Toddler sleeping habits

littlemurphy2912 · May 2014

How many of you are able to lay your LO down for naptime, bedtime, or both without them fighting you to not go to sleep and tuck them in? How many of you still deal with rocking your LO to sleep and then laying them down in their bed and walk out of their room without any problem or however you get them to go to sleep if they won't do it on their own? Ever since my DD was 16 months old she hasn't been able to lay in her crib for nap time or bed time without fighting us or crying when she used to without a problem. Now ever since I will take her to her room and rock her and sing lullabies till she is relaxed and she's about asleep and then I lay her in her crib and she's out for the night but will wake up in the morning sometimes crying and not sure why. Is it not the best thing that I am putting her to bed the way I am and should be able to lay her down without having any fights to prepare for when she is much older and has to go to sleep on her own?

minervacullen · May 2014

I still have to nurse DD to sleep 90% of the time.
She's stubborn.

littlemurphy2912 · May 2014

She will wake up crying randomly here and there but it's not an every day occurrence. She even tends to cry in the middle of the night here and there but we just let her be and she goes back to sleep. We have a consistent bed time routine before going to sleep and I stick to that really well and when I rock her and she can't get comfortable in my arms I will get up to lay her in her crib and she says "no, rock" and gives me the death grip like she's scared or doesn't want me to lay her down to go to bed. The times when I do lay her down and leave the room she cries up until I get all the way down stairs and then she's quiet and puts herself to sleep. Other times if she's comfy in my arms I'll sing to her and will get up when she's been laying in my arms for a few minutes with her eyes completely shut and I'll go lay her down and when I do she will roll over and keep her eyes closed. She sleeps good at night once she's asleep. It works for us I just wonder if I shouldn't be "helping" her go to sleep. I know her doctor told me that I shouldn't be rocking or singing to her for very long and to lay her down in her crib just before she is completely out (the drowsy stage you mentioned) and then she will put herself to sleep and will be used to that.

littlemurphy2912 · May 2014

That's a very good point! I, like yourself, like my pedi a lot too and listen to the advice she gives us about certain things. I think you may be right in that I need to keep doing what is working for us. Thanks for making me feel better about what we are doing. I hope at some point in time that as she gets older all I will have to do for bed time is read her a couple books and then tuck her in and say nite nite and then walk out. But I'll worry about that later on down the road when we come across it. By the way, do you know what baby #2 is yet?

mb314 · May 2014

I rock DS to sleep for naps (on weekends) and for bedtime. I do wait until he is 100% asleep. I know at daycare he goes down on his own, but honestly, I kind of like the quiet time with just DS and me. It is something I hope to work on in the upcoming months, though, as we have another LO coming in November and I want DS to go to sleep on his own by then.

ashiscute · May 2014

I have never rocked either of my kids to sleep on a consistent basis. I nursed them to sleep until they weaned (13 and 14 mos) but after that we do our routine and then down they go awake. They have no problems putting themselves to sleep. However, I don't see any reason why you should stop doing what you're doing if you don't want to. I do not think her random crying has anything to do with it. Kids randomly cry in the mornings and in the middle of the night no matter how they fell asleep. If it works for you keep it up. If you want the change then change it.

Beth.1212 · May 2014

I've used Tracy Hoag's methods twice to get DS into a good sleep pattern. He went through two different phases of refusing naps, and both times her advice got him sleeping well again. Now I can lay him down for a nap, sing a lullaby, leave the room, and he's sleeping within 10 minutes. He doesn't even fuss anymore - just wiggles around till he drifts off.

Here's a site describing her methodology for our kids' age range.

https://www.babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=80750.0

(I also recommend her book "The Baby Whisperer Solves All Your Problems.")

GL!

