read a book (try to), sing songs, nurse and go to sleep! I've done this with her ever since she was born. I love the time that I can spend doing this with her but I also want her to be able to go to sleep on her own.
But when it comes to naps, I wish she would just fall asleep when she's tired when we are at home. It seems like during the day she will: wake up, nurse, play and then nap. Perfect. But I have to hold her, most of the time, to fall alseep for a nap (not a huge deal but still time consuming at times) - unless we are in the car or she is in the stroller, she will just go to sleep on her own.
So the QUESTION is:
How do you teach your child to fall asleep on his/her own?
If this applies to you:)
What has worked for you?
Obviously I will do whatever is best for us but I just like to see what has worked for others out there!
ALSO - I am currently reading "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" and I really agree with what I have read so far. I am going to keep reading because I think it will have the answer...
And I know some people go off Baby Wise but I only like some theories they have. So there ya go- tell me your thoughts:)
By the way... my baby is 3 months!! Oh how I love this little girl:) Time is flying!
But first of all, so I think Ruthie & I are doing pretty good when it comes to sleeping at night. She will sleep about a 5-6 hour stretch now at first and then do 2-3 hour stretches after that. I am happy with that! I really believe in having a routine for her and think that she understands when it is time for bed. We take a bath, have a little massage time, drink medicine, read a book (try to), sing songs, nurse and go to sleep! I've done this with her ever since she was born. I love the time that I can spend doing this with her but I also want her to be able to go to sleep on her own.
But when it comes to naps, I wish she would just fall asleep when she's tired when we are at home. It seems like during the day she will: wake up, nurse, play and then nap. Perfect. But I have to hold her, most of the time, to fall alseep for a nap (not a huge deal but still time consuming at times) - unless we are in the car or she is in the stroller, she will just go to sleep on her own.
So the QUESTION is:
How do you teach your child to fall asleep on his/her own?
If this applies to you:)
What has worked for you?
Obviously I will do whatever is best for us but I just like to see what has worked for others out there!
ALSO - I am currently reading "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" and I really agree with what I have read so far. I am going to keep reading because I think it will have the answer...
And I know some people go off Baby Wise but I only like some theories they have. So there ya go- tell me your thoughts:)
By the way... my baby is 3 months!! Oh how I love this little girl:) Time is flying!
19 comments:
super cute picture of Ruthie! Sorry I can't offer any advice, lol.bull
The trick for my kids was putting them down when they were still awake, but tired and they fall asleep on their own. Sometimes they cry, but you have to let them cry a bit. Not too long, but cry and learn to soothe themselves. Good luck with the sleeping!
We went with Babywise, but I could never bring myself to be a stickler on letting my babes cry it out until they were 3 months old. Does Ruthie use a pacifier? I know it's technically a "sleep prop" but I use them. I would let my girls cry for a bit till I knew they were good and tired and then go stick the pacifier in their mouths. It can be hard, but it pays off in the end. Now Annie loves going in her crib and rarely makes a peep before falling asleep. Good luck!
OH!!! she's such a doll- i can't wait to hold her again!
my baby is pretty easy... Jonny & I just go running, make a fruit smoothie, have a little facebook time, and he goes right to bed! ;)
Oh my goodness she is so stinkin' ADORABLE!!! Sorry I don't have any sleeping tips for you. :( Good luck though.
It really depends on the baby's temperament and your patience, but eventually you really have to do part of the babywise stuff. I am a believer in the modified babywise. They leave no room for adaptation. Everything by the clock. Sooo never happens that way in real life. I like the ideas though.
You kind of get a feel for when your baby is too tired to handle being awake anymore. Then you do the cry to sleep thing. If you wait until they are too tired to think though, they will be too tired to fall asleep on their own and just get too worked up and scream endlessly. It's a precise art. And hard the first baby. My girls had different temperaments, but they fairly quickly succomb to naptime when they know the routine. Just like bedtime, set up a small routine. Some quiet singing and rocking in a chair for a little bit, or turn off the lights and walk around the room bouncing and talking at first, soothe, and when she is starting to drift put her down. She will wake up and start crying, but since she has already drifted, it won't take long for her own crying to put her back to sleep. As she gets used to falling asleep in her bed you can work toward just putting her there fully awake and she will go right to sleep with no hassle. Be patient. VERY patient. Good luck! -Melissa Rogers
Ok this is the tried and true method for all us Flagstaff moms (meaning my 4 friends with kids). Your doing the perfect pattern of wake, eat, play, sleep. I would even use this for bed time. After you have nurse Ruthie keep her up for just a bit then lay her down. So here is the trick after they have eatan and are playing you watch for them to either A: rub their eyes B: yawn. Then you take them to their room and rock or read then for 2 minutes lay them down while they are awake but drowsy. Do not wait until the 3 or 4 yawn or eye rub, then they are already too tired. Hope that helps.
I followed what they did in the book Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child and Bella sleeps GREAT!!!! It really does work. The most important thing is to look for their sleepy "cues". When Bella started to rub her eyes, that's when I knew she was tired and so I would rock her for a little bit and then put her in bed (I love to rock her so that's why I do it, but you don't have to). She would cry in the beginning, but after a while, she would just roll over and fall asleep. Also, it helped a TON when Bella started to roll because she prefers sleeping on her tummy. So, those are my thoughts. Just look for the cues and it makes crying time a lot less. Also, for bedtime, stick to the same time every night and do the same routine so they know when it's time to go to bed. And don't use a night light. When you use one, they think because it's light that they can wake up and play. But this is what has helped us. Good luck!
