CP: Do you rock LO to sleep?

shellbell3845

Just curious... do you rock LO to sleep? If no, can you talk about how LO goes to sleep -- does LO go right to sleep or does LO play/pull up/etc before going to sleep?

djtippietoes

I usually give LO a bottle right before bed and he tends to fall asleep while he's drinking it.  I'm not sure what to do now that he has teeth though.  Because I brush them and he wakes up.

Meghan14

I used to be able to put LO down when drowsy and he would "talk" himself to sleep. 

We spent October dealing with a cold, teething, and another cold and he couldn't put himself to sleep.  Now he's feeling better and we are trying to get back to going down drowsy.  It's not going well now that he can pull up.  He stands there and after a while starts screaming.  I may have to think about some CIO eventually.  For now I'm OK with rocking him.  I'll keep testing going down drowsy and hopefully it'll work again soon.  

I'll be watching this poll for ideas.

SuzyQq02

We also do bottles right before naps and bedtime at home, so she gets really sleepy drinking. Then we do about a minute of cuddle/backrub, and into the crib she goes drowsy but awake. She usually fusses for a minute until she finds a comfy position and then falls asleep. 

Like dj, I'm lost on the teeth thing... they're probably going to rot out of her head... 

shellbell3845

Here's what is prompting this. After my nap meltdown, I called my mom. She scolded me for rocking him to sleep, and told me to put him in his crib with his lovey, his paci, and music, and walk out. That's all good and fine. And honestly -- that used to work. Before he could crawl/pull up. In a perfect world, he would be able to do that now sometimes. I love rocking him, and I don't want to give that up, but I'd also like for him to have the ability to fall asleep without rocking. I didn't start rocking him to sleep for naps until he started crawling/pulling up. I don't know what to do. I feel like he's tired -- and he shows me that -- but if I just put him in the crib, he bounces around forever, and ultimately ends up screaming.

Of course, my mom says to harden my emotions and let him cry. Oh okay. 

SuzyQq02

Oh, and I might be a special sleeping snowflake... we've never rocked her, but we don't have a rocker! If she's really freaking out I hold her and sway back and forth, and when she was bitty we would bounce on the yoga ball, but no rocking in a traditional sense.

shellbell3845

I'm pretty sure I'm breaking my baby with a rocking chair. 

Meghan14

shellbell3845 said:

I'm pretty sure I'm breaking my baby with a rocking chair. 

((HUGS))) you are not breaking baby.  I'm sorry you feel like that.  I worry about it too sometimes. 

Your LO and mine should hang out- both of their sleep has been ruined by crawling/pulling up.

Metreky21

We rock for naps and at night if he doesn't pass out nursing which happens occasionally. He has always been a bad napper but now that he's bigger he's really fighting us when we try to rock him.

I've done some dr google research and it seems like we need to rock but not to the point of asleep just drowsy and put in crib, pat bum, etc. And then slowly decrease time rocking until nothing.

I've tried this but my first attempt ended in screaming so I gave up for now. I guess I'll be rocking him until college? :-??

Sorry none of this is helpful but I commiserate. I should have listened when the pedi told me that whatever I was doing at 4-5 months would become his sleep crutch...I just wanted baby snuggles!! ( %-(

karich

Caer said:

Yes, I rock him to sleep for both bedtime and naps. I'm in denial that he will ever not want to be rocked to sleep because I love it.

I realize that this will have to change but I'm completely ignorant as to when/how that happens.

This. I'll still rock my 3 year old if she's having a bad day.
I promise you that you will not have to drive to a college dorm to rock your LO to sleep.
If you like it, and LO likes it, why stop? They are still babies! It's sweet, and these minutes go by so fast.
You are not breaking your baby by rocking him to sleep.

Ibliss

We are actually in the middle of sleep training. At night we rock her with bottle but she rarely falls asleep, then I rock for maybe 1 minute and lay her down. Some nights she rolls over and goes to sleep. Other nights it's a struggle, she cries and we check on her at specific intervals. Eventually she lays down and sleeps.

Right now middle of the night is the worst. We just cut nighttime feedings. So we check on her at intervals. Last night it took her 2 1/2 hours to fall back asleep. I feel your pain.

gingerm84

Going to bed, we take a bath, read at story, sing a song and she goes down, chats for a bit and falls asleep.

Naps are more challenging. We usually cuddle for a bit after her book and I rub her back after I put her down. Then she falls asleep.

