Rocking My 2 Yr Old

This is a security blanket kinda for your little girl maybe just explain mommy still loves you even though i am not rocking you to sleep but momma back maybe hurts or if that dont work . just tell her she is a big girl now and its time for moms big girl to lay down buy herself .maybe for the first couple weeks make it a game and reward her with something special telling her how proud you are of her.

I am a mother of 3 -2 boys 14 and 8 and a 4 year old girl
D.

I would say that she hasn't learned how to fall asleep on her own, so you will have to begin the long process of teaching her how to do that. It will take some backbone on your part, because there will be crying, but I would start a nighttime ritual with her that is repeated every night. Read a book, say a prayer, sing a song, or whatever you want to do, but it should end with you putting her in the bed alone and awake. It might not go well the first couple of times, but if you can get through it, she'll be better off, and so will you. If she cries, give it a few minutes and then go in a reassure her that it's okay, you are here for her, and she's safe. Put her down again and leave. Once she can do it at night, she'll get it during the day, too. I am a child development instructor at the local university, and I teach my students nighttime rituals from the very beginning. I hope this helps, and I hope you get some peace soon.
J. W.

Most everyone has given good advice. I personally wouldn't start the "laying down with" thing because it'll just replace the old problem with a new one. The child needs to learn to go to sleep on her own, and lying there with her will not do that. It's definitely true that getting out of bad habits and into good new ones is painful for everyone involved, but it should only take a short while -- just steel yourself for a few days of crying. (Others have talked about the "methods" so I won't elaborate. Just explain in a sentence or two that it's time for her to be a big girl and go to sleep on her own, and introduce a brief ritual -- we always read a couple of books right before bedtime.) It is rough but will be very worth it! Good luck and hang in there!

I would have said this was your first but I see you have an 8yr old also. I rocked my oldest to sleep every night until she was in the 1st grade. LOL I learned with my 2nd one and he hasn't been rocked excepted when he is sick. (POOR Second child LOL) It was the hardest thing to break. I started that we would set the timer and she would only get rocked until the timer went off. We just decreased the time on the timer ever couple of days. It was a good trans for both of us. The first couple of nights were hard but we made it and she did go to sleep. Good luck!

I have a grandson and he is 2 and a half the way we got him broke from rocking is we layed down in the bed with him so he would go to sleep instead of rocking him it worked

hey J. yea all kids nare different my oldest had to be driven around in the car seat until she fell asleep lol. but unfortu. we get into these ways to put children asleep and they grow attached.she will soon grow up but until then good luck GOD BLESS !

Hi J.. From my experience (5 yrs working in daycare and now with one of my own almost 1 yr), this is where tough love comes in. I have learned to just let him cry it out. Sometimes he will just cry and cry but WILL eventually fall asleep. I know there is a dr. recommended schedule to follow where you let him cry for 5 min or so and then go comfort and say I am still here (say softly of course) stay for about 1 min and then leave again - then the next time wait 7-10 minutes and so on. I never actually tried this but know several that have and swear by it, and now have no problems with just sticking them in the bed and then falling asleep on their own. I sympathize with you. I know it's hard! You should be able to research this online and get the exact schedule thing ~ I will look to see if I can find it. Hope to help!
~T.

check this out:
http://www.drgreene.com/21_194.html ~ this wasn't exactly what i was looking for, but maybe it will help!!

one more ~ http://www.sleepeducation.com/Topic.aspx?id=8

I agree that you are just going to have to do it. And if she screams and cries you just have to let her. I know that sounds harsh but my pediatrician told me that it doesn't hurt them to cry. It hurts us worse to listen to it. She told me to put him in the bed and let him cry for 5 minutes, go and reassure him and then wait ten minutes and then wait 15 minutes, etc., etc. But the next time you would wait longer the first time. After about 2 nights, we were good to go.

J.,

My daughter was rocked every single night until she was three and a half years old. I understand how it feels. While you don't want to stop...Because you will miss and do enjoy it... You do want to. We tried a lot of things but one of the main things was setting a time limit to rock her for. We told her we would only rock her for a half of an hour and if she wasn't asleep then she had to still go to bed. Eventually she just wanted to go to bed first without being rocked and we would lay with her for a few minutes patting her until she feel asleep or nearly. We kept doing this for about a month and now she sleeps great all by herself. Good luck, J. H.

I did the same thing with my 2 y/o. I tried for months to get him out of the crib so that my new baby could use it, but he just was not ready. I did have a new big bed in the same room and out of nowhere, one day he asked to sleep in it instead. We layed in it together and he never went back to the crib. I moved his aquarium music maker/nightlight to the bed's headboard and everynight for over 8 months he turns it on and goes to sleep (sometimes with me laying next to him, sometimes without). I was told that when he was ready, he would let me know...and he did. I know it's hard, but I kept reminding myself, he will only be little once!
Good Luck!