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How do I get my 8 month old to fall asleep on his own?

MarriedMamiMarriedMami member
in Babies: 9 - 12 Months
Ok, this is a long one.....  Let me start from the beginning: I went back to work 3 months after Elijah was born and my family took care of him. At that time, my brother had taught him to fall asleep in his crib by himself. He would wimper a little, but fell asleep fairly quickly and pretty much hassle-free. Fast foward to 2 months ago, I quit my job to become a Full time mom. Elijah became sick with an ear infection and a cold. It was at that time that I would rock him to sleep because he would start crying if I'd put him down and that would lead to him throwing up and more crying. So I would rock him to sleep and then I'd put him in his crib. Now, this has become the way he falls asleep- for naps and at bedtime. I didn't know how bad it was until I left him with my parents overnight and got a call from my mom saying to please come home because the baby wouldn't stop crying and kept calling "ma-ma". I do realize I have some fault in this doing and I'm trying to find ways for him to learn to fall alsleep by himself, like he used to. Please, any ideas or suggestions would be graetly appreciated. Thank you!!
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Re: How do I get my 8 month old to fall asleep on his own?

  • adamwifeadamwife

    I am in the same exact position.  I had a baby that napped well in his crib and now won't fall asleep unless he is touching me or my babysitter.  It's so frustrating.

    You're going to get a lot of CIO advice here.  If you aren't into CIO or Ferber, I would suggest posting this on the AP board.  They can give you some other options.

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  • bstngrl578bstngrl578 member
    imageadamwife:

    You're going to get a lot of CIO advice here.  If you aren't into CIO or Ferber, I would suggest posting this on the AP board.  They can give you some other options.

    Yes 

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  • MamiJamMamiJam member

    I really like the No Cry Sleep Solution book.  It's a gradual process but makes a lot of sense and feels right to me. 

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  • kristin mckiddykristin mckiddy

    This may be the "unpopular" answer, but it truly, TRULY worked for us.  At around 6 months or so, DH and I tried the Ferber technique with DD.  All was fine until she started teething.  She became very needy at night and I would always go in to comfort her, etc. because I knew she was having real trouble with her teeth (she gets them two at a time, poor kid!)  During the "non-teething" nights, it became that she would expect the same sort of mommy time and it was exhausting!  We re-tried Ferber and it failed miserably, as she was learning to sit up and would just sit and cry for so long between us going in and out that it really just made things worse.

    I think it was Jarbaby (well-known Bump-user) that had recommended the book "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" by Dr. Marc Weissbluth.  His methods are different than most I have heard and read about, but they truly worked for us.  ONE NIGHT of Weissbluth (granted, a hard night!) was all it took to help DD get back into settling herself down.  Since then, she has been falling asleep on her own between 630 and 7 pm and waking between 630 and 7 am with the rare ONE night waking (usually if she needs a diaper change).  Our lives at home are totally different.  She is much happier during the day and takes better naps (one morning for 1.5 hours and one afternoon for 1.5 hours) and we all are sleeping better.

    FWIW, we did Weissbluth at the eight month mark and DD is creeping up on nine months. 

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  • MarriedMamiMarriedMami member

    I posted it in the AP board. Thank you for the suggestion!

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