[Greenie]

Heya ladies (and gents!). Here's my question...

How do you get the baby to go to sleep on their own? I'm looking for the AP way of doing it. I'm not going to CIO, I'm not going to "ferberize", I just want my DS to start easing into going to sleep on his own..

 

[rzberrymom]

Babies just start to do this naturally at some point. For my DD, it was at around 15 months--she just wouldn't nurse to sleep anymore, and started to require back rubbing, singing, etc. for at least 30-60 minutes. The nursing was WAY easier, so I was actually pretty sad when she made this transition.

You could just give it a try though--try nursing him somewhere other than the bed, then head to the bed and lie him down awake. Lie down with him, rub his back, tell him stories in a shush shush voice, sing, hum, etc. My DD especially liked it if DH and I were both there. If your DS cries, he's letting you know he's not ready yet. It will happen though.

 

[Greenie]

Thanks! I'm a first timer, and I'm the first out of most of our close friends, and all my family tells me is to spank, CIO, and feed them junk food...

I truly am an island.

:

Thanks again!!

 

[alegna]

How old is your baby and what do you envision? My 2 year old still nurses to sleep and I don't see any reason to change.

-Angela

 

[Greenie]

My baby is going to be 8 months old. I really am just curious as to the average time table, and I guess methods of helping them soothe to sleep. For instance, patting my son's chest gently and rocking him helps him go to sleep. He refuses to nurse down, but wakes up about 30-45 minutes after we put him in bed, hungry, and nurses me dry. We co-sleep, so he nurses at will all night, which is pretty much every night. He eats more at night than during the day.

I'm thinking about how to get on the road to laying him down and reading a story, humming/singing him to sleep, etc. I don't expect this for years, and if he wants to nurse to sleep, he is encouraged to do so. DS is resistant to go to sleep, though, most nights and avoids any activity that makes him relax and fall asleep (i.e. nursing, rocking, singing, patting his back..). We will be moving in the coming months and I'll be going to school, so I might not be there every single night. I want to make sure that Elias can get to sleep without using nursing every single night, that is all. Not trying to night wean, persay. He won't take a bottle, and I'll be there all night to nurse him, I just might not be there at 8 or 9 pm when he's going to bed.

 

[alegna]

If it's a concern about others putting him to sleep, most moms report that as long as their babe is comfortable with the caretaker, they will go to sleep.

Honestly it's so early I wouldn't try to change anything or move toward anything at this point. Just go with what works right now.

-Angela

 

[zannster]

My DS is 19 months old, and he still exclusively nurses to sleep. The only exception (which doesn't really appy to bedtime) is when he falls asleep in the car. Even then though, he usually requires nursing when he is put down in bed; he immediately wakes up and cries. As far as reading stories, he doesn't have the attention span to lie and look at a book. He has one of two responses: he wants to get up and look at the book, or he is anxious to nurse/sleep and has no interest in anything else. So I'm equally curious as to responses to this question...and as far as the "timetable", I don't see things changing much in the near future here.