Sleep changes - 10 month old

jessica_gail2

S is 10 months today. We have a good nighttime routine - dinner about 6:30, then playtime, bath at 8, then bottle and rock for a bit then I put her in her crib once she's asleep. I cherish the time we get to rock and snuggle and 95% of the time she goes down very easily. As we near the big one-year-old milestone, I wonder if I should be doing something (like CIO) or if our current routine is ok. What do you all think? Will she transition to putting herself to sleep without bottle? Without rocking? I feel clueless!! Thanks in advance ladies!

kbeach82

With V, I just started to slowly weed certain things out of our routine as he was around that age. We only did baths every other day (I didn't want him to be dependent on them as part of his routine if we were out, etc.). I stopped rocking him and started putting him in his crib and rubbing his back (he was a tummy sleeper) around this time too. I am a bad mom and let him keep his bottles until he gave them up on his own at 18 months (we just switched exclusively to sippy cups then). My suggestion is to take baby steps, changing one thing at a time if your goal is to "pare down" your bedtime routine and see how your LO reacts. Good luck!

PennyLane26

Can you believe our girls are already 10 months?! Where has the time gone?!

I think your routine sounds like a dream! We went through a period of time where G would only go to bed if she fell asleep in my arms rocking, she would scream if we put her in the crib before she was out. And God forbid she wake up mid arm-to-crib transition, we'd lose an hour trying to get her back to sleep. We never had to do CIO but we started offering a binky at bedtime. I think it's important for baby to have something to help self soothe - whether it's a lovey, binky, or rocking before bed, at 10 months I don't think it's an issue as long as you can put her in drowsy versus asleep. Just my opinion!

On another note- any plans for the big first birthday? It's coming so soon! We are just having our immediate family (parents & sibs) over for lunch. Doing cake and presents. I bought (too much) pink & gold decorations on Etsy and am on the hunt for the perfect outfit. Love the onesie and tutu idea but may lean towards a dress… We shall see!

TJ1979

My opinion is that it's not a problem unless it's a problem. If this is working for you, it's fine. If you want more of your evening back, start slowly paring down the routine like @kbeach82 suggested. E has sort of developed her own routine and we go off of her cues. Some nights she chooses 2 books, some nights she chooses 1 book. Some nights she points to her crib and is ready to go to bed with no book.
Don't feel like you have to sleep train or anything if you don't have any issues. I know zero college age children who still get rocked to sleep.

JBDamonM

The only thing I may look at is putting her in the crib before she falls asleep.....

I was doing the same thing with my LO - rocking her until she was alseep and putting her down....We were having other issues, so I decided it was time to CIO - I did it at 10 months even and she's like a different baby now. The other piece of advice is if you are worried about having to do something - do it now because the more they stand, the harder it gets.

As for dropping the bottle, I wouldn't worry that far ahead personally. She still has a few more months and a lot will probably change with her feeding habits during that time.

mcgeeva

Like others said I would start taking one thing away at a time. Not all at once to not rock her world but one to pretty much be the same. It should work even if you have to stretch it out for a week or two. Whatever you can do to make it easier on you in the future is what I would do. I never rocked to sleep but we read books and he got his milk in bottle. Then we switched it to a sippy cup. Then just stopped giving him milk and instead giving it with dinner. It was a pretty easy transition. Bed time is only harder now at 23 months because he knows he is going to bed so he will just keep calling mama some nights or quitely play with his monkey and put himself to sleep.

jessica_gail2

Thank you all for the advice everyone! I think I'll leave everything as is right now. She goes down really easily the majority of the time, so since there are no issues I'll just let things play out.

@PennyLane26 I know...it makes me sad they're getting so old! We will have a party for family and a few friends on S's bday. I'm doing pink and gold too!! I'd love to know what you got off Etsy. PM me!!!!! I need to find you on Pinterest too...I've pinned a ton of adorable stuff on there. I'm a loser and haven't bought any yet though!

Dragonfly1226

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. I think with most things you should do what works for you and your family until it stops working for you. Eventually she will need to be able to put herself to sleep, but that doesn't mean you have to CIO. Maybe when you are ready you can start rocking her until she is just about asleep and then put her down sleepy but awake.