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We are “one of the lucky ones” that we can just lay Sarah in her crib and she falls asleep on her own. For naps, after I put her in her crib and leave the room she’ll sometimes play for up to 30 minutes before she settles in and goes to sleep. If she does start crying or becoming fussy, I resort to using the exercise ball to bounce her (which rarely works anymore b/c she’s so squirmy) or I just let her come back out and play some more until she’s more tired. It’s hard with Sarah because she DOESN’T want to be held/cuddled so our options are limited on those “off nights”. On the wonderful nights when she falls asleep still in my arms shortly after the bottle I’ll usually hold her for a while and rock because it’s so rare that I get to hold a sleeping Sarah!
We are also lucky, in that Alana will fall asleep on her own in her cot. I put Alana to bed when she is yawny and sleepy, pretty much when she is almost asleep. If she is sooky I stay in the room with her and rock or pat. I don’t leave the bedroom if she is just sooky- I don’t want her to think she can just cry and get out of jail
. If she seems unsettled because she really doesn’t want to sleep- like she is not sooky but more “awake”, we do pretty much what Amy does, let her come out and play a bit more until she is yawny and sleepy again.Shelby,
Thanks for the tip about the nuks. I’ve thought about that. The reason I don’t do it is that he actually falls asleep without it every night and for his naps. So, I’m hoping to get him off the nuk and throw them all out. It’s confusing to me why he wants it in the middle of the night when he can fall asleep easily without it when he first goes to bed.
Natalia,
I do think it’s rare for babies to naturally fall asleep alone in their beds. It’s a learned behavior. That’s why they call it “sleep training.” The older the baby is when sleep training starts, the longer it will take, but I think almost any healthy, pain free baby can be sleep trained. It’s just going to take some time and consistency. Right now may not be a good time since you said he’s been clingy and irritable. Maybe you should wait until he’s back to himself and in the meantime read some of the sleep books that have been mentioned (you can probably get them all at the library) and decide which plan or combination of ideas you like best. I think you’ll feel more prepared and confident that way.
Does he have an attachment to that blankie you mentioned? How have you been putting him to bed up until now?
I am so sorry. I wish I had better advice to give. As I’m sure you can see by all my posts though Justice is far from a good sleeper. His problem has never been falling asleep though. His problem is staying asleep. Actually that has been the problem for both of my boys. Luke went to sleep by either rocking him or eating his bottle and Justice goes to sleep by nursing, rocking, or bouncing his amby bed. All of which I will have to break once he starts staying asleep. In the no cry sleep solution she talks about how to break the habits. I would just take it slow and read a couple of books and see what works for you guys. Just remember he will sleep in his own bed soon and you might actually miss helping him to go to sleep. Maybe or maybe not. I know I look forward to Justice being in his own room and sleeping in his own bed, but I would miss nursing him to sleep and having him next to me.
Brianna has about 20 passy’s in her crib. I know it is bad, but guess what her transitional object it…you bet it is passy’s. And I am not talking about just the one in her mouth. Brianna holds one in each hand and squeezes them to fall asleep.
The good thing is, if she does wake up she knows how to find them on her own. But if I put her down and she doesn’t want to go to sleep, she starts to throw her passy’s out of her crib! It is hysterical! She does’t do it as much anymore, becuase she knows I am not going to give in and bring them back to her, but it does make me laugh. We have a video monitor, and I can’t tell you the number of times I have watched her throw those passy’s out of her crib and them look up at where the camera is (yes, she knows where it is) as if to say…are you coming? I am hoping she finds another transitional object soon…but for now I am not worring, becuase she is allowed to have the passy ONLY in her crib (well and for the 30 min she spends with daddy in AM waiting for her prevacid time to go by…she is starving by then, as she usually sleeps 11-12 hrs at night, and the passy seems to help..kind of like gum
Brianna is on what I call a “flexible schedule”. She naps about the same time every day(within about an hour) and goes to sleep about the same time everyday (again within an hour).
I am not suprised that Trace was squirmy and didn’t want to go to bed last night. It is probably going to take several weeks before it all sinks in that when I get a bath and read a story (preferably to be the same story every night) that it is time to go to bed. I know several mothers who had success with the ferber method. Put him down and if he cries, let him cry for only about 5 min…you gradually increase the time. Eventually he should learn to fall asleep on his own. (maybe try a search on the Ferber Method) This did not work for Brianna. What he did was I picked a set amount of time I would spend with Brianna before naps (7 min…don’t laugh, I don’t know why I picked that amount) and at night (4 songs on her CD). After that, I would put her in her crib and leave. I never let her cry for more than 20 min. It took only about 2 days, and now she doesn’t even cry (well sometimes for about 20 secs, but that is it) If she is still awake at 20 I go upstairs, check her diaper (Brianna HATES pee diapers!
