How do you put your LO to sleep?

lcweddings · December 2014

I rock/sway my LO to sleep for naps and night sleeping. He usually gets swaddled and then I hum a song as i rock back and forth...usually takes about 5 minutes followed by 2 minutes of fighting (crying) and then he falls asleep in my arms. I then proceed to place him down in the crib. I'm sure this is creating bad habits so I wanted to see what other moms are doing? I've been having major anxiety thinking about CIO that we may have to do in a few months.

elisetaylor09 · December 2014

I nurse LO change diaper swaddle him and turn on the white noise machine I've been putting him down awake since he was born and he just moved to his crib a couple wks ago. He's usually asleep within 5-10 min.

whitney4126 · December 2014

I nurse her to sleep. Occasionally she requires some rocking after, but usually she falls asleep on the boob. We've always had trouble with daytime sleeping, so I usually either pat her back while she fusses for a few minutes or wear her, but I rarely can put her down without her waking up. Hopefully when she starts daycare in a week, they will be able to get her into a better nap routine. Honestly, I read and prepared for so much during pregnancy, but it never occurred to me to read or think about how to get baby to sleep. I never tried putting her down tired. I've sort of just winged it. I'm sure we've created some habits I'll regret later, but I try not to stress about it because I like our nighttime routine and I'm always here to do it.

bf43005 · December 2014

I'm probably a bad example since DS will not go down sleepy for naps or night time. He never has gone down sleepy. Wakes right back up and cries. And I don't mean anything that can be ignored as just fussing.

Anyway, I do a bath massage swaddle and feeding. After feeding I usually pat and rock for a burp and that will put him to sleep. However he's up a few times after. Sometimes I nurse again but mostly just rock and pat on the back to get him to go back down.

mtlotslove · December 2014

Usually I can put him down sleepy with his noise machine and he'll be out within about 10 mins or so. If he's over tired or extra fussy I have to rock him and who knows how long it will take then. At night I feed him right before I put him down and he'll usually fall asleep at the boob and then we swaddle.

pshaortao · December 2014

We never had any luck putting our LO down when sleepy but awake. It would result into fighting sleep and going to bed soooo late. So I swaddle LO, give her reflux medicine then nurse to sleep. I usually let her sleep for 15-20 minutes in my arm before moving her to the crib and she will stay asleep that way.

rose913 · December 2014

DD had never been able to go down drowsy but awake. Like others said it ends up with her screaming. Arenas naps I only need to rock her for about 5 minutes or so.

Really the main reason why is because at bed time she has to sit up for 10-15 minutes after she eats or else she spits up everywhere and then I have to change her and her sheets. She usualy falls alseep in this time frame. I would rather just rock her own and sleep train her later if needed.

RedBaramid · December 2014

We suck at going down for naps... our naps are only like, 30 minutes long anymore. It sucks... but bedtime..we ROCK at bed time. We swaddle, go into our dark room with our white noise machine and dancing lights thingy, and just sort of pace/sway until she is done crying and trying to fight sleep.. then you just plop her down. She doesn't have to be asleep, but it helps if she is starting to struggle with her eyes a bit.

gingerkid9989 · December 2014

^^WSS. We don't nap much anymore unless she is in the car or stroller. But at night, we feed and change. Then I put her in our room in her RNP, usually fully awake, with the lights off and sound machine on. She will wiggle for 5-10 min then she is out.

dawn792 · December 2014

My LO always fights sleep at night. Usually have to pace the nursery with him for 5-10 minutes then try not to wake him up too much when I lay him in the crib. Naps during the day are much easier. Just put him in the crib with a pacifier and he usually falls asleep on his own within 10 minutes. For both naps and night sleeping, he has a heated mattress pad, a pacifier, and I leave music on for him

Megan09140 · December 2014

I change DS diaper and feed. He will sometimes fall asleep when eating but i rock or pat his butt till he gets drowsy and then turn on his soother and put him in his crib. But if he won't get drowsy after 15min of rock or patting the butt I just lay him in his crib with his soother on and he will occupy/sooth himself to sleep after a while.

