(XP) Lurker Q - How did you teach your LO to sleep on his/her own?

88eve88 · March 2012

Hi there!

I'm a FTM currently hanging out on the 0-3 month board. A lot of my anxiety right now is about my LO sleeping (because he isn't sleeping as much as I think he should). My LO is approx 7.5 weeks old and I basically nurse him to sleep every night (I EBF, so he's up every 2 hours or so to feed). Naps are hit and miss in his swing.

I'm looking to transition him to his crib within the next month and get a good nap schedule going (preferably also in his crib). I don't want my LO to become a terrible sleeper, but I feel like I have no idea what I'm doing.

Please share your sleeping expertise!

lew0509 · March 2012

My suggestion is to start early, before he gets too used to only sleeping in a swing. Start with naps during the day in his crib, because it will probably be hard for him at first, before you tackle nights. Honestly, the best way to do it is just to do it. It'll probably be a bit of an interesting week, so plan accordingly. I found that "The baby whisperer" book really helped at first, and then I made a few adjustments to fit our family. I wish I would have started earlier with DS, as it would have been easier. Also be aware of the 4 mo wakeful period than some kids go through and can make naps tricky. Overall, I've found that having a routine is going to be the best for you and LO. Not necessarily a schedule, but so the LO has an idea of what to expect everyday. Hope that helps!

FabulousMrs.P · March 2012

I had to rock my daughter to sleep when she was that little. She also had to be swaddled tight. She is a great sleeper now, so no worries.

We transitioned her to the crib by first putting her in there for naps. The when we saw she was fine with sleeping in there for naps, we put her in there overnight. No major problems...it was more tramatic for me than for her.

Somewhere at around 3.5-4 months she let us know she was ready to not be swaddled anymore. She was really fighting the swaddle and would break out during the night. We first swaddled her with her hands out and since that went well, we got rid of the swaddle all together.

The nap schedule just started happening on its own. I just noticed she was tired at the around the same time every day. We just followed the cues she was sleepy.

Hang in there! It gets so much easier as time goes on!

l_elizabeth · March 2012

We are just working on not nursing LO to sleep now, and it's going fine-- so no worries. You have plenty of time to work on that. I actually found the opposite for my LO-- that naps are much harder to figure out, and getting him to sleep in his crib at night is a lot easier. At 6 weeks old we implemented a nighttime schedule of bath, pjs, book, cuddle, swaddle, nurse to sleep. I'd go lay him in his crib with white noise (set to rain sound), asleep, and he'd go at least one 5-7 hour stretch before waking up to nurse (every 2-3 hours after the first long stretch). This was our schedule until last week when we started modified CIO-- I put him down awake in his crib (no longer swaddled), and let him cry in short increments of time before coming in to console. It took one or two nights of 7-10 mins of crying and now he goes down without a peep.

Naps are a different story, he cries and won't seem to go in his crib. I'm still using the swing, which is bad I know. But you do what you have to.

I'd consider a routine for LO, but they really don't need to be able to figure out how to put themselves to sleep until 3-4 months old.

(XP) Lurker Q - How did you teach your LO to sleep on his/her own?

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