Need her to fall asleep on her own?

Question

I need my 15 month old to start learning to fall asleep on her own. I'm at a point in my pregnancy where I can no longer lay down with her on my chest and get her to sleep that way like her dad does. We have her on a schedule, so waiting until her dad gets home 3 1/2 hours AFTER her nap time is not an option. If she sleeps later than 3pm, she's up all night. As long as she's awake by 3, she'll be down by 9:30pm, her bed time.

I need some suggestions as to how to get her to fall asleep on her own. I cannot do it myself anymore, nor can I wait until Dad comes home. Please do not suggest the cry-it-out method. We've tried that. She screams bloody murder for 20 minutes and only sleeps for 30 minutes and then she's cranky the rest of the day. We also cannot just leave her alone in our bed to cry it out. Cry-it-out works well at night though. Night is not a problem as Dad is home.

Please help.

Answer 1

skip the nap and let her fall asleep earlier than her bed time

Answer 2

To break a child of a habit like this, you are just going to have to have a crabby cranky child for a few days, there is no way around it. I agree not skipping her nap at her age. If you let her cry it out after a week or so she will be better, it is better to get her adjusted now before you have 2 crying screaming kids. I speak from experience it is very hard when one child is screaming it triggers the other to cry as well. It is easy to cater to one with the sleep issues (falling asleep on chest) it is a lot harder when you have 2 especially a newborn who will need a lot of sleep. We did this with my oldest as well and trust me the sooner you do it the better. But don't try the cry it out method unless you are really going to stick with it , it is unfair to the child and sets you back a mile each time you cave, the same with taking away bottle and binkies.

Answer 3

Around here:

Mommy nurses to sleep, Daddy doesn't.

Daddy sleeps with toddler on his chest on the couch, mommy doesn't.  Mommy doesn't even let toddler sleep on the couch unless if accidentally falls asleep there before his bedtime.

Kids are very, very smart.  They know mommy isn't daddy, they know grandma isn't mommy.  They will very quickly get used to different behaviors from different people.  It *may* help to explain "mommy is owie" but it depends on her verbal skills at this point.  My son wasn't at that point (mine are 21 months apart)

Mommy needs a sleep routine with toddler, and daddy will have his routine.  So what is going to work for you?  Some suggestions:

*You lie down *beside* her, possibly in your bed (hey its nap time you probably aren't using it) or you get her a twin sized bed instead of a toddler bed.  Little tikes makes lots of cool twin sized toddler beds (as do others I am sure)

*She lays down in her bed, you sit and read while she goes to sleep.

*She gets to sleep in the couch *lol*

Also you can add things like

*Reading a book before nap

*Singing songs

*Toys to the bed

etc

Also check out Elizabeth Pantley's No Cry Sleep Solution for Toddlers.  (Didn't work for me, does for most moms though)

Answer 4

What I did was jsut started a new routine.  I would bath her etc and then take her upstairs and read to her.  I would usually read her about 2 or 3 books.  After reading I say "OK time to sleep".  Then I cuddle her in front of me until she falls asleep.  It took a few nights for her to get the hang of it but now as soon as the books are read she rolls over on her side and falls asleep.  At first when she kept talking to me I would just say"shhhh, mommy is trying to sleep".  She was 2 when I began this and now she is three and falling asleep well.

Answer 5

No, you definately don't want her to skip the nap already.  It's way too early for that!

A few things we've tried that may help:

- sit next to her on the bed & rub her back

- tell her "I'll be right back" and keep it up til she falls asleep alone

- a special blanket or lovey for sleep times

- get a great big rocker/recliner and let her sit up next to you & lean her head on your shoulder or on the arm of the chair

- naptime routine, including sleepytime music

Honestly, your DD is so young it can be hard to get her to stay put to fall asleep.  I was never comfortable with CIO either.  Try THE NO CRY SLEEP SOLUTION by Elizabeth Pantley, she has a lot of ideas in there that are helpful.

Good luck!

Answer 6

Skip her nap and put her to bed extra early at night.

Answer 7

i had a 15 month old son who did the same thing, i would lie down with him and put him to sleep that way. It became a routine for him. but what i did was , i put a night light and some music in his room, i stayed in there for a few minutes and talked to him while he was in his bed. i would give him his favorite toys to play with while he was in bed. while the night light was on i left the lights off when i took him in the room. after a few days he got use to it and that became his new routine. sometimes he would cry out when i would leave but i guess he realized that he could entertain himself with his toys and music that when he got tired he would just lay down and fall asleep.  now he is 17 months old and we do the same routine every night, and he go right to sleep.