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

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

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!

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'...

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!