when's the right time to teach LO to sleep on her own?

dpraseutsinh

DD will be 7 mos in a few days and because of DH, she won't sleep anywhere but the swing or carseat! not only that, you have to swing that thing fast! sometimes we can get away with her sleeping in the crib, but i really want her to start being able to sleep on her own or at least in the crib. 

 

when is the right time to start teaching her how to sleep on her own? what methods worked for you? DH says to let her just cry it out, but it breaks my heart seeing her cry. 

NovRain27

The only advice i have is to lay her down in her crib when she is exhausted. Try to keep her up longer than she would be and once you put her down in her crib she will sleep there/wake up there etc... and do that a few days in a row. I believe it's better to put them in their crib when they are falling asleep versus asleep so that way they can get used to putting themselves asleep.

I put my LO in her crib only 3 weeks after she was born but i started by waiting until she was very tired and laying her down and putting on ocean sounds which seemed to calm her and did that a few days in a row and now she sleeps there with no issues. When we go to my parents house it takes her a while to sleep in their port-a-crib so i do the same thing and make her get very tired and then lay her down.

Not sure if any of this helps but hopefully you can get something from my rant! haha. Good luck!

pb_bride

We did sleep training when DS was 4 months.  He was sleeping in his crib from day 1 but he was napping in the newborn napper of the PnP which he outgrew.  He was the worst with napping during the day (I'm SAHM) so I spent all day trying to get him to nap.

We used Ferber and it worked well for us.  DS learned to fall asleep at night on his own quickly, but naps took a little longer to train.  I highly recommend reading Ferber's book before you start - it has lots of very useful information (not just on how to sleep train).

Yes, there will be crying BUT

The crying will be limited to the first few nights.  Most people report minimal or no crying by day 4/5. 

IncogNeato

NovRain27:

The only advice i have is to lay her down in her crib when she is exhausted. Try to keep her up longer than she would be and once you put her down in her crib she will sleep there/wake up there etc... and do that a few days in a row. I believe it's better to put them in their crib when they are falling asleep versus asleep so that way they can get used to putting themselves asleep.

 

That would NOT have worked with my first AT ALL. Both my kids can't fall asleep if overtired. OP- I suggest reading Ferber. He talks a lot about breaking sleep associations.

NovRain27

IncogNeato:

NovRain27:

The only advice i have is to lay her down in her crib when she is exhausted. Try to keep her up longer than she would be and once you put her down in her crib she will sleep there/wake up there etc... and do that a few days in a row. I believe it's better to put them in their crib when they are falling asleep versus asleep so that way they can get used to putting themselves asleep.

 

That would NOT have worked with my first AT ALL. Both my kids can't fall asleep if overtired. OP- I suggest reading Ferber. He talks a lot about breaking sleep associations.

 

no clearly not for everyone but it does work for some. can't hurt to try!

sschwege

We used the Baby Whisper's Pick-up/Put-down routine.  Though we discovered it was too upsetting for DD to be picked up and then put down again, so instead we just stayed with her and soothed her till she feel asleep.  This did involve tears and sore backs for us.  But what I liked about this technique is that we felt like we were saying, "We aren't going to do this for you anymore, but we will stay with you and teach you how to fall asleep on your own."

momofmanyinthemitten

The Baby Whisperer Solves All Your Problems has been my bible for both kids. PU/PD worked well for DD, but DH had to do it. She expected to BF from me, but knew she wouldn't get it from DH. DS has been going to sleep on his own for about 3 weeks now, thanks to her pat on the back in bed method. I highly recommend the book.

rockyrollgirl

Our LO is 4 months old and it is really hit or miss with her. What worked for me was a mix between CIO and No-Tears (I like to nurse her to sleep). I let her fuss for a bit and eventually she does fall asleep. If I pick her up or pat her, it just makes things worst so I try not to go in there unless I feel it is warranted. I do not keep her up later or keep her from taking naps because then she will become overtired and I tell you what, that is the most horrid scream you can think of. I can't get her to nurse or anything when that happens. Usually nursing calms her too so it is pretty frustrating as you can imagine. If I follow a schedule I can get her STTN though.

So, I try to put her down as soon as I see she is getting drowsy. She will rub her eyes or yawn. That way she will fall asleep on her own. You can do this to get her to sleep in the crib, but it might take a couple times. It all takes patience and if she wakes up in the crib, don't jump up and get her. Give her a couple minutes to see if she falls back to sleep on her own. Also, get a white noise machine if you don't have one already. Some parents have success by just staying in the room and slowly making their way out the door until the baby falls asleep. Hope this helps!

ForeverEverAfter

My LO had to be held or in the swing for naps. No Cry Nap Solution worked really well explaining sleep and basically recommends gradually changing the sleep cues. I started with adding white noise and a blanket wrap, putting her down asleep, then drowsy, then changing location. Night is easiest because all the cues are consistent. PJs, nature sounds, nightlight, nurse, then hold til drowsy and down in her PnP. 

Stillharbor

We held LO until she was so drowsy you knew she wasn't going to wake up, but still not totally out and laid her down to the noise from the sound machine.  It had different settings, but we only played the night jungle sounds at bedtime. The others we saved for naps, play, distraction, etc..