Rock/nurse to sleep...what to do when without the rocking chair?

[Phoebe]

Ds and I will be visiting my parents for 2 weeks in July. He'll be 15 months then and has nursed/rocked to sleep all his life. I have a small recliner that I rock him in and then I carry him to bed after he's asleep. My folks don't have a rocker at their house. Right now it is real easy to get him to sleep and I'm afraid with the change of environment and the lack of rocking motion that I won't be able to get him to sleep easily. This really freaks me out because I'm self concious around my mom with the rocking and nursing. I know she thinks it's riduculous and shes "never known anyone who has done that", "just lay him down. They only cry for a little bit" not to mention the nursing..."he needs to stop that!" *said in a silly voice*.

Anyway, what do you rockin' mamas do when you don't have a rocking chair.

BTW...he won't lay down to nurse to sleep. He's never gone for that.

Thanks,
amy

[akmbloom]

I don't have an answer but I'd like to know too - I feel like my babe is addicted to the rocker for falling into a deep sleep....

[mamenka]

Hi Amy,

I couldn't really get the knack of it myself , but is there any way that you could nurse him in a sling? It would allow him to be close and maybe you could sway/ rock a little. Maybe your relatives might have a friend or neighbor who could loan a rocking chair? I know it is hard to tune out the voices of well-intentioned family members, but you know your own child best. Good luck with your visit; I hope things go smoothly for you.

Mamenka

[KateMary]

I would try the sling too, it has never really worked for me either, but I haven't tried lately. I have found that something that didn't used to work, does work now. You might try lying down to nurse again. I found that I had to put a burp rag folded up under my breast to prop it up so it doesn't fall out of dd's mouth while lying down, that really made a big difference.

Also, you could try nursing in a regular chair till baby is really sleepy and then walking around, swaying in arms till all the way asleep. I would try a few different techniques before your trip so baby is used to things a little different.

[Storm Bride]

When I didn't have the rocking chair for ds, I usually just nursed him until he was full, then held him and swayed back and forth - usually singing, but not always. It tended to take a little longer than the rocking chair, but he loved every second of it.

Good luck!

[Kishor'sMami]

Wow, it feels good to know that i'm not the only one who has this problem!

my older ds 3.5, rocked to sleep till he was around 3. younger ds (11 month baby) was born when older ds was 2.5, so i had to gradually 'wean' him of rocking so that i could take care of the baby. still, many evenings, i would be cuddled with both of them in the rocking chair... gradually going to sleep.

Older ds is now beginning to be able to fall asleep on the bed; he's realizing that the rocking chair just doesn't have room for all of us, and it's more comfortable on the bed. Also, both boys just end up playing on the rocking chair instead of going to sleep... and that can be frustrating sometimes.

Sorry... now your question.

With older ds, for trips i would also be so worried, but then just ended up walking with him in the sling... or swaying and rocking while holding him. It did take longer... but it would definitely work. As he got bigger and heavier, we started using the stroller; or just waiting until he was sooo tired that he would go to sleep as soon as he started nursing.

With the baby, we just went to in laws house for memorial day weekend. It was rough; he was awake, climbing around until 1 or 2 AM and i was just too tired to walk him to sleep. i would walk and sway, but then sit down cuz i was falling asleep. All my friends' comments about how crazy it is to have to rock them to sleep were just going through my head. it was rough.

anyhow, it's good to know i'm not alone! It just seems to be harder for me to lie down and put the kids to sleep; especially when they just climb all around the bed and i have to pretend to be fast asleep. it's easier to rock in the rocking chair, nurse, and read MDC!

[Kishor'sMami]

pheobe, just wondering how did you name your son, manu? such a beautiful name!
in sanskrit and vedic history, manu is the 'father of mankind'...

[kiahnsmum]

I was wondering where the name came from too, in my country it means 'bird', great name i know a few Manu's.

[The4OfUs]

Hi Amy -

My DS was a "rocker" for a while, too, even though I technically didn't even have a rocking chair until he was 7 months old...up until we had a rocker, I used two techniques that seemed to simulate rocking fairly well:

#1 was I sat on the bed crosslegged, with a pillow on my lap, and cradled him in my arms and sort of sway/rocked - it wasn't comfortable for a very long time, but I would just keep telling myself, "just another couple minutes, just another couple minutes" - and eventually that was true! HA!

#2 was that I propped pillows up at the head of the bed, leaned back into them with my legs bent up, and just kind of slowly rocked back and forth that way, sinking into the pillow and coming back up out of it. That was more comfortable for me.

Eventually, I got DS to tolerate being "swayed" left to right just as much as being "rocked" back and forth, so that helped out in the no rocking chair situation (r if I was too lazy to go upstairs to the chair and wanted to stay on the couch!).


Oh yeah, I also developed a pseudo rocking motion that I could use while reclining in bed with him on my chest (My son is 16 months now, and I can still do this with him in a pinch) where he lays diagonally across me, with his head in the crook of my arm, and I just kind of sway back and forth and move my arm along with the swaying motion (I know that may be hard to visualize, but if you get him into that position it might just come naturally)...that way you're not "laying down", so he'll feel more familiar with it, but you're reclining, so it's more comfortable on you...that's how I eventually transitioned him to being able to lay down in bed next to me and drift off together while we snuggle...I just kept reclining on the bed more and more, week by week, until I ended up horizontal. Then again, he had stopped nursing to sleep by that point (he would nurse and then unlatch, and then fall asleep) so I didn't have to do them both at the same time.

I agree with the PPs and would just start experimenting in your own bed with different positions that will be comfortable for both of you, so that by July you're in a groove.

Good luck!

[womama]

Okay, this may be really wrong in your book, but maybe you could purchase a rocking chair while there, then return it before you leave? Or if you don't wanna do that and have an extra $100, just gift it to your parents, so it will ALWAYS be there when you need it. I got a really nice rocker/glider chair at Garden Ridge(don't know if they exist where you live) for a little over $100.

I have also sat on the edge of a bed and "bounced" my son to sleep, while nursing. This seemed to work in place of the rocker.

Good luck and forget your mom's comments, he is your sweet baby. Do what feels right to you!

[erlyco]

DS is a rocker too.
We went through a stage where he didn't mind being "swung" -- I'd cradle him in my arms and swing him somewhat vigorously. Obviously, not while nursing, but sometimes he'd fall asleep this way and I'd gradually stop the swinging. (And it's a little tiring)

Sometimes, if he's really tired and not too cranky (ha!), I can nurse him on my lap and bounce/shake my leg. It's not rocking, but it's more like a vibration thing.

I have to say -- buying and returning a rocker isn't a terrible idea either...