Bed time HELPPP

asws1208 · November 2014

Just curious what everyone's night time routine (as far as actually laying LO down) at this age.. W has slept through the night since about 8 weeks old. We were able to just lay him down when he got sleep from then until about 8 months and then it stopped. He would scream and cry until we picked him up and rocked him to sleep. Now here we are 11 months and are still doing the same thing. Still sleeps all night but he has to be asleep before we lay him down. We try letting him CIO but I can't make myself let him cry for longer than 5-10 minutes. Not to mention when we do leave him be he goes total beaver mode on his crib railing - WTF was I thinking buying an expensive convertible one?

sleepymonkey · November 2014

We still rock LO to sleep every night, usually while feeding her her last bottle of the day. I actually don't mind rocking her to sleep because we have such limited time with her during the week that I'll take all I can get. Her routine is usually bath (every other night), diaper change, get in her pjs, then rock in the chair with the lights off while she has a bottle. She's usually out by the time the bottle is done.

She slept through the night early on. She would usually sleep from 7:30pm - 5:30am, wake up and have a bottle then go back down in her crib for another hour or so. But almost 2 months ago, she started waking up a lot in the MOTN and not wanting to go back in her crib, clinging to us and crying if we even attempted to put her down. So we would bring her in to our bed. She has gotten a little better but is still ending up in our bed anywhere between 3 and 5am most mornings. I really don't mind having to rock her to sleep but we need to find a way to get her to go back to sleep in her crib in the MOTN because I really don't want to bedshare. But CIO is definitely not for us - I can't last more than 5 minutes with her crying and I know that so I'm not even going to try.

bty19 · November 2014

I'm of the mind now that these babies know what they are doing, they are smart. They aren't just a few months old anymore and don't know what's going on... ( I just watched my kid have a "fake" tantrum because I wouldn't give her my cell phone, lol. Sorry, kid.) It doesn't happen often any more but as long as my LO isn't in hysterics, I leave her to fuss/whine/even cry in her crib. I know it's hard, but I know she's fed, dry, safe and ok...She's just trying to have it her way.
IMO 5-10 minutes (although hard, I know) isn't long enough .

RJBrownie84 · November 2014

We just started on crib sleeping this week. We have one of these:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B006YBHE6M/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_qooDub17HR908

So basically, he spazzes for a few minutes until he remembers that he can turn the fish on, then he just sits mesmerized until he gets sleepy. The first five minutes are terrible, but maybe consider some kind of soothing distraction to help them get to sleep?

ErinO21 · November 2014

Tucker gets rocked to sleep every night. Yes, some nights are rough like when he fights it for an hour and a half. But I don't mind rocking him. There will come a point when he will no longer need or want to be rocked to sleep (I mean, what 15 year old needs rocked to sleep), so I'm going to take advantage of it while I can. If it becomes a problem, I'll cross that bridge when we get to it.

bty19 · November 2014

RJBrownie84 said:

We just started on crib sleeping this week. We have one of these: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B006YBHE6M/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_qooDub17HR908 So basically, he spazzes for a few minutes until he remembers that he can turn the fish on, then he just sits mesmerized until he gets sleepy. The first five minutes are terrible, but maybe consider some kind of soothing distraction to help them get to sleep?

We use something like this too. She turns it on herself and watches it if she's bored, awake waiting for me, upset etc. Great idea.

sleepymonkey · November 2014

arnold94 said:

I nurse Ben while I rock him to sleep. I can sometime get away with putting him down almost asleep, but he typically likes to be totally asleep before he lets me put him down. He's pretty good about sleeping most of the night, usually waking between 3-4 and then he ends up in bed with us. It's a lot easier for us both to sleep when that happens so I just relax and enjoy it .... until #1 barges in and wakes us all up!

That's us when Julia wakes up in the MOTN now. I always said I would never bedshare but when she wakes up, we can usually guarantee being up with her for at least an hour if we try to put her back in her crib and then be awake again in an hour. But we know if we just bring her in bed with us, she'll go right to sleep and we can all sleep peacefully the rest of the night. And I must admit that there are worse things than waking up to an adorable little face next to mine, usually smiling at me.

lifesaverz · November 2014

IMO having to rock your baby is not a bad price to pay considering he actually sleeps through the night! I honestly think having to rock your baby is not a big deal. We still rock our LO, & I just think of it like a phase - it will only last so long!

FutureMrsCaesar · November 2014

Ben has just started, just in the last couple of weeks, going to sleep on his own if I lay him down sleepy. I used to nurse him to sleep but if he woke up when I tried to lay him down it was a nightmare, but recently he will cry for 1 min. max then go to sleep. My only point is that keep doing what you have to do and out of nowhere it will change.

asws1208 · November 2014

Thanks for all of the input mamas!! I agree that sometimes I don't mind rocking him because I do love the cuddle time. I just don't want to have started a bad habit. Absolutely going to check out the soother. The mobile worked for a while but now he just wants to yank it down. Thanks again!!!!!

sleepymonkey · November 2014

@eldunlap - I can completely understand crying because you couldn't kiss her this morning, especially after the night you had. The few times I have tried to let her CIO, I have ended up crying right along with her because it breaks my heart even though I know she is not in any pain or danger. Good luck with trying to stick to CIO for the next few days. DH and I discussed attempting CIO for the MOTN wake-ups when I'm off between Christmas and New Years. I'm very much on the fence about it but it may need to be done.
Oh, and it's exciting that you're so close to delivering! If I remember correctly, you're the first D13 mom to have the next baby, right?

Jen4033 · November 2014

I rocked my first son until he was approximately a year & a half (or really until my belly was too big being pregnant with DS2

) He transitioned fine from being rocked to sleep to going to bed on his own after that. I always rocked him because we nursed to sleep until he was weaned around 13-14 mo old. DS1 was always an awesome sleeper though. STTN since he was 4 mo old. Really only waking at night when he was sick or a random occurrence.

With DS2, we are still nursing to sleep for now. He doesn't want to settle down, unless he is being nursed. We have this issue still with night wakings too. He has to nurse. I do know he will go to sleep with his dad just fine. I'll approach the going to bed routine without nursing when we get to that bridge in our weaning process after 1 yr. I'm letting him be ready for the changes instead of forcing anything him.

To myself: It will get better, It will get better, It will get better, It will get better, It will get better, ...

kaiteygrl · November 2014

At 9 months we decided we had to have our bed back. So our routine is...dinner, bath time (calm), pajamas, teeth, and then we rock, she drinks her bottle, while I read Goodnight Moon, and then I sing while she finishes her bottle. She curls up on my shoulder right afterward to burp and then I lay her down, she flips onto her belly, butt up and goes right to sleep.

We got to this point by CIO. I originally was doing the whole 5 minute check, 15 minute check, etc. and it back fired. So we did our routine (this was at 9 months) and would lay her down. I have a video monitor so I would turn the sound off and sit it by me and look over. The first night she cried for 45 minutes. Broke my heart. Next night 30 minutes. Next night 30 minutes. It took 7 days before she would cry for about 5 minutes and then sleep. Now there's no crying and I'm finally adjusted to the crying. So during nap time if she cries, I let her and it usually takes about 10 minutes and then she sleeps. She's been STTN since we started all of this, but one the few occasions that she would wake up, I check on her give her back her paci give her a kiss and she lays right back down.

No matter what you decide, you are doing a great job. I'm sure it's been said, but your baby won't need to be rocked to sleep when they are in college, even if you feel that's what you need to do now

sleepymonkey · November 2014

@eldunlap - that is awesome! I hope it goes like that for us if we try it!

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