How do you put lo down awake?

Tch4lfe · January 2015

There was a post a few days ago about how you put your little one down. I noticed a lot of people responded saying they put their babies down drowsy, but awake. My older son could be put down wide awake and would go to sleep. My daughter though, being our 4th and last, has decided to give us a run for our money! She has increasingly become harder to put down. She will scream while I rock her and finally after what seems like forever will fall asleep in my arms. Then I have to wait another 10 minutes to make sure she is sound enough to put down. Then putting her down, I feel like I'm on pins and needles hoping and praying she doesn't wake up...she usually does, and I have to start all over. Ok, so after that novel, I was wondering if they're were any of you out there that trained your child to go to sleep that way, and if so, how? We have a very set routine at night, and I know she's not over tired, so I'm out of options! TIA

Ivorytower2 · January 2015

Not sure if this helps, but I had been trying to put LO (14 weeks) down drowsy but awake for a few weeks now and every time she would fully wake up and scream like mad. Just like you, I had to walk her for 15-20 minutes after her eyes were closed to make sure she wouldn't wake up and I kept thinking who are these babies who go down awake??? But just this week I've started putting her down for naps when I know she's not totally asleep. She'll pop her eyes open for a minute and then fall back to sleep and the past two nights she's finally gone to sleep in her bed drowsy but awake.

I think this might just be a maturity/temperment thing for some babies and maybe your LO will start to get it soon. I'd just keep decreasing this amount of time you hold before putting down for naps. I know starting the whole process over sucks, but it's def easier during the day for naps.

cls0602 · January 2015

My lo can not be put down for naps, I'm hoping to change this soon as he is 13 weeks old and it's not ideal to hold him for so long so often! But for bedtime, I nurse him in dim lighting with sound machine on. I then wrap him in his Swaddle, and place him in the bassinet. It's 50/50 on if he wakes up crying or not, but if he does we never pick him back up. We just keep giving him the pacifier no matter how long it takes (usually no longer than 10 minutes). Same thing if he wakes during the night and it's not time for him to eat.

Minmcgar · January 2015

I put my LO down awake. Swaddled white noise and a paci. I sit in the room for about ten incase paci falls out and then after ten mins he is usually sleeping

bf43005 · January 2015

Glad I'm not the only one having issues. OP this is exactly how things go with DS too. I really thought I was going to have to hold DS for every nap till he was 5! It's quarter after 10 tonight and he's still up fighting sleep. He goes down when held but wakes back up when you put him down. And he doesn't sooth himself to sleep either. He gets screaming pissed constantly. He also slaps himself in the face if he's not swaddled. Not easy to do for naps and he's getting to the age where everything says you shouldn't swaddle anymore. FTM so hope I haven't screwed him for sleep the rest of his life.

JustCricket · January 2015

When we put her down, sometimes she'll fuss or cry. Sometimes she'll just giggle and make noises until she falls asleep. If she doesn't stop fussing/crying after a minute or so, I'll try calming her. If it's daytime I just figure she doesn't want a nap. Night time, I'll start with the paci, then swaddling, swing, anything else I can think of, repeating the waiting to see how long she'll fuss before conking out (or me going back to soothe her). If she's cranky, after I go soothe her the first time, she'll fall asleep.

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