Advice Needed: DD's Sleep Pattern

TonyaCody06

I EBF my DD and she will sleep 3-4 hours straight if in her infant seat or swing. However, when laying in her crib she will only sleep for about 2 hours. The pediatrician said she probably jerks herself awake and doesn't know how to put herself back to sleep (unlike the swing or infant seat that comfort her). How do I start getting her to put herself to sleep? I can't just let her lay there and cry! She will take a paci sometimes but usually spits it out after a few minutes.

BackBayGrrl

Hm... I don't want to be the bad guy but I'd say that crying is a way of self-soothing (as long as it's not frantic/screaming) and it's worth teaching your daughter how to sleep. This is a GREAT time to teach DD to sleep in her crib. According to "The Baby Sleep Solution" and a couple of other sleep books I read, sleeping while in motion is actually less restful/restorative, even though they sleep longer. 

For me, after listening to DD cry for a minute or two I would go in, feeling sorry. Then I mentally decided that I could wait 10 minutes. When I did that, she cried 7 minutes after sleeping for a few hours, then STTN (at 10 weeks, 11 hours). The next night she woke up and cried 3 minutes, and then was a fantastic sleeper! This may be unusual, but it's exactly according to the abovementioned book. GL, however you decide to go forward!

redhead2466

I have no advice, but I am in the same situation but with nursing to sleep (see my post above).  I just read 'The No Cry Sleep Solution' which offers an alternative to CIO....haven't started yet so I can't say how effective it is.  It takes a while though, like 10 days to see any results which may be more tenacity than I'm up for in my current sleepless state...HTH

susiederkins

Do you swaddle? That will help keep her from jerking around and waking herself up.