Talk to me about self soothing please
Hi ladies..I'm more of a lurker here than anything. I do find myself more and more liking and practicing Attachment Parenting. I hope you ladies can help me with this small (ha) dilemma.
Ok so TJ is 16 months old and most nights is rocked to sleep. He is either rocked or one of us holds him until he falls asleep. If he wakes up in the middle of the night I bring him in bed with us and he sleeps well. However, neither MH or I do. TJ seems unable to self soothe or put himself to sleep alone. I DO NOT mind rocking him at all..infact I love it. I also love the cuddles if he ends up in our bed, however I feel like at this point he should be able to put himself to sleep or back to sleep if he wakes up in the middle of the night.
I am completely and totally against CIO for him. I have tried sitting in his room until he falls asleep, going in and out in intervals while he "complains" but not fully cries..etc. I'm open to suggestions or things you all have tried. I feel this is the best forum to as in bc for the most part I know you ladies don't use CIO either. For me it's just not an option.
TIA! Sorry this got so long!
Re: Talk to me about self soothing please
I actually think it is unrealistic to expect a 16 month old to always put himself back to sleep. Yes, it is possible, but it is also extremely common for 16 months old (and older) to continue to wake in the middle of the night.
If your DS is sleeping for several hours alone, then he is self-soothing to a certain extent since he probably wakes from a sleep cycle sometime between every 45-90 minutes. I think if he falls asleep while touching you, he is going to expect the same thing when he wakes (imagine if you woke up in a place where you didn't fall asleep - it would probably freak you out). I think you will probably have to continue to try and get him to fall asleep on his own for the first part of the night. Or you have to expect him to want you in the middle of the night.
We are making a very slow transition to sleeping in his own bed alone. DS is just now finding comfort in things like stuffed animals, so I am using those at bedtime so he can get used to cuddling with those instead of me.
Thank you. I wasn't expecting him to always put himself back to sleep without me but some nights are worse than others. He loves his Mickey doll and has a new love for Elmo so those are in his crib along with a small lovey type blanket. He is just starting to get attached to those items so perhaps we will transition into those being his comfort.
Thank you for your input!
I keep wishing he would cuddle with my dog instead of me
This is totally off-topic, but do you know where you got the shirt your LO is wearing in the siggie pic? DS loves shirts with machinery on them
My son is 14 months old, and we have a very similar situation. I have started working on putting him in his crib while still awake (mainly because he now fights sleep if I rock him). I just wanted to tell you to be patient; whatever method you try might take a week or longer before he's used to it.
Good luck!