Flyingtoast

I have never rocked to sleep. We dim the lights, turn on meditation music and read a book, followed by a nursing while singing her song. If she is really fighting it, she gets some more floor time to burn off energy. She either comes back to me to for nursing/humming to sleep, or cuddles up with the dog. We don't have a firm time for bed time. We follow her lead between 9-11pm. Naps are a mess. Between teething and my unpredictable days, we don't have a set plan.

TessyMessy

shellbell3845 said:

I'm pretty sure I'm breaking my baby with a rocking chair. 

Yup. Me too. I always nurse in the rocker before bed and nap time. 90% of the time I put him in his crib fast asleep. Sometimes he will roll over and go to sleep if I drop him in drowsy. But usually it's meltdown city. DS1 was much more agreeable to going down drowsy.
I know we "should" start working on this but I'm not ready yet.

shellbell3845

Just harden your emotions @Bookshelves‌. Simple as all that.

sdlaura

I don't rock DS to sleep.  At night I read him a couple books and hold him in the glider while I give him a bottle, but at naps I just take him up to his room.  I close the shades, turn on white noise, put him in his sleep sack, turn off the lights, give him his pacifier, and give him a kiss, tell him I love him and to have a good nap/night's sleep.  Then I close the door and leave.  He puts himself to sleep, usually pretty quickly.  We used the Ferber method at 6 months to teach him to go to sleep on his own, and now he's pretty happy to do it.

Like PPs said, if you're fine with the current situation, there's no reason to stop rocking.  For us, it was worth some initial sleep training crying to get to where we are now.

AKAP2010

LO gets a bottle and I rock her but very rarely anymore will she fall asleep. If I try to rock her to sleep she pushes away I put her in her crib, give her a binky and her blanket. She then covers her face (drives me nuts so I move it once she's sleeping) and she goes right to sleep. DS was always the same exact way going to sleep. Now if she wakes at night then she likes to be rocked back to sleep.

versed

I'm team they're-little-only-for-a-short-time. Rock/nurse/bottle your baby to sleep if it works for you. They won't want it like that forever. Enjoy it while you can!

Metreky21

versed said:

I'm team they're-little-only-for-a-short-time. Rock/nurse/bottle your baby to sleep if it works for you. They won't want it like that forever. Enjoy it while you can!

I love this but...then what happens? It's like breastfeeding on day 366. I just don't get it. :-/

karich

Metreky21 said:

versed said:

I'm team they're-little-only-for-a-short-time. Rock/nurse/bottle your baby to sleep if it works for you. They won't want it like that forever. Enjoy it while you can!

I love this but...then what happens? It's like breastfeeding on day 366. I just don't get it. :-/

What don't you get?
You think that breastfeeding loses all of its benefits on day 366?

Metreky21

karich said:

Metreky21 said:

versed said:

I'm team they're-little-only-for-a-short-time. Rock/nurse/bottle your baby to sleep if it works for you. They won't want it like that forever. Enjoy it while you can!

I love this but...then what happens? It's like breastfeeding on day 366. I just don't get it. :-/

What don't you get?
You think that breastfeeding loses all of its benefits on day 366?

No sorry I was referencing a previous conversation F14 had about weaning, cows milk, breastfeeding etc.

I just mean, is there anything I need to be doing proactively to make sure he can fall asleep on his own or will it just click for him eventually?

karich

Metreky21 said:

karich said:

Metreky21 said:

versed said:

I'm team they're-little-only-for-a-short-time. Rock/nurse/bottle your baby to sleep if it works for you. They won't want it like that forever. Enjoy it while you can!

I love this but...then what happens? It's like breastfeeding on day 366. I just don't get it. :-/

What don't you get?
You think that breastfeeding loses all of its benefits on day 366?

No sorry I was referencing a previous conversation F14 had about weaning, cows milk, breastfeeding etc.

I just mean, is there anything I need to be doing proactively to make sure he can fall asleep on his own or will it just click for him eventually?

Ahhh gotcha.

Well, for my kids, yeah....it did just click. I thought DD1 would be in our bed for-ev-er. She was our first, we had no idea what we were doing and we pretty much adopted a "I don't care where you sleep, please just sleep" mentality. She's now 6, sleeping in her own bed.
I really think it depends on what you are comfortable with as a family. Nursing/rocking to sleep, letting the kids into the bed with us...all are things we've both been ok with. So far, no permanent damage, that I can see, has been done

courtls22

I nurse LO to sleep and once that crutch is vanquished I plan on rocking.  I'm definitely no help! 

