I need help in training my child to go to sleep on her own.?

Question

She is 8 months old and she is getting really big to walk around the room for half an hour to and hour 4 times a day. My back and shoulders are really starting to suffer major problems. What and when is the best way to train her to fall asleep on her own without me having to rock and walk her around to sleep?

Answer 1

Good  luck my son is 2 and he has just started to go to sleep on his own however I stil have to be in there with him till he is almost asleep I just sing to him though and not rock him, Its hard to not rock them when they just want to be held, I would wait shell do it on her own, besides she is only 8 months she is still a baby.

Answer 2

http://www.askdrsears.com/html/7/T070100... has some great sleep tips.

do not get the babywise books.  my pediatrician specifically recommends against them and says they are dangerous to a baby's health.

Answer 3

The key is consistancy. We did this with my last two.  First you make a routine out of it. Feeding, bath and then dress,and then lay her in the crib. This is the hard part,let her cry for 20 to 30 minutes she will be fine... If she continues after 30 min. Go in and reasure her pat her on the back but do not pick her up.  After she settles leave... First night you may have to repeat this routine, but it lets her know that mommy is not going to pick her up EVERYTIME she cries.  It is hard but you can do it. After a while she will get it...  This is in babywise I believe...

With my first one, we rocked him until he was 2. Learned with the last two...  It really worked for us..

Answer 4

honestly. a lot of people may disagree and it sounds really mean, but i did the same thing and it worked with no type of negative effect. once i was comfortable letting her sleep without me having to watch her, i would put her in the crib. of course she would cry, sometimes a little and sometimes like crazy. at first i would peek in the door so she didnt see me but to make sure she was ok.. within 5 minutes she got the hint and just went to sleep..it sounds awful, but within about 2 weeks, the crying stopped completely and she learned that she goes to bed by herself now. although she is young, they are smarter than you think and will realize that they have to do it on their own.  

Answer 5

31 WAYS TO GET YOUR BABY TO GO TO SLEEP AND STAY ASLEEP EASIER

http://askdrsears.com/html/7/T070300.asp

8 INFANT SLEEP FACTS EVERY PARENT SHOULD KNOW

http://askdrsears.com/html/7/T070200.asp

The No-Cry Sleep Solution for Toddlers and Preschoolers: Gentle Ways to Stop Bedtime Battles and Improve Your Childs Sleep (Pantley) by Elizabeth Pantley

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_b?url=...

Elizabeth Pantley Collection

http://kellymom.com/pantley/index.html

Good Nights: The Happy Parents' Guide to the Family Bed

(And a Peaceful Night's Sleep)

by Jay Gordon, M.D. and Maria Goodavage

Griffin Trade Paperback, 2002

http://kellymom.com/jaygordon/index.html

Why babies should never sleep alone: A review

of the co-sleeping controversy in relation to SIDS,

bedsharing and breast feeding

http://www.nd.edu/~jmckenn1/lab/articles...

Answer 6

There are generally two different schools of thought on getting a baby to sleep: letting them cry or not.  The problem is that when you think of it as "I'm letting my baby cry" you're generally not thinking about the fact that you are also teaching them to get to sleep on their own.  Since you've been walking the floor with your little one, that's the only way she knows how to get to sleep.  There is going to be an adjustment period no matter how you decide to do it, and, yes, probably some crying... because it's different.

I HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend the book Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child.  The author talks about how a baby not sleeping can affect the whole family.  In your case, you are physically affected and it's starting to drain on you, right?  Well, it's time for a change.  This book is not about letting your baby cry it's about teaching her how to sleep on her own, but there will be some crying. I can't give all the details of the book here, so my suggestion is to get a copy for yourself. (I read several other sleep books, but this one is by a top ped with sleep study experience -  no other books I found were by drs with sleep studies.)

The other thing I HIGHLY recommend is the Angel Care Sleep Monitor if you are a mom that worries about SIDS a lot and stops in to check if the baby is breathing.  I used this monitor for all three of my boys and it brought a huge amount of peace of mind.  Basically there is a sensor pad that goes under the crib mattress and constantly detects if the baby is breathing. If there is no movement in the crib for a given time, an alarm goes off.  It is a wonderful piece of baby gear!

Now, here's what I did with each of my boys at 6 months old.  Normal bedtime routine (nurse/bottle, bath, dry diaper, rock and sing). Put them in the bed drowsy but awake and said "night night".  Then, walk out of the room.  (Start with night time sleep first and then work on the naps.)

There is going to be crying, but it will take some time for her to learn the new routine.  I believe it took about 5 nights of this before the crying  stopped and they fell asleep on their own.  The first and second night might be more crying than sleeping, though, so do this on a weekend. It is certainly fine to go check on her to make sure she doesn't have a leg stuck in the crib bars or a severely wet diaper, etc., but don't pick her up and don't stay too long.  If she's standing in the crib, lay her back down.  

We found that checking on our kids just bad them cry longer, so we got a camera that "sees" in the dark.  It costs about $50 and you can get it from a home improvement store.  We attached the camera to the mobile and plugged it into the living room tv so we could check on the baby without him being irritated further.

I know there are going to be several people that "rip" me for this advice and others that totally agree.  You need to do what you are comfortable with.  My boys are healthy, loving, caring children.  They are all sleep 10 - 11 hours through the night and take appropriate naps for their age.

Getting your child to sleep is a tough obstacle that every parent faces.  There are many different approaches and you'll probably have to try several to find what you are comfortable with.  This is just my experience and what worked for our family.  I wish you the best of luck and many sleep-filled nights soon!

Answer 7

I'm no expert but I think the book Baby Wise could help you...or Toddler Wise.

Good Luck!

Answer 8

Get a mobile for her crib or just lay her in there and walk away. Sometimes music helped my son. All and all I just had to let him cry himself to sleep for about 5 days straight before I would just lay him in there and he would fall asleep.

Answer 9

stay next to her when she is about to go to sleep then slowly go away