Drowsy but awake

mrstps

Hi all

My daughter is 10 weeks old and we have been holding/rocking her to sleep since the beginning. She usually sleeps between 8-9, then we transfer her to her bassinet in our room when we go to bed. She has consistently been sleeping 6-8 hours this way. As she's getting a little older it would be great to be able to put her down right away, rather than hold her for 2-3 hours before bed. The problem is when we do this, she either wakes up immediately or after the first sleep cycle 30-40 minutes later.

How have those who have had success putting their kids down drowsy but awake done it? Any tips?

I know she's still too small to "sleep train" but I'd like to start getting better habits established for her.

Kristyhana

I feed my son his last bottle and then pat (and burp) him to sleep on my chest. Once he's well asleep, maybe 20 min, I swaddle the crap outta him. He wakes up for this but is groggy enough that when I put him down swaddled he will go right back to sleep. Not too much help but that's all I do.

danniellemichelle

Same as @Kristyhana ... My daughter always falls asleep when I am burping her right before bed ... I lay her down about 20 minutes after she finishes her bottle so her tummy can settle. Sometimes she wakes up after I put her in her sleep sack but she just sucks on her hand until she falls back asleep. At night time I make sure for the last half hour before she goes to bed that lights are off and I'm playing white noise (usually rain or ocean sounds) the whole time... I have no idea if it helps or works it just works for us ... I am by no means a professional lol she sleeps 10.5 hours every night ...

During the day time for naps she does wake up if she's not completely asleep when I lay her down and doesn't suck on her hands to fall back asleep ... She will need me to hold her and pat her back lol

ElleMF728

Waking during her transition into deep sleep is a result of her immature sleep process and something she will eventually grow out of. Movement and soothing through that transition can help (which is why she continues to sleep while being held) but apart from that more time is the solution.

You probably have 3 options.  Hold her until she has transitioned into deeper sleep, then put her down, do bedtime in a swing or bouncer so that you can soothe her through that first cycle then move her to her crib later or prepare for a wake up in the crib and soothe her back to sleep after she wakes. Your problem really isn't drowsy but awake and even if she is able to put herself to sleep at bedtime she will likely still wake and need soothing after 40 minutes.  What are her naps like? Does she nap in her crib and wake after about 40 minutes then as well? 

As far as drowsy bedtimes, we start working on them at 3 months with a goal of going to bed awake on a fairly regular basis by 6 months. I'm a firm believer in "trying", I try to put LO down DBA every bedtime and MOTN feed, if he cries I pick him up and soothe him until he is calm and then try again.  I give it about 15 minutes, if he is still struggling I will soothe him to sleep and then try again next time.  This prevents DH and I from getting frustrated and LO from getting overtired. When most pediatricians bring it up at the 3 or 4 month visit they aren't expecting an overnight change, the hope is that it will be somewhat established before object permanence sets in at 6 months. As your little one's sleep patterns mature and she starts staying awake longer and consolidating naps around 4 months these things get a bit easier. 

mrstps

Thanks for the replys.

She sleeps overnight well, so she can transition herself and after posting last night, I soothed her from outside the bassinet and she actually went to sleep for the night until almost 4 and very quickly again after her feed.

Naps normally take place fully in my arms and when that happens she can sleep for hours. If we try in the crib, when she actually goes down, they consistently last 30-40 minutes. I guess it's more maturing that needs to happen, but we will keep trying!

Any other tips and tricks still welcome