My 15 month old daughter doesn't have too much problem falling asleep quickly (15 minutes?) during daytime naps, but nighttime is a whole other story.
Since she was 6 months old, she's been sleeping on a twin size mattress in her own room (so I can co-sleep if need be - our bed is too small). Naps are easy, but I often find myself laying with her for upwards of an hour (or more) at night before she finally drifts off. She never fights going to bed, lays down happily, no crying, etc... But she shifts around, moves her legs, flips from one side to the other, gets into "crawling" position and scoots herself up to the head of the bed (where we have to pull her back down), etc. Inbetween her shifting, she'll lay completely still for a minute or more at a time (shift, lay still, shift, lay still, repeat), but it often comes down to me pinning her with my legs (and sometimes arms - like a big bear hug) to stop her from moving. Once she tries to move and realizes that she can't, she'll settle (or give up) and fall asleep not long after that. There's never any crying or complaining throughout this whole process.
This causes two problems though. One is that she's not learning how to relax by herself, and the other is that she's learning (or learned) to only fall asleep by physical contact. Often once she's too tired to move anymore I can remove my leg from hers and so long as a part of my body is touching her, she'll remain still. If I try to sneak out before she's completely asleep, she'll jump up into a crawl position and scream for me to come back. As soon as I turn back towards the bed, she'll drop her head. But if I don't climb back into bed, she crawls towards me.
She sleeps alright once asleep, but will wake up a few (sometimes several) times a night calling for us to come back and lay with her. Normally she'll be sleeping again in under 5 minutes, which is great, but the having to get up and lay beside her is getting kind of hard. I would love to just go into her room, tuck her back in, and leave to go back to my bed.
My second baby is due is less than 4+ months and not only is laying with her starting to become uncomfortable, but it's going to be difficult to tend to her like this once the baby is born.
Do you have any suggestions on how to teach her to not rely so much on us to put her to sleep?
What are your sleep routines/schedules for a child of around this age?
Ours is: (We don't follow the clock, but we do try to keep a routine of bath within an hour before bed (followed by snack/milk), food within 30-60 minutes after waking, etc.)
8 (average 8 but between 7-9, depending on what time she fell asleep): awake
9: breakfast
12: lunch
1-3: nap, followed by snack
6: dinner
7:30-8: bath
8:30-9: snack (usually banana) and milk
9-10: brush teeth, then bed (often does not fall asleep until an hour past this time)
We try to keep the house calm from bathtime on, but it doesn't seem to help.
Ideas?
Since she was 6 months old, she's been sleeping on a twin size mattress in her own room (so I can co-sleep if need be - our bed is too small). Naps are easy, but I often find myself laying with her for upwards of an hour (or more) at night before she finally drifts off. She never fights going to bed, lays down happily, no crying, etc... But she shifts around, moves her legs, flips from one side to the other, gets into "crawling" position and scoots herself up to the head of the bed (where we have to pull her back down), etc. Inbetween her shifting, she'll lay completely still for a minute or more at a time (shift, lay still, shift, lay still, repeat), but it often comes down to me pinning her with my legs (and sometimes arms - like a big bear hug) to stop her from moving. Once she tries to move and realizes that she can't, she'll settle (or give up) and fall asleep not long after that. There's never any crying or complaining throughout this whole process.
This causes two problems though. One is that she's not learning how to relax by herself, and the other is that she's learning (or learned) to only fall asleep by physical contact. Often once she's too tired to move anymore I can remove my leg from hers and so long as a part of my body is touching her, she'll remain still. If I try to sneak out before she's completely asleep, she'll jump up into a crawl position and scream for me to come back. As soon as I turn back towards the bed, she'll drop her head. But if I don't climb back into bed, she crawls towards me.
She sleeps alright once asleep, but will wake up a few (sometimes several) times a night calling for us to come back and lay with her. Normally she'll be sleeping again in under 5 minutes, which is great, but the having to get up and lay beside her is getting kind of hard. I would love to just go into her room, tuck her back in, and leave to go back to my bed.
My second baby is due is less than 4+ months and not only is laying with her starting to become uncomfortable, but it's going to be difficult to tend to her like this once the baby is born.
Do you have any suggestions on how to teach her to not rely so much on us to put her to sleep?
What are your sleep routines/schedules for a child of around this age?
Ours is: (We don't follow the clock, but we do try to keep a routine of bath within an hour before bed (followed by snack/milk), food within 30-60 minutes after waking, etc.)
8 (average 8 but between 7-9, depending on what time she fell asleep): awake
9: breakfast
12: lunch
1-3: nap, followed by snack
6: dinner
7:30-8: bath
8:30-9: snack (usually banana) and milk
9-10: brush teeth, then bed (often does not fall asleep until an hour past this time)
We try to keep the house calm from bathtime on, but it doesn't seem to help.
Ideas?
