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Teaching them to sleep on their own

MadHatter17MadHatter17 member
in Babies: 0 - 3 Months

Our LO is 2 months old.  Before I go back to work in a month, we want to teach her to fall asleep on her own.  Right now, she'll only fall asleep if we rock her, in her swing or in the car.  For those of you that have tried the 'cry it out' method, did you just decide to do it one night and stick with it?  Or did you build up to crying it out gradually - putting her down, picking her up to sooth, etc.? 

 

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Re: Teaching them to sleep on their own

  • pepomntpatpepomntpat member
    Your LO is too young for CIO.  I'd suggest some of the suggestions for newborns in the No Cry Sleep Solution. 
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  • amwallaceamwallace
    What I do is get her sleepy by rocking or patting and then put her in her crib. She will usually fuss for a bit, and if it turns into crying, I'll go comfort her and try again. Sometimes she falls asleep on her own, and sometimes she falls asleep in my arms, but I'm working towards her falling asleep on her own. 
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  • Mrs.Cooley2beeMrs.Cooley2bee member
    I agree with PP, too early to do CIO.  Try getting her as drowsy as possible and then putting her down.  Also try soothing her without picking her up if she cries.  A good tight swaddle and white noise has worked great for both of my kids.  My DD still sleeps with the radio on in her room.  It will take a bit of time and patience but it will work.
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  • jenna3016jenna3016 member

    imagepepomntpat:
    Your LO is too young for CIO.  I'd suggest some of the suggestions for newborns in the No Cry Sleep Solution. 

     

    I've seen this book recommended a number of times... just ordered it from Amazon.

    thanks.

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  • RobinSparkles214RobinSparkles214 member

    Your LO is definitely way too young for CIO. Most babies love being held, cuddled, nursed/bottle fed to sleep. We just started to put LO drowsy, but still awake this past weekend. If he starts to cry, I imediately pick him up. If he just fusses while getting cozy for a minute I let him be.

    Try putting her down when she is sleepy and see if that works. She may just not be ready. Please just do not let her cry it out. She has no idea how to self soothe at this point, so it is just cruel. It is not even recomended until 4-6 months, and I think that may even be too soon. In time she will learn to put her self to sleep.

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  • mishu917mishu917 member

    My baby is 5 weeks old and I am starting from now to let her sleep on her own. I usually try once or twice a day if I have time to put her down when she seems drowsy. It usually works once a day where she'll just fall asleep on her own, the other times, she'll start to fuss and I just know she'll end up crying. I have also put her down to sleep when I see that she's looking around and it's getting no where, and she's also fallen asleep like that. I think I distract her a lot lol. I noticed that staying in the room when I put her down helps her to fall asleep as opposed to me just leaving as I put her down. I figured I'll stay in the room for now and we will eventually build towards just putting her down and leaving.

    Do not let her CIO yet, she has to build trust and confidence. This is the same reason we are not using a daycare because when we visited, it just seemed like an assembly line of babies and the babies are left to CIO.

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  • JoannaJesJoannaJes member
    Who is watching your LO when you return to work? If you are putting them with someone experienced in daycare, whether it be a center or in-home, they aren't going to expect a baby as young as yours to fall asleep on their own. They will have their own methods to help babies fall asleep.
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  • themargothemargo member
    Drowsy but awake is the way to go (I'm not a CIO fan at all). I tried from 6 weeks on and he finally started doing it last week (at 10 weeks). Something just clicked in him I guess. Put him down drowsy but awake (one book I read said at a 6 out of 10), go in and pat and rub if LO fusses until he stops and pick him up if he's crying until he stops and then put him back down. It is such a great feeling when he falls asleep on his own, plus you save all that time rocking (although I miss the cuddle time!)
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  • shawshaw

    We started with a bed time routine right off that bat.  Same time every night: bath, diaper, jammies, lights out, humidifier and fan on, bottle, rock until drowsy and down.  I do use the "glow worm" and I think LO now associates the music with sleepy time! We started really little (in the nursery) and it took a few weeks. For those first few weeks LO would cry and I would pick him up, and rock again until drowsy and put him down.  I never spoke to him or turned on a light!  I wanted him to know it was time for sleep. Now at 7 weeks, he can be put down drowsy and fall asleep usually always at night and sometimes for naps.  I didn't let LO cry for long periods of time, but I didn't rush right in either!  You have to feel your way as a MOM for what works with you and your baby.  It doesn't matter what other people say...you will find a natural groove that works.  Just be persistent!!  GL

     

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  • lrn327lrn327 member
    We don't CIO at all!  He is still too young and it would break my heart and not allow him to trust us.  We do however do a bedtime routine and have since he was a few weeks old (basically since sleeping in his own crib).  We don't bathe every night but if we do, it is at the start.  We then do bedtime lotion, diaper, jammies, lights dimmed, story, vitamin drop, humidifier and white noise on, songtime, place in crib, prayers, lights out.
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  • cloclo85cloclo85

    My daughter is 4 weeks old and she would only fall asleep in our arms and then wake up once she was in the crib. I am doing the Babywise technique now for a week. She is on a  feeding/play/sleep schedule. After an hour of ''play", I hold her to calm down, relax and get ready for a nap. I dont put her down cold turkey to let her ''cry it out''. I wait until she yarns and her eyes get heavy. She usually grunts and cries a little before she falls asleep. Only a few times she cried for no more then 10 mins and then fell asleep by herself. The point is to feed your baby and then make him tired again buy keeping him up, then put him down when hes ready for sleep. If your baby cries for 15 mins, then go soothe him a little and try again...

    I found that the technique really helped her be OK with falling asleep on her own in her crib instead of always in our arms at random times wich was exhausting for us... We realized really fast that we didnt have to run to her everytime she was crying, because the crying actually doesnt last long at all before she falls asleep.

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