Putting to sleep awake

always4278 · June 2011

I never minded rocking my LO to sleep until recently. She now has to be rocked for thirty minutes while I walk around her room. And even once she's asleep she usually wakes up at least once when I try to put her down and I have to get her back to sleep to try to lay her down again. I was wondering what methods you all have used to try to get them to learn to go down drowsy? I'm not a huge fan of CIO and want to wait to use that as a last resort. Anyone advice or recommendations would be great

Wufroggy79 · June 2011

If we're putting LO to sleep awake, I know she usually won't go to sleep unless it's completely dark. For whatever reason, it seems to be her "cue" that it's bedtime. We also think that she's a people person, and she must think if the lights are on somewhere then there's action to be seen.

juliane2004 · June 2011

There's not really a "method" we used. We just kept an eye on our kids' awake times between naps and once that awake time was up, we swaddled them and put them in their cribs. No CIO required.

We did it with DD since 11 weeks old, but we did it with DS since Day 6.

How long is your LO awake between naps?

SoonMrsCruz · June 2011

DS is great at putting himself to sleep after his last bottle (8ish). But I never rocked him to sleep. Nap time is a totally different story though.

Maybe try rocking her less and less each night?? Leave her a little in her crib if she wakes up (not if she cries though). Sometimes DS wakes up, fusses a little but find his hands and puts himself right back to sleep.

schreibs4 · June 2011

I have found that the swadleme works wonders. As soon as we put him in it and give him his passy he falls fast asleep. The only downside is that we will have to eventually ween him off the swaddle.

daenikoffre · June 2011

juliane2004:
There's not really a "method" we used. We just kept an eye on our kids' awake times between naps and once that awake time was up, we swaddled them and put them in their cribs. No CIO required.
We did it with DD since 11 weeks old, but we did it with DS since Day 6.
How long is your LO awake between naps?

Didn't you say you DID do CIO just a week ago, or so?

Mmhm.. yep. You did.

Anyway, OP- I lay with him in my bed and just stroke his hair and cuddle until he falls asleep then transfer him wherever I needed to. I just wanted to teach him to calm himself, and that everything is safe and he's okay. I want to give him the confidence that he can do it himself, too. So then I put him down awake, check on him every so often, and then help him calm again. About a week ago he started being able to fall asleep all alone for night and naps. This worked for us, but every baby is different. I hope you find what works best for your family!

juliane2004 · June 2011

daenikoffre:
juliane2004:
There's not really a "method" we used. We just kept an eye on our kids' awake times between naps and once that awake time was up, we swaddled them and put them in their cribs. No CIO required.
We did it with DD since 11 weeks old, but we did it with DS since Day 6.
How long is your LO awake between naps?
Didn't you say you DID do CIO just a week ago, or so?
Mmhm.. yep. You did.

Yup, we did CIO for DS at 5.5 months to de-swaddle. He only cried the very first night.

But when DS was the age of the OP's LO, we did NOT use CIO at all.

always4278 · June 2011

Thanks for the advice everyone

She's usually up for 1 to 2 hours of awake time between naps. I think that's pretty average at her age but I'm not sure. How much awake time is recommended? I guess I will start trying to have her stay in her crib even if she starts to fuss a bit and she if she can get back to sleep. We still swaddle for naps and bedtime and when I recently tried to start weaning her off of it it was a total fail. She likes to suck her thumb and fingers during the day so I think once I can get her out of the swaddle and she finds those hands it will be a lot easier lol.

juliane2004 · June 2011

always4278:
She's usually up for 1 to 2 hours of awake time between naps. I think that's pretty average at her age but I'm not sure. How much awake time is recommended?

For a 3.5 month old, about 80-90 minutes total of awake time is typical, but this includes an average of 20 minutes to fall asleep. I'd recommend putting her down after only 1 hour of awake time (I wouldn't go more than 1 hr 10 minutes of awake time).

My 6 month old goes down after only 1.5 hours.

always4278 · June 2011

Thanks! I'll try putting her down a little earlier. I have noticed she's a lot harder when she's been awake longer.

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