GlitterMuffin914 · December 2014

She is usually good with putting herself to sleep, but there's been one nap a day recently where she's been fighting it. For those, I have to wrap a blanket around her arms tight or swaddle her, sit with her i the dark and rock her until she calms down, and then will usually fall asleep.

HorseLover11 · December 2014

I sit in the glider and rock with her with lights off and white noise on for 5-10 minutes and put her down. She sometimes will fuss for about 5 min and if she's still fussing I'll start the routine over again.

dal2aus · December 2014

whitney4126 said:

I nurse her to sleep. Occasionally she requires some rocking after, but usually she falls asleep on the boob. We've always had trouble with daytime sleeping, so I usually either pat her back while she fusses for a few minutes or wear her, but I rarely can put her down without her waking up. Hopefully when she starts daycare in a week, they will be able to get her into a better nap routine. Honestly, I read and prepared for so much during pregnancy, but it never occurred to me to read or think about how to get baby to sleep. I never tried putting her down tired. I've sort of just winged it. I'm sure we've created some habits I'll regret later, but I try not to stress about it because I like our nighttime routine and I'm always here to do it.

This! I didn't realize that sleep would be so hard. Why didn't the STM's warn us?

We do baths or wipe-downs, fresh diaper, lotion, clean clothes, swaddle, and paci and then turn on the fan/radio static for white noise. We try to put down awake, but usually there's too much screaming so we end up rocking to sleep in our arms or in the RnP. Sometimes, C will go to sleep on his side while I pat his back and then roll him onto his back once asleep. We have to get C to go to sleep first in order to get B down.

Tch4lfe · December 2014

For naps I put her in her magic suit and rock her for a few minutes then put her in her crib. For nighttime we give her a bath, let her play with her toys for a few minutes, nurse, then put on magic suit and rock her for a few more minutes.

ILikeMikeJr13 · January 2015

Baby is in crib full time now, we started with all day naps in her crib. Once she hit 8 weeks, I allow her to tell me she is tired (usually whimpers and rubs eyes after being awake over 1 hour. I give her her tiny blanky to snuggle and she usually kicks her legs up and protests a bit, but withing 5 minutes falls asleep. I sit beside her crib with her noise machine on. Making her room dark during day naps helped so much! Redi Shades at Home Depot are awesome

cls0602 · January 2015

For naps I just walk around with him until he passes out. Usually takes about 10-15 mins. Then I can sit/lay on the couch or lay in bed with him while he sleeps but there's nooo putting him down unfortunately. For bed I nurse him then Swaddle him and can just put him in his bassinet. Sometimes he's totally passed out and sometimes he's a little bit awake and cries for a few mins but we never have to pick him back up or anything. Really looking forward to the day we can put him down for naps. Nervous to take away the Swaddle and transition to crib..

lcweddings · January 2015

LO is at 15 weeks today and we've started letting him fall asleep on his own. The first time we tried it was during a night waking at like 3am. I fed and changed him, swaddled and rocked. He was still whining but I placed him in the Rock N Play knowing that he was clean and not hungry so I let him whine/cry for 5 minutes and he actually fell asleep! We tried it again the next day for nap and rocked him to sleep...as soon as he closed his eyes, I put him in the crib for a nap. He would open his eyes but after a few minutes of whining he would fall asleep.

I remember reading so much about putting babies down awake but drowsy and I could not do it for the life of me...until now! I finally understand it! I used to try and put him down "awake but drowsy" but he would just cry and cry and cry. Maybe because he's a little older now but it really does work and helps them learn to fall asleep!

The key is environment:

- dark or dim room

- white noise

- warm

- familiar item (his regular blanket)

Now my next question: DOES THIS MEAN I WONT HAVE TO DO CIO LATER??!!!! I HOPE SO!

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