Establishing sleep habits

ajohnson2

I'm in need of help.  I'm overwhelmed with all the different methods and opinions and don't know what to do.  DS (he's 6 months old) just started sleeping through the night about a week and a half ago- it took a while to wean him off the last middle of the night feeding.  He goes from about 7-8pm to 5-5:30 am.  He takes an average of 3 naps a day- 2 that are 1-2 hours and 1 that is shorter- but this all varies.  I can count on him wanting to go back to sleep for a longer nap shortly after he wakes up for the day, like between 7 and 8 am.  Should I be trying to establish more of a schedule or just let him sleep when I see he is tired?  He will rub his eyes and yawn a lot, so it's easy to tell.  A big problem we have is fights sleep like none other.  Like many other babies, he is very curious and doesn't want to miss out on anything.  Usually taking him into the bathroom, running water and the fan with the lights off would do the trick, but now he's on to me and will freak out when he realizes I'm trying to put him to sleep.  If I leave the door cracked he twists around so he can look at the light.  If I set him down to sleep without him falling asleep on me for at least a few minutes, he screams and cries hard.  I have only tried putting him to sleep without holding him and walking around until he falls asleep a few times and I know I'm creating poor habits for him now.  Also, he's 25 lbs and just a very solid baby, so it's exhausting and eventually painful lol- it's frustrating for me too. How should I approach getting him to fall asleep on his own? Gradual changes to a routine or just start it all at once?  What do I do when he just screams and cries and resists it?  Thanks in advance!

jd614

I am sure this sounds obvious but make sure you are creating a routine that helps your baby not only realize its sleep time but also relaxes him. For awhile at night time we were doing bath/bottle/bed, then all of a sudden that didint work anymore. so after bath i inserted  "story time" to calm him down from the excitement of the bath.  Do you have a noise machine? Does DS have a lovey or anything to snuggle with to help him fall asleep? All those could help. We are not on an exact schedule and our day sounds exactly like urs. wake up anywhere from 5-630 (altho we never let him out of the crib before 6) back to sleep like 730/8 depending on the wake up. then 2 other naps during the day. it works for us, so im not changing it.

Icecream4me

I'm just a person trying to get by, so I'm no sleep expert!  I violate the "rules." My little one is a great sleeper but only if we let her go to sleep later at night.  So she goes to sleep around 10, sleeps for 10-12 hours and takes 2 naps (usually 1 long and one short, but sometimes they are both short).  She is very flexible if we need change her schedule (ie: has to wake up earlier).  She's rarely crabby.  People are constantly telling me that she's one of the happiest babies they have ever met

I feel so guilty - especially when I get "caught" with my baby playing after 9pm, but she is happy and healthy and getting enough sleep so I'm hesitant to change anything.  I'm open to feedback on why earlier is better. 

So my honest feedback is that maybe you should allow him to stay up a little later and wait till he is more tired, but I'm certainly not an expert and I question myself constantly. 

Good luck!