[Deleted User] · May 2014

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yoyopez · May 2014

DD used to wake up crying sometimes. i told her once or twice on those occasions that she didn't have to cry, just say 'mama' and i'll come get you. she really seemed to understand and started doing that. then... she would try to use it if she didn't want to nap. i'd lay her down and she'd be quiet for a bit then i'd hear her start saying mama mama. kid's too smart for her own good at times

she still crys upon waking once in awhile but i remind her i'm nearby and to say mama and i'll come.

littlemurphy2912 · May 2014

Nicb13 said:

littlemurphy2912 said:

That's a very good point! I, like yourself, like my pedi a lot too and listen to the advice she gives us about certain things. I think you may be right in that I need to keep doing what is working for us. Thanks for making me feel better about what we are doing. I hope at some point in time that as she gets older all I will have to do for bed time is read her a couple books and then tuck her in and say nite nite and then walk out. But I'll worry about that later on down the road when we come across it. By the way, do you know what baby #2 is yet?

We find out tomorrow I can't wait. GIRL GIRL GIRL

Yay! Will you be done if it's a girl? I will be excited to hear how it is with 2 and how they both are in the baby stage!

So happy for you!

honeydew01 · May 2014

Nicb13 said:

littlemurphy2912 said:

Nicb13 said:

littlemurphy2912 said:

That's a very good point! I, like yourself, like my pedi a lot too and listen to the advice she gives us about certain things. I think you may be right in that I need to keep doing what is working for us. Thanks for making me feel better about what we are doing. I hope at some point in time that as she gets older all I will have to do for bed time is read her a couple books and then tuck her in and say nite nite and then walk out. But I'll worry about that later on down the road when we come across it. By the way, do you know what baby #2 is yet?

We find out tomorrow I can't wait. GIRL GIRL GIRL

Yay! Will you be done if it's a girl? I will be excited to hear how it is with 2 and how they both are in the baby stage! So happy for you!

We are done after this one regardless. We have DS, plus a SS so our household needs a girl Thank you, I will keep you posted!

Nicb13, aww I hope it's a girl for you! do let us know:) Happy GIRL thoughts for you!

OP, I agree with other people on this one, I swear all doctors say this same thing..well until they have a kid of their own. I'll dig the article this ped wrote about how she'd preach the "awake but drowsy" thing until she had a kid of her own. I think my Ped is alright, and I take most of her advice, but she told me at our 4 MONTH well visit (DD is 14 months now) to stop nursing and rocking her to sleep and put her down "drowsy but awake" because she needs to learn to put herself to sleep. I just couldn't do it. Not only I enjoy this time so very much, it's the only time she is not on the go and is calm and serene and she enjoys it too. I could do without the poking and twiddling and pinching but that's another story:) To this day, I nurse DD for a couple of minutes (not sure she's actually sucking, she is more comfort nursing) while we're rocking and singing and then I put her down afterwards. She used to be 100% sleep when I put her in the crib when she was little but at some point she stopped falling sleep at the boob on her own and I'd put her down and she'd put herself to sleep. I don't remember when that happened, maybe 8-9 months.

Now that she is 14 months, and she is a ball of energy, she needs a lot longer time to wind down (I posted about it yesterday as whether this was a sign that she was transitioning to one nap). She is so busy practicing her new words that it literally takes her 30+ minutes to calm down and get sleepy and go to sleep. So we do the same nursing, rocking, singing and off to the crib she goes...last night after 30 minutes in the crib she was still clapping and saying "fel fel" (bell pepper in Farsi) followed by "uh oh", she is obviously tired but it takes her time to shut down. Oh and since she is taking longer to fall sleep, she is losing on sleep time so sometimes she wakes up unhappy and cries, I take that she is still tired. Once she catches up on her sleep, she seems to be in a good mood again. I'd just keep doing what you're doing and stay consistent.

honeydew01 · May 2014

@nicb13, CONGRATS! I just saw your signature, it's a girl!! how exciting!

honeydew01 · May 2014

Girls are so much fun! They also drain your bank account..so many cute outfits and all. So happy for you.

mamaHippo23 · May 2014

It really depends on his mood, but I usually leave him fall asleep on his own. We always snuggle for a few minutes before laying him down, but I rarely let him fall asleep first. I guess I'm lucky because he can handle it either way if I lay him down awake or if he's drowsy. Sometimes he cries for 10 minutes or so, but that depends on his mood too so it's really different every time. Don't worry too much about it, it's good for them to have some down time before sleeping.

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