I am a first time mom to a 8 month old and I have a question about a sleep issue. How do you teach your child to put themselves to sleep or put themselves back to sleep? My daughter has to always be rocked or bounced to sleep. If I put her in her crib she will play at first and then just cry forever and doesn't ever fall asleep on her own. And if she wakes up in the middle of a nap she's up, unless I rock her back to sleep. Which means she sometimes only gets a 30 or 45 min nap b/c she won't go back to sleep even if I rock her. At night this is sometimes the case, she usually sleeps through the night (about 12 hours, but occasionally when she does wake up in the middle of the night she has to be rocked back to sleep. Any suggestions?
My middle DD was like this. Eventually we put a cd player in her room and continuously played either really soft music or white noise all through the night for her. This really helped in her case.
I used a book called Baby Wise with both of mine. I got it when my first got her days and nights mixed up! What a nightmare!!! Anyway, it is all about a schedule that makes complete sense. It does involve letting them cry it out - so be sure you've got what it takes to listen to some crying. With both of mine, it took three nights. (Now those were not easy nights), but still it was only three nights.
Since mine was born, I have played classical music and the favorite was free in a Baby Magic gift set. As we approach four years of age, I only pull it out when she is restless or having trouble going to sleep. She is conditioned and is usually asleep before the second arrangement ends. I have also told her over the years to lay her cheek on the pillow and close her eyes and told her it was "sleepy time". This worked like a charm for her Pre-K teacher at nap time, when nothing else would. I would suggest rocking her a bit longer and play the music and maybe in a couple of weeks the music will sooth the savage beast in your child.
C. S.
Crying it out was the method we eventually had to resort to, and even though it was hard (for 2 nights only!!), I'm not sorry we did it. A great book that covers this method, and another, is Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Marc Weisbluth. I read it twice when my son was 6 months old and still refer to it for help, guidance and reassurance. My son is 16 mos now and sleeps 12-13 hrs a night without waking and takes one 2-3 hr nap a day. He's happy all day long!
I had problems similar to this w/ my son. I just had to stick to my plan. I would rock him w/ a bottle and then sing him a song. Afterwards I would lay him in his crib and sit next to it. He would cry and I would be reassuring to him. After a couple of days of doing this I moved closer to the door until eventually I was out of the room.
It was hard but it pays off now. All I have to do is say go night-night buddy and he lays down and goes to sleep. And in the middle of the night he has learned to put himself back to sleep! I guess it took about a month before everything was going smoothly. Hopefully this helps. And no matter what keep your head up and know that this too shall pass!
We had this issue with our first. We would let him cry it out because that is what the Pedi said to do. If you always confort them by rocking, etc., then that is what they will always want and it will be hard to break that when they are older. I would ONLY rock at bedtime. We would let him listen to a classical CD and put the fisher price aquarium in his crib. If he woke up he could puch the button to make it play again.
I agree with the others, Babywise is great if you have the time and patience. But if you want results fast, let her cry it out. I promise it will only last a couple of days and you will be so pleased when your baby can sleep without your assistance.
Trust me it will be much harder later when your daughter is a toddler to "cry it out" at night when she is screaming your name to come and get her out of the crib.
I used to grab a magazine and sit outside for 15 minute intervals while my daughter cried it out.......it helps! These days she walks herself to the crib and waits to get in for bed. It gets easier! Good Luck!
There are a couple methods. One mom mentioned sitting by the crib, then gradually moving closer to the door until you're out of the room. The details of that one are in a book by Kim West called "Good night, Sleep tight." Her book actually addresses sleep issues up through age 3 or 5. Since you'll re-visit sleep problems for a few years, it's worth the investment! We used some of her suggestions for sleep problems with our 3 yr old.
The other way that works pretty well with kids this age is "crying it out" or the Ferber method. We did it with our son for night waking around 9 months and only had to do it one night. Next night he went back to sleep on his own. However, we had never gotten in the habit of rocking, so that might be why it was so easy. In general, parents I know who have tried it say it's about 3 nights of hell, followed by effortless bedtimes and a lifetime of sleeping through the night uninterrupted.
I would recommend just letting her cry it out. We did this with my daughter, but much earlier on and she just goes right to bed with no problems now. Also, one person mentioned the Fisher Price Ocean Wonders Aquarium. I TOTALLY recommend that. When my daughter wakes up in the middle of the night, she will turn it on herself and just lay back down and go back to sleep. (the only reason I know she woke up is because I hear the song on the aquarium through the monitor) It will probably be tough listening to her cry, but if you stick it out for a few days, it will pay off. Just don't give in. Be sure to go in and check on her every 5-15 minutes (whatever you're comfortable with) unless you feel like it's making things worse. This was the case with our daughter, so I sometimes waited 20 minutes since it seemed like she was calming down after about 15 and she would eventually go down on her own.
