Help, My 9 Month Old Still Dosnt Sleep in Her Crib or Take Naps

Hi T.
My son wouldn't fall asleep on his own until about that age. We finally got him to soothe himself by following "the Baby Whisperer" program. it sounds strange, but it works! We tried cry it out...it made him worse. The baby whisperer is basically that you put her down in the crib and you soothingly pat her back while saying the same thing over and over such as "its time for night night". if she gets up you immedicately lay her back down and repeat the words. this can go on for a long time...the first coupel of nights took like 45 minutes. the basic idea is to teach your child thats its ok to soothe, and you are there to support her. eventually I was able to sit next to the crib and just use words to sooth him, then I moved away and faded out the words. within a week he was putting himself to sleep. it was awesome! good luck. they have baby whisperer web sites and a book.

T., we transitioned my oldest this way: We took his crib and put it by our bed on my side. At night, I would lay him down