Well I know how tough this can be. A schedule is so good. For Kaitlynn I finally realized that I couldn't rock her to sleep anymore. She did not sit still and it took forever if I did! So I had to let her cry. I did her bed routine, put her in bed: After 5 minutes I went in soothed her, Put her back in and went in again after another 10 minutes. Each time I increased it by 5 minutes. It was tough the first night, she really cried for a while, but after a few nights she was great. I know this sounds mean, but I was to the point that I needed sleep and felt like I was always putting her to sleep. She now goes down great for naps and the night. She actually gets excited sometimes when we are heading to her room and she is tired. The only problem is now she is tough to put to sleep at all other places besides in her bed, except in the car or stroller..but at church it hard. You are smart to work on it now, because once they get mobile it gets harder because they are so interested in everything around them. Good luck! I know its hard and everyone is different.
Melissa, that has to be one of the cutest pictures of Ruthie I have ever seen! I love it! And Im so glad you guys are doing well!
I agree with alot of the previous posts! For us, the trick is to put them down for a nap before they are too tired. I learned from Tera! :)
As soon as you seen them rubbing their eyes, it is time for a nap. If you get the the point they are fussy, its been too long. I didn't even notice Peter rubbing his eyes until Tera said something to me! (She was his sitter for a while- love ya Tera!) We swaddled him up, put the binky in and let him be. If he cried then I let it be for 10 min before I would go check on him. :) Hope that helps!
PS Ruthie is adorable!
I agree with everyone above! Like you said you have to do what works for Ruthie too. I have figured out that once Ella is tired and rubbing her eyes I can NOT put her right in bed. That's just Ella though. We also have the opposite problem of yours, she's going down for naps and at night well but not staying asleep very long at night.... agh
She is so cute. Chantel has always had a strict sleeping schedule- even as an infant and to this day she sleep so good.I think it is because she learned it as a baby. I think you are smart in making sure she has good sleep habits. I think it sounds like you know what you are doing.
Cole doesn't fall asleep on his own for naps either and I had to hold him until he did. When he turned 6 mo. (4 mo. is a good age too) I felt comfortable that he was old enough and capable so I put him down and let him cry it out. luckily he was asleep within 5 min. he still cries a sad cry every time I put him down but I know it shouldn't last longer that 15-20 min...and if it does there usually is something else going on (teething, reflux). bottom line is trust your motherly instincts and don't be afraid to let her cry. after all you are helping her learn a necessary skill - self soothing. wow. that was a long post. good luck.
Wow, Melissa - you got a lot of comments on that one! Maybe I should read a few and dust up my skills for our little boy. My advice? Swaddle and let 'um cry. I know, it's hard hearted. But that's what worked for our girlies.
Your girlie is adorable, by the way.
I had the same problem with Noah at about 3 months. He would go to sleep with us holding/rocking/bouncing and the second we put him in his bed he would wake up. I decided that he just needed to learn how to fall asleep on his own. We had to just let him cry it out. It is super hard to just let them cry but so worth it now. The hard crying it out was only about 10 minutes of crying (be prepared it feels like much much longer) and it only lasted about 2 days. Life is good now. I have also noticed that if he gets overly tired it is so much harder for him to settle down. You are doing awesome to have a routine though. I wish I had more of a routine than feeding him and then changing him and putting him to bed. We have tried the rocking and singing thing but he is usually not interested...too squirmy so into bed he goes! Good luck! By the way...Ruthie is adorable!
I always just nursed my kids to sleep. I know the books always say that is a big NO NO, but it's what works for us. And at that age I also used the swing a lot. It always keeps my kids asleep longer. They also say not to do that. But I don't really care what the "professionals" think. It works for us so that's what we do.
Hey there! Here is my two cents. I do what feels natural to me and I also use teachings from Dr. Sears. I have "The Baby Book" written by him and his wife They don't really support letting your baby "cry it out" or cry for a certain amount each night, especially in the first 6 months. This doesn't feel right to me either Reddin sleeps in his crib for naps during the day, but sleeps in our bed at night. This seems to work for us. I know it's not for everyone and alot of people don't agree with it, but he sleeps great and so do I. I can also just roll over and feed him :) Dr. Sears explains how babies sleep lighter because is part of their survival mode in the beginning so that they can wake up to tell us they are hungry, cold etc. Now that he is getting older, we are going to slowly transition him to sleeping in his crib in our room. As far as naps go, I just look for signs like sleepy red eyes and yawns, and a little cranky and restlessness. I can usually feed him or rock him a litle and he'll fall asleep. I hold him for 5 minutes or so after he sleeps and then put him in his crib. I am NO EXPERT, but this torks for us. Good luck.
She is adorable! I don't have any hands on experience with this, but I will soon be checking back on this blog post for some advice when I am trying to get baby miller to sleep! :) hope you are well. Be sure to call when you are in town and we will have to get together!
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