How does your baby fall asleep?

ChantalMilaine

OK, so my LO is 4 months this week (17 weeks on Monday). She is a very happy baby and we have been quite fortunate, but our biggest problem is getting her to fall asleep. So I am curious...How do you all put your LO's to sleep at this age?

DublinMama

We have been very lucky. With DS I just notice his sleepy cues, and put him in his crib/swing. He will fuss for a few minutes, but then puts himself to sleep. Some days are fussier than others, but he never takes longer than 10 minutes to drop off. We have a projector that has been helpful with distracting him and soothing him. I know not all babies are like that, though. For bedtime he gets a tub, lotion and massage, PJs, bottle, then in the crib drowsy but awake. For naps I don't really do anything but notice when he's tired and put him where ever I want him to sleep and he'll put himself out.

shajenjen

My DD can lay down by herself & just fall asleep, for nap time I usually just lay her down but at night time I like to rock her to sleep.

meaglamillion

Right now he nurses to sleep, hopefully he'll be able to start falling asleep on his own soon.

tashadee75

We rock him to sleep. He will not go by himself yet.

shibby00

Swaddle and rock him to sleep.  

DynoMight

We have a routine but lately she's been teething so routine doesn't work anymore. We nurse to sleep over and over until she stays asleep. Her Dr. says put her down drowsy and awake, but after 10-20 minutes of screaming and crying, I feel awful and go back to nursing. I am creating a monster.

momofmanyinthemitten

I turn on the sound machine, put him in his Magic Sleepsuit in his crib, give him a pacifier, and he will fall asleep on his own. I got The Sleep Whisperer Solves All Your Problems too late in the game to get DD to do this off the bat, but he's been falling asleep on his own since 2 mos, after a few days of no tears "training." It was much easier than having to do PU/PD with DD at 6 mos.

kerbear135

DD still doesn't always do well with naps- sometimes she falls asleep mid play, in the car seat when she's in the car, or wants to be held and falls asleep on your shoulder quickly...and then there are times she fights and fights and nothing that usually works will soothe her, and she cries until she runs out of energy (not cry it out, we are actively trying to calm her the whole time). Luckily, as of late, the # of easy times is far surpassing the hard ones...at night, however, she always goes down well. She eats her last bottle, we take her upstairs and change her clothes and diaper, and then we lay her in the crib with her Swaddle Me on (arms free) and turn her sound giraffe on and leave. She sometimes "talks" to herself for a few minutes, but then she goes right to sleep and STTN.

tiff012982

As soon as I see him yawn and I know it's nap/bedtime, I put him down usually awake and he falls asleep on his own.  I have been doing this since he came home. 

MonicaClaire13

Is she fussy or just wants to play?
My LO can be fussy if she is annoyed enough, but usually my trouble with her is that she wants to play or gets distracted by things.
If she hasn't eaten too recently I give her a warm bottle, I change her diaper, put her in something snuggly and talk to her calmly and quietly
If she's fussy a lot of the time I grab her hands in mine and move them back and forth horizontally while holding her. It always works.
She's a very happy baby, we are so lucky
But sometimes she just does not want to sleep

And a pacifier, always helps her. She gets too distracted with blowing raspberries sometimes and other times its just soothing

kmount

Well.  I have just failed in this area.  My super-mellow otherwise baby needs to be rocked and nursed to sleep.  Therefore, I am the only one who can get him to sleep.  Then when I try to put him in his crib, he usually wakes up and I have to start all over again.  Sigh.

Beth.1212

If I'm lucky, I put him down in his crib and he falls asleep on his own.

If I'm not, I sooth him in his crib and do pick up / put down as needed until he falls asleep. Can take an hour sometimes. We just started this a week ago or so. Before that, I was nursing to sleep or occasionally using a swing, carrier, or the carseat.

DANR2012

So far I have the same issue with my little miss. I'm hoping to find a solution soon. Before she would go down for a short while, long enough for me to get about 15-30 minutes shut eye, and then after that and during her (one) night feeding, pretty much once she hits her mattress, she is up and ready for more milk and snuggles.

Although, I don't mind - because in the back of my head, I know she won't be like this forever.

DANR2012

kmount:

Well.  I have just failed in this area.  My super-mellow otherwise baby needs to be rocked and nursed to sleep.  Therefore, I am the only one who can get him to sleep.  Then when I try to put him in his crib, he usually wakes up and I have to start all over again.  Sigh.

So far I have the same issue with my little miss. I'm hoping to find a solution soon. Before she would go down for a short while, long enough for me to get about 15-30 minutes shut eye, and then after that and during her (one) night feeding, pretty much once she hits her mattress, she is up and ready for more milk and snuggles.

Although, I don't mind - because in the back of my head, I know she won't be like this forever.

Depreej

My LO is a sweaty baby, like his daddy. We can't swaddle or snug him because he gets hot quickly. So his nightime routine is nurse him on one side, bath, lotion up, pjs, nurse on the other side, change diaper, then rock to sleep. He will fuss a couple times when he goes in his crib but I put my hand on his chest and softy say shhshhshh. He still is up every 4-5 hours but we change diaper, nurse and put back to bed. Keeping the lights low during this process really helps. I also don't put noise restrictions on anyone in the house. That way I the dog barks 10 minutes after LO goes down he won't wake back up. We don't do bath every night so his skin doesn't dry out, and those nights it does take a little longer with the rocking. But remember when teething or growth spurts happen, you can usually throwbthat routine out the window:)