Putting baby down awake?

lindsaur

Does anyone have any advise or tips on how to put baby down "awake but drowsy"? My little one went from 5-6 hour stretches of sleep to now 2-3 hours for the past 3 weeks. I've tried putting him down awake but he just cries and cries. I console him, but he starts again as soon as I'm gone. I am in no way prepared to let him cry it out, so I always just cave and nurse him to sleep because that's what works. Any help mamas?

lindsaur

Just to clarify- I'm wanting to put him down awake for naps and bedtime so when he wakes after 2 hours he might be able to put himself back to sleep.

mihaelams1

I did it 2 weeks ago and it seemed to work so well for a week, but now we are back to rocking or nursing because he seems to be in great discomfort from gas every time I lay him on the back, even during the day on the play mat. What worked when he was feeling good was a consistent routine, darkened room and white noise. Also, not letting him get overtired and catching him in the calm moments. Putting him down awake actually helped him learn to have better naps, longer than one sleep cycle.

trishee13

How old is he? I have no advice but I'm having the same problem and hoping someone has some good suggestions. My LO will be 4 months next week. She has to be completely passed out at night in her magic Merlin to go to sleep, and ONLY naps in the car or her swing during the day (which I hate but I don't know what else to do and she turns into a monster without a nap)

Bingj

We've been trying to put him down drowsy but awake for a little bit. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. We go through our routine and I rock him a little bit in the glider. Once I see his eyes get heavy j stop rocking and let him sit still in my lap for a couple min then I put him in the crib. I notice he really likes grabbing when he's trying to fall asleep. He was playing and grabbing with my hands but then we bought him a little stuffed animal that he will grab at and squeeze with his hands as he drifts off. We have a video monitor so I'll just sit in the glider and watch him go to sleep. We also use a white noise machine.  Does your baby take a pacifier? 

Edited for typos

lindsaur

He's going to be 15 weeks this week. He does take a pacifier, but will cry as soon as it falls out. I expected a struggle in trying this, but I have no idea when to stop fighting it and just nurse or rock him to sleep! He naps amazing when we are out and about, but when I rock him to sleep he will nap 45 minutes max in his crib. I have a routine we have been following for almost 2 months now.

chein1

I'll probably get judgement for this, but our LO sleeps with a blanket. She goes down drowsy but awake completely on her own as long as she has her receiving blanket. She rubs it on her face and plays with it until she falls asleep. She does the same thing if she's wearing a bib right before a nap or has her wubbanub. Having something touch her face is just her thing. She sleeps in the RNP in our bedroom and I move the blanket once she's asleep. She's also associates the white noise app on my phone with falling asleep. Honestly, I think she's just an excellent sleeper. DD1 required all the rocking and all the holding in order to fall asleep and to this day at 2 years old she still won't go down drowsy. She has to be completely out before we put her in bed.  

VioletandRose

Have you tried white noise? Works like a charm for us; we hardly ever let LO fall asleep in our arms, almost always put her down while awake. I put it on when we put her down for the night and If I do hear her fussing during the night I just turn on the noise machine and she goes right back to sleep. It even buys me a couple extra hours of sleep on the weekends.

FatPony

My baby is a little weirdo and only falls asleep when he's by himself in his crib. He used to sleep in his bouncy/vibratey chair until 3 months. To transition him to his crib, I took the vibrator pack out of his chair and put it in his crib so that it made a little white noise and slightly vibrated his mattress. It seemed to work for him, so maybe something similar if possible?

JennaEllen

I nurse at bedtime and if he doesn't fall asleep I can put him down drowsy and he'll nod off on his own with the help of a pacifier.

For naps  he usually crashes out in my arms but he's fallen asleep just about everywhere! He's sleeps the longest when being held or in his swing though.

altow1310

I still nurse/rock my LO to sleep every night. I have to wait until he's in a deep sleep to lay him down. If he wakes up slightly throughout the night he can go back to sleep as long as he has his pacifier, but if he wakes up too much I have to either bring him in bed with me or get up and rock. I will admit - I am NOT a cry it out Mom, and I usually don't let him fuss for more than a minute or two, so this could be why. I just can't do it - at least not yet. I hope I'm not creating a monster by putting him to bed every night, but I enjoy it and I know it will only be this way for a while.

polkadotteddaisies

I put baby down for bed at 730 whether or not he is drowsy. He has a turtle nightlight that plays ocean sounds and projects waves in the ceiling.  He loves the thing! Watches the waves until he falls asleep. Been using it since 3 weeks.  If he cried whenever I laid him down I'd probably nurse/rock him to sleep too. Whatever works! 

kaza512

Do you swaddle?  I don't swaddle, but sometimes my daughter gets fussy when we lay her down.  I will stand over her in her crib and with one hand hold her arms still and keep the Binky in her mouth until she falls asleep.  That might help with the transition from being rocked to falling asleep in the actual crib.

I also second the white noise machine.  We leave it on all night.  If she wakes up when it isn't on, she tends not to fall back asleep.  We just started leaving it on all night and now she will wake up, but put herself right back to sleep.

VioletandRose

@kaza512 what kind of noise machine do you have that plays continuously? The one we have will only play 60 minutes at a time, but I'd like to get one that plays all night. Thanks!

jmelodi

We use an app on our iPad that plays all night

mdandrea1436

I have two different ones that play all night. I'll link them below
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0091E31KM/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?qid=1454352127&sr=8-2&pi=SX200_QL40&keywords=sound+machines&dpPl=1&dpID=41en2LNgrQL&ref=plSrch

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000KUHFGM/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?qid=1454352127&sr=8-4&pi=AC_SX118_SY170_QL70&keywords=sound+machines&dpPl=1&dpID=41V5oh7WGuL&ref=plSrch

kaza512

@VioletandRose I use the free app from tmsoft on an old iPhone. You can set timers, but if you don't, it will stay on all night!

VioletandRose

Thanks everyone! Maybe I will try the ipad thing at first

krnten

I'm sure I'll get some flak for this too but it's ok to let your kid cry some.  If they're fed, not dirty, and tired, then they can cry a bit and self soothe.  It's not too soon for that.  What helps me is to time it.  I tell myself - "let's give it 10 minutes" or 15 or whatever.  Then at the end of the time if she's still crying and not showing signs of slowing, I get her and try again later.  We're at 13 weeks now and we're down to under 5 minutes of crying for naps and night, usually zero minutes.  But it took a few weeks to get here. The minutes SEEM like an eternity but it's actually really brief.

They need opportunities to learn how to fall asleep alone and you need them to do it too!  

chein1

krnten said:

I'm sure I'll get some flak for this too but it's ok to let your kid cry some.  If they're fed, not dirty, and tired, then they can cry a bit and self soothe.  It's not too soon for that.  What helps me is to time it.  I tell myself - "let's give it 10 minutes" or 15 or whatever.  Then at the end of the time if she's still crying and not showing signs of slowing, I get her and try again later.  We're at 13 weeks now and we're down to under 5 minutes of crying for naps and night, usually zero minutes.  But it took a few weeks to get here. The minutes SEEM like an eternity but it's actually really brief.

They need opportunities to learn how to fall asleep alone and you need them to do it too!  

This. Especially if she's exhausted I know her tired cry (it's more like a yelp) and this particular cry means nothing other than sleepy time. If I lay her down she "whines" for no more than 5 minutes and then she's out like a light. Again, this is a very particular cry.

VallieS86

We must be super lucky. Vanessa falls asleep in our arms. Then we move her to the crib. If she's not fully asleep she gets mad and we have to rock her back to sleep. Sometimes she fusses a little when we put her down but then falls asleep right away. She typically sleeps 9-10 hours a night, sometimes 11. She'll make noises at times but unless she cries for more than a minute we just leave her be and she falls back asleep. She's partially swaddled still. One arm in one arm out since she isn't rolling over yet. Sometimes she manages to get her second arm out but still stays asleep even if she fidgets a bit. I just rock her in the chair and play baby lullabies on Pandora. 

joules11235

I've been putting him down awake for naps during the day.  I'll either keep an eye out for signs he's tired (rubbing his eyes) or if it has been quite a while since his last nap (3 hrs ish).  At that point, I'll put him in his crib, put a kiss on his head and say goodnight.  If he's just whimpering ("I'm tired"), I'll let him settle there, if it turns into full blown crying ("This isn't tired, I'm awake now and want something") then I'll let him go a minute and then go get him.  

At night is different because he shares a room with DD1.  She's four and usually ends up going to bed earlier than him.  Since this is the case, at night we usually rock him to sleep before we put him in his crib so hopefully she stays asleep long enough to be in a deep sleep so she doesn't hear him the rest of the night.