Do all babies cry going down to sleep?

[engineer_mom]

I'm 0 for 2
It looks like both my kids cry before going to sleep (older one doesn't now). And I so want an easy way to put them to sleep.

My new LO will be awake for an hour (not fussy if being held and constantly shifted around) but once she starts getting sleepy she typically does not easily drift to sleep (nursing, sling, rocking, etc...). She ends up screaming. Then quieting down after 10-15 min of screaming. Then after the period of quiet she starts screaming again and usually this is when she falls asleep (or the scream/quiet cycle might repeat). Is my technique totally off and am I keeping her up?

Or is this normal?
Do all babies do this?

[namistenicole]

This LO does every time, except at night. As soon as she's tired she starts crying, I put her in the Moby wrap and she cries until she falls asleep (while I bounce, rock, shush, etc). This usually lasts only a few minutes, except in the evening when she tends to be fussier. I've tried many other ways to help her to sleep (rocking chair, amby bed, arms, swing, etc.) and this is what works best. She will literally be crying/screaming and then asleep the next instant. It just seems to be how she is.

[ChesapeakeBorn]

I thought I was in the clear, but unfortunately my baby boy (5 wks) just started doing this sometimes, primarily during the day (he's much better at night). I usually try to get him to sleep when he first starts giving me cues, that way he doesn't get overly tired. I will have fed him, burped him several times, held him upright for a while, changed him, swaddled him, unswaddled him, rocked/swayed/shushed etc and he will still follow the same pattern you described. I also tried just putting him down when he is drowsy, but he perks right up then cries (and I am not a "cry-it-out" kind of person). I think he is at a stage when he is now aware of his surroundings and very interested in everything - maybe it is just hard to get to sleep with all that stimulation and neurological activity, lol.

[terrainthailand]

Mine does this too. Not all the time, but frequently in the evenings when she is the most fussy. It just seems like she needs to cry a bit to get to sleep. I just keep holding, bouncing, shushing, etc.. until she finally drifts off. and it happens just like Nicole said, one minute she is crying and the next she is asleep.

She also fusses if she is overtired but sometimes the fussing goes on when I am fairly certain she is not overtired so I don't think it is exclusively linked to that. I think we were having an overtiredness problem last week and this weekend. So I've been trying hard this week to recognize her signals quickly and help her to sleep. (I finally had to learn to tell Grandma "I know you want to play with her but she is yawning, she needs to sleep... sorry.")

[phatchristy]

It seems mine are the opposite, generally either I lay them down next to me and drift to sleep or most commonly they nurse to sleep. Sometimes they get full right away and unlatch and then just drift off to sleep.

We're all really good sleepers though...all 4 were like this...maybe it's just genetic?

[Starfish11]

She always falls asleep while nursing but will then POP UP and announce her awake-ness by screaming Very dramatic our little one is. Most of the time we can use the techniques in "The happiest baby on the block" to get her back to sleep but occasionally we have to get up and walk with her.

[Raene]

Mine used to sing while we rocked her...even as a newborn she would hum. No crying.

[Haselnuss]

Not all of mine did, but Annika pretty much will only fall asleep during the day without crying first if I do all of the following at once:
1. Put on some music
2. Lay her facedown over my forearm, and
3. Rock her

The music really makes a huge difference - I don't remember any of my others reacting so obviously to it at this age.