How do you put your baby down?

Rhianna1981 · October 2012

I have a 3 mo old baby, and our night time routine consists of changing into a clean diaper, nursing, rocking, and swaddling. She's asleep usually by 6:30 or so, and she is up multiple times a night to nurse. It seems to work for us, but then I went to the 3-6 month board, and there is a lot of talk about sleep training and teaching your child to soothe himself/herself to sleep... I guess I am just looking for reassurance that what we are doing is okay, and that I am not ruining her sleep habits for the rest of her life or something.

HappyMommy28 · October 2012

You are doing just fine. Trust your gut. She's itty bitty and still gets hungry at night. My son out grew this around 14 months - don't freak out though! It went from multiple times a night to once or twice. If that. He is fine. Sleeps well, and had no issues going to sleep in his crib.

ncbelle · October 2012

Of course it is - trust your gut mama!! Our society has an unhealthy obsession with getting babies to sleep "independently" - that's not how babies are designed!

nosoup4u · October 2012

Is everyone happy with arrangement? If so, I wouldn't stress about it, she sounds like a typical baby!

tjkdlhb · October 2012

I don't do much...We put her in her overnight diaper and sleep sack at about 9, then I nurse her one last time and we put her upstairs. If she wakes up hungry in the night I nurse her. (she sleeps in our room, but not in our bed...as much as I'd like to, I'm too much of a nervous nelly....afraid I'd roll or something) So I bring her to the bed then to cuddle and nurse and then put her back to sleep. It's usually twice towards morning, but the last few nights she woke more often. I think waking twice in 12 hours is pretty good! If a baby wakes in the night to eat, feed her. If I wake up hungry, I go downstairs and get a snack...why should she have to wait until morning? I have no issues with "babying" a baby. I think developing trust is important. You do what your gut tells you. If it becomes a problem later on, then work to find a solution then,but I think you're doing great!

skibunny59 · October 2012

My DD will be 7 months old next week and we aren't really worried about sleep training or teaching her to self soothe. When it's my turn to put her to sleep I nurse her. When it's DH's turn he usually rocks her and sings to her. We always put her down asleep. She usually gets up about two or three times a night. We are fine with it. Honestly, I think sleep training would be much more work and neither my DH or I would be able to listen to her cry. It just is easier to do what we are doing.

I am a firm believer that babies will do things on their own when they are developmentally ready. If what you are doing is working for you then who care what everyone else is doing with their babies. Also, 3 months is a little young to sleep train in my opinion.

lady_tytah · October 2012

My son gives me one long stretch of 4-5 hrs and then wakes up every 2.5-3 hrs to eat. I feed him, rock him to sleep ad either he sleeps in my arms or I put him in his bed and he falls asleep.
What you are doing is fine. Trust your gut. My daughter didnt sttn till about 15 months and I didnt rush it. If it works for your family then stick with it. Dont let others pressure you into something you're not comfortable with.

Rhianna1981 · October 2012

Thank you! I think that I will be staying off that board from now on, actually.

alliecat1234 · October 2012

My baby is 4 months and is also down around 6:30 pm and is up at least 3 times a night and I nurse him each time. We bed share after the first wake up. I, too, have seen the posts on the 3-6 month board about success with sleep training but CIO is not for me. Stick with what works for you.

SarahC99 · October 2012

We tried a couple of times to get DS to go to sleep on his own and it was torture for all of us bc it was too soon for him. We rocked hm to sleep until he was almost 22 months old, but has been sleeping through the night since 8 months (with some gentle encouragement). Finally when we tried at 22 months, he was fine on day two, and has been really easy for the past two months. My DH and I loved the cuddle time every (okay, most) nights.

DeniseRN · October 2012

I rock my babies to sleep bc I love. There is nothing better than holding a sweet sleepy baby.

DS2 is 3 months too. We nurse at 6, bath at 630, rock to sleep at 7 and, for now lol, he sleeps til 7am.

DS1 was a horrible sleeper. Didn't STTN til around 2, fought going to sleep and still does. He still wakes up occasionally.

Anywho, same parents and same boobs and same parenting ideas. Babies are all different. Listen to your baby and roll w it

twocents6708 · October 2012

My 9 moth old still nurses or is rocked to sleep. I am okay with that though. She just recently cut back to only once nightly feeding. Although it was rough there for a while, I just reminded myself that it would pass. I questioned whether or not to sleep train but I wasn't for us at this point. Enjoy your tiny baby and your instincts. As they say "if its not broke, don't fix it :"

Izybel18 · October 2012

Rhianna1981:
Thank you! I think that I will be staying off that board from now on, actually.

I went through this same thing and also decided to quit reading that board. Just be warned that during the 4 month wakeful it WILL get harder to do what you're doing, but continue to trust your gut and you'll be fine!

resilient61 · October 2012

My son & I were in a similar situation until he got really sick at 9m. I started nursing him to sleep and he was hooked. I didn't mind it. i actually enjoyed the midnight cuddles, but I did finally force the night wean at 24m and gave up on napping him altogether. He started sleeping through the night like a champ & was fully weaned by 26m. My theory is that there is going to be a day that will come (&all too soon!) that he thinks he's too big for cuddles, so I cherish all I can get now! If you feel it's best for your family, then it probably is!

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