) hold her for 5 more min, and repeat. I think it is kind of a combo of a lot of sleep strategies. For me, I felt good because Brianna learned that I wasn’t going to come in a spend a ton of time with her until she feel asleep, but at the same time, if she needed me, I would be there. Good luck!ndrose wrote:
Natalia,
So, you usually pick him up and put him in his crib after he falls asleep in his swing, or he sleeps in the swing all night?
Is he feeling better today?
Do you think he’s fighting falling asleep in the swing or boucy chair now because something’s bothering him, or because he’s old enough now to realize you are trying to put him to bed?
i usually transfer him to the crib but sometimes im too tired to even move and let him sleep in there.
i really dont know if somethings bothering him….its all so confusing. Trace is sleeping through the night lately for the first time in quite a while, but he is cranky most of the day and wants to be held otherwise he cries.
i really dont know if this is an issue with meds, since i JUST found out the caracream doesnt have enough buffer in it. so i guess i will try adding TUMS to it and maybe increase his dose and see how he does.hearing him cry in his crib just breaks my heart and i break down after about 5 min. its just that i cant know for sure that something is not physically bothering him, and if he is in some sort of discomfort i would feel absolutely awful for letting him sit there and cry.
i dotn know, me and mike fight about this a lot. he says Trace is not in any pain becaise the second i pick him up he is fine. he says Trace just wants to be held and i need to break this habit.ah! i just dont know. i want Trace to be old enough to be able to tell me if he is in pain.
Natalie,
I fight with my husband and myself about cio all the time.
I’m fighting the urg today to just go put him in his bed and let him cio. I don’t get it yesterday was so good. Last night was horrible and again today is horrible. UGH.
I am so tired and just want some coffee. Sorry to steal your topic. I am just so pissy today. I have to be honest after the diet if things aren’t better I have to do cio. I just can’t take it anymore. Well, I will continue to try the no cry sleep solution for a while, but then that’s it. I hate cio too, but enough is enough. They should have a show on tv like super nanny. The lady comes to your house and shows you how to get your baby to go to sleep without letting them cio. Wouldn’t that be a good show? I mean hey, super nanny just does the same thing over and over and people still watch her. Right? I say if you really want to do cio and your husband can deal with it and thinks it so easy, then have him do it. If he is home on the weekends then I would choose that time. You go out somewhere and enjoy yourself and let your husband do it. Sorry if that sounded snappy at the begining. My husband all the time says let him just cio, but is not willing to do it. I have to be the one to hear my poor baby scream for the 3 days it takes.
Justice’smom2007-2-3 15:29:20
Here is the link to Elizabeth Pantley’s web page. She is the author of the no cry sleep solution. http://www.pantley.com/elizabeth/ I haven’t checked it out yet, but my friend has meet her and said she is probably willing to answer any questions you might have. I think I am going to e-mail her and see what she says about Justice. Good luck.
Oh, if I find anything that works for us I will let you know. If anything works for us other than cio I will be amazed. 
Once he’s feeling better you’ll be able to teach him to fall asleep in his crib. Eventually he’ll outgrow the swing and the bouncy chair, so you’ll have to!
For now I’d study the books and get yourself geared up for it. You really have to ready, even moreso than the baby
because sleep training is really harder on the mommies than it is on the babies. And once you start you have to be consistent, so being ready is really important. And being comfortable with the plan you choose is important too. That’s why I think you should read a few of the books and see which ones you are most comfortable with.Is he still crabby today? Are you going to increase his Prevacid and/or add more buffer?
To be totally honest, i don’t have any opinions re CIO or controlled crying or whatever they want to call it. I’ll just let you know my experience. A couple of mums I know (who don’t have reflux babies) swear it works and have the wonderful sleeping babies to proove it! I must admit there was one day I thought I would try it with Alana. She just cried and cried and cried and kept crying even when I evenutally picked her up. I guessed at that point the little bub was really in pain and was pretty much inconsolable. So thats my experience. I haven’t had to try it know she is pain free so I can’t really comment on that.
I agree with Lori- re try it (or any other program) if you think it is behavioural versus pain related. But whatever you try- be consistent. There is a phenomena in behavour management that is “it always gets worse before it gets better”. So people often give up in the “gets worse” stage. But if they stick it out a little longer it often “gets Better” all of a sudden.
Goodluck whatever you decide to try. We will be here to support you regardless.
I agree with Theresa. We will support you no matter what. I let my first son cio and I definantly didn’t need someone telling me I was doing anything wrong. I needed kind people that would tell me it was all going to be better soon. I personally just don’t want to do it with Justice. With Luke I was extremely desperate. I have never been so tired in my life as I was with Luke. I actually started seeing things, that is how tired I was. All that to say, don’t worry about what anybody else has to say. Do what you think is right. I look forward to hearing your success story of how Trace is sleeping so well at night.
Soon enough it will all be a distant memory. Good luck.
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