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Babies: 0 - 3 Months
SammyJJo
member
Can we swap our secret sleep weapons?
SammyJJo
member
Since DS arrived 2 months ago, we've gone through various stages of what would get him to sleep. At first it was as simple as nursing, but these days it feels like we have to perform complex rituals to get him to sleep, walking while swaddled while listening to a certain tempo of music while holding our breath and hopping on one foot.
I thought back to the various things that worked for us and listed them below. Do you have a secret weapon to get your LO to sleep? Please share, because I'm running out of ideas and I think he's outgrown yet another one of our strategies.
Nursing
Nursing while swaddled
Bouncing
Walking
Walking/bouncing to music
Walking while nursing
Walking while nursing while swaddled
Walking while vacuuming
Swing
Swing while swaddled
Infant Rocker
*So far the car and seahorse have been abysmal failures for us
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Re: Can we swap our secret sleep weapons?
Well, my honest answer will not be a popular one. We tried all of what you listed, and yeah...none of it works. Simply putting her down drowsy but awawke works at night, but NOTHING works during the day. Except for letting her cry a little. What I started doing over the weekend was swaddling her, rocking her, and putting her down. She would cry...I would go back in for a minute, and give her paci and rub her face. She would relax, close her eyes, and I would leave. We repeated this a couple of times through the weekend, and then yesterday I got 2 2 hour naps out of her with NO crying and so far it has worked today, too. So I hate hearing her cry...but she gets SO tired and fussy and refuses sleep with every other method. So I never let her cry for more than a minute or two, but it has worked.
Good luck!!
When all else fails (even his RnP Sleeper) I comfort nurse him in bed, turns off the lights, play some baby lullabies and as soon as he's asleep I just snuggle him all night and we sleep cuddled up together. That's when he sleeps the best.
Some days that even doesn't work and he eventually cries himself to sleep.
For us, it's routine. I nurse her in the glider. We do infant massage (with DS we always did bath, but it's too dry here in the winter- her skin is already dry so we nixed that idea). We do story time (we involve our DS in this) and then I usually rock her a bit more, swaddled, then put her down drowsy and we do use white noise (iPod app) in our bedroom to try to mask DS's antics on the other side of the door.
I've been blessed, this time, with a good sleeper. It's funny because after DS, all we got gift-wise for DD were sleep-aids. We have the seahorse, the glow worm, and the aquarium and honestly, I think they probably stimulate her a little too much anyhow, so we use them during the day.
Gently patting him on the back and swaying works for us. Also I will swaddle him and then hold him really close in a cradle sort of hold and gently bounce and sway while saying "shhh"....that seemed to do the trick last night.
Also, we use the Sleep Sheep and it works great- we keep it on the ocean sound.
5 Ss (minus the swaddling), then I put him down BEFORE he's asleep. He cries and I put the pacifier back in his mouth and pat his back while making 'sh' noises. Within 1-2 minutes he usually stops crying and goes to sleep (if he doesn't, I pick him up again and repeat the 5 Ss).
He often wakes up 5-10 minutes later, so I'll go in and repeat the pacifier, sh'ing and back patting and he'll fall back asleep in a minute or so.
Works for naps better than nighttime sleep (i.e. it takes longer and more tries to get him down for his first nighttime sleep around 9:30-10). I think it's because he goes to bed shortly after DH gets home from work, so he gets overexcited and doesn't want to sleep.
We do something similar but follow Babywise. I let him CIO in 5 minute increments. Half the time he'll fall asleep before the 5 minutes is up, other times I'll go in and pick him up to burp him...he'll burp and then usually close his eyes and be sleeping before I can even put him back in his RNP. This method has dramatically changed nap and bedtime for us!
We're also doing something simaler to this, but I do a 2-5-10 minute pattern for going in and comforting DD. (giver the paci again, pat her on the back, shh...)RARELY do we make it to the 10 minute one. We also put DD to sleep on her tummy. If your LO's head control is good enough for that, you may want to try it. We started at 4 weeks, and she sleeps so much better! We started with it at the recommendation of a mother of 5, and it's great!
the Gentle Giraffe by Cloud B. I swear by this and if anything happened to her I would CRY. I also run a humidifier in the hallway for a back up when the giraffe cuts off. White noise is a wonderful thing.
I also love my swing. I have the Graco Lovin' Hug and I love the white noise/nature sounds.
Also, swaddling. E will not stay asleep unless she is swaddled.
Ok, another one- E sleeps in the car seat at night- she will not lay flat (she has reflux). The Rock N Play is the same concept, we just didn't waste our money.
a little bit of life : A blog about the life of a working, crafting, adventuring family of 4.
I get home around 4pm every day, DD stays up from 4 until bedtime (9pm) no matter what time she woke up/had her nap that day. around 8:30 is bedtime with bedtime smelling body wash, bedtime lotion, swaddle and nursing. then if she is still awake i lay her down and leave the room. HTH!