Are we doomed?

sooosie

We cannot get Max to go to sleep on his own.  We still rock him for naps/bedtime (fine) but we are also still on the bottle too.  It's totally for comfort - finally weaned down to like 2oz and only for nap/bed but I just don't know how to break this habit.

Tonight DH rocked him and he was dozy so he put him in he crib.  Usually we can at least do this but tonight he just wouldn't calm down.  So finally I went back in there and rubbed his back.  That didn't work so I picked him up again til he got dozy, put him down and rubbed his back.  Finally he's out.

He's always been a poor sleeper (took a year to STTN) but I think we are doomed unless we somehow get him to just go to bed at bedtime w/o screaming bloody murder. 

We have done CIO with him in the past to get him to where we are today, but I would like it if we could put him to bed awake and he can self-soothe.

Any tips?  I want to nix this before he's 3 and I'm laying with him in bed for half an hour (or whatever)...

MoRoseT

Ha! Zero advice here....we still rock Noah for naps/bedtime, AND he is still on the bottle too.

Zenya

He's only 16 mos?  That's a baby!  IDK.  My girl is 18 mos and still falls asleep on one of our laps.  Mind you I did sit with my son until he was asleep until he was like... 3.5

Angela814

I think a lot of it is personality. DD will be 4 at the end of the month. Somehow we got into the habit of having her just sleep with us. It got easier for me since I was the one laying down with her every night. It took about a month, but we finally don't have to fight with her to get her to go to sleep in her bed. I still have to lay with her until she falls asleep, but it's a start. We're working on getting her to stay in her own bed all night. When she slept with us, she sttn. (One of the main reasons it was so much easier to just go with that.) She's doing better now. I'd say she sttn about 1 out of every 3 nights. The other 2 nights she climbs into bed with us. Once we get her to consistently stay in her bed all night, then we'll start working on getting her to fall asleep by herself. So far our sticker chart and reward system is slowly working.

When I say a lot of it is personality, I mean, looking back at DD as an infant, she really only slept well when she was touching me. Those first few months she napped in my arms. She did eventually learn to fall asleep in her crib by herself, but she always needed me when she woke up. Now that she's older, she just gets scared at night. She sleeps with a light on in her room (not just a nightlight but a small lamp). Last night she heard a noise and told me she thought it was a bear stomping. Her sleep has changed so much throughout the last 4 years that I'm not sure what techniques might have helped.

mamarazzi

DS2 is a totally crappy sleeper.  He's still on the bottle (17 months tomorrow) and though he used to go to his crib awake and fall asleep on his own, he hasn't done it in several weeks.  We've been having to rock him with a bottle until he's completely out or he screams his head off.  While I love the snuggle time, it's frustrating that he's regressed...especially since he JUST started STTN about a month ago.  I attribute the crappy sleeping to his recent ear infection and the four eye teeth that are about to pop through.  Once his teeth are through, we'll try CIO again since it worked before.  But for now, since we know there's a reason he isn't sleeping well, we're giving him the extra comforting.

sooosie

Zenya:

He's only 16 mos?  That's a baby!  IDK.  My girl is 18 mos and still falls asleep on one of our laps.  Mind you I did sit with my son until he was asleep until he was like... 3.5

This made me LOL and gives me hope - only 2 more years! 

cokt

If it gives you any hope, DS nursed and was rocked to sleep until 18 months (it also took him that long to STTN for the 1st time). Once he weaned I continued to rock him to sleep for awhile. Now he falls asleep on his own after a couple of books and some cuddles in his bed. He has been falling asleep on his own for awhile now. I think 16 months is still pretty young and totally OK for him to have a bottle and be rocked to sleep.

Mrs.Tony

My kids don't go to bed by themselves.  Well E does now but she was never the self-soothing type and neither is C.

 We are also still using a bottle.