Iznik

At night we put LO in the crib awake but drowsy and she usually is out in a few minutes. Sometimes she cries and DH goes in to calm her, but it's rarely for very long.

Currently for naps I BF until she's sleepy, then I delatch her and plop her on my chest and she passes out. If DH is putting her down for a nap, he will turn on lullaby music and rock her. Rocking never really worked for me because LO always goes for the boob, but there was a period where swaying/bouncing to music worked.

MOTN sometimes DH can rock her back to sleep, but I usually end up nursing.

versed

@Metreky21‌ - proactively, you just need to listen to LO and yourself. There are some nights, my 2yr-old needs "mommy cuddles" to fall asleep, and some night he just says, "I'm tired" and puts himself to sleep. Some nights, I tell him no "mommy cuddles," and he's okay with that. We're both almost done with rocking, but until then we both really love the nights we both want cuddles.

Metreky21

Thank you so much @karich and @versed‌. I really needed to hear that. I really need to learn to trust my mommy instincts!

Firefly9

We rock during MOTN bottles.  I'm so ready for him to STTN, but I will miss my cuddle time!

boogerbearoriginal

I don't rock, but I nurse/cuddle to sleep. So I voted SS.

boogerbearoriginal

I read the thread, and should add there's nothing wrong with continuing to rock or with doing something else if it's not working.

I nursed LO1 to sleep until it stopped working and he can/will put himself to sleep. It was actually an easy enough transition despite the "expert" warnings against such things past x age.  We were all worried at 18m when he started daycare, where he was expected to lay on a cot and go to sleep. He did it without incident and they've commented on how he's one of their best/easiest sleepers. We bedshared and now he (mostly) sleeps in his own room.  Kids needs will change as they grow.  Just like all things, how/when that happens will vary.

shellbell3845

Soooooo will my baby sleep less long by being rocked?

^grammar hahahahah

sjis

I read LO 2-3 books then nurse to sleep in a rocker. Works every time!

JackieP1023

DD mostly puts herself to sleep. For naps, we just take her in, turn on the white noise, and flip the mobile on. Usually she just stares at the mobile for the length that it lasts (maybe 5 minutes), and by the time that's done, she's asleep. She also has a taggie lovey that she has to have to sleep.

For bedtime, we change, put pajamas on, bottle in the rocker (so rocking, I suppose), but once the bottle is done, she usually wants to play... she'll make faces and try to get you to engage her, but we cuddle a little bit, and put her in bed. 95% of the time, she is still wide awake, but usually she knows that she is supposed to go to sleep, and will. Occasionally she will stand up and fuss for a bit, but usually is out within a few minutes.

If she gets up in the MOTN, I default to rocking. Usually it works for me. MH defaults to a bottle, which usually works for him. I'm trying to get MH to understand that she doesn't necessarily need to eat in the MOTN... but with both of us doing different things, it's confusing.

Jecca07

We don't rock to sleep. I might rock sometimes, but when I've tried I'm stuck holding a sleeping baby for a long time because as soon as I try to put him down he's awake and mad. Our bedtime routine (which involves both kids) is jammies, brush and floss teeth, pray, read scriptures, sing songs, read a story, lights out, music on, cuddle for a little bit, but then into bed drowsy and awake. Sometimes they go right to sleep. Sometimes one passes out and the other plays for a bit. Sometimes they stand in their beds and yell at each other for 20 minutes until one gets tired. It varies every day. Nap routine is just a condensed version of bedtime. Very occasionally, when LO has a cold or teething, I've worn him in the Moby wrap, but he always sleeps in bed at night and has the same routine there.

shellbell3845

@TyrannosaurusLex‌ so I talked to lo's teacher for quite awhile today, and they don't rock him to sleep. They watch for his sleep cues, put him in his crib, shush/pat/rub/etc, and eventually he goes to sleep. I want his teacher to come live at my house.

shellbell3845

TyrannosaurusLex said:

shellbell3845 said:

@TyrannosaurusLex‌ so I talked to lo's teacher for quite awhile today, and they don't rock him to sleep. They watch for his sleep cues, put him in his crib, shush/pat/rub/etc, and eventually he goes to sleep. I want his teacher to come live at my house.

Yeah this is what I do at work too, and with other people's children. It works really well.

So wtf to my kid. wtf.

Act right, kids.

MissDemeanor

I nurse LO to sleep. Every time. Team IfItAintBrokeDon'tFixIt