How the heck do I get him to go to sleep without rocking?

MrsHanna

DS is 4 months old. ?Because he has always fought sleep I have always rocked him to sleep and then put him down. ?I know that I am not doing him any favors by not teaching him how to go to sleep without help, but because he cries and fights it I don't know how to do this. ?I have tried putting him down REALLY drowsy but he just wakes up, looks around and chats for awhile and then starts crying.

?He is capable of going back to sleep on his own. ?I will occasionally hear him wake up in the night make some noise (not cry) and go back to sleep.

I am not worried about night waking. ?He typically wakes twice just to feed, and I feel that nutritionally he still needs it. ?This is just a matter of being able to get him down without rocking.

?Thanks.?

pulchra81

I used to have to rock her for a long time before she would sleep in her crib.  We decided to try to put her in the crib drowsy and pick her up as soon as she cries - then as soon as she is calm - we put her back down in the crib.  The first night we picked her up maybe 30-40 times, the next night less than twenty - and the last night we didn't have to pick her up at all.  I still rock her a little bit while DH reads to her - but no where near the time I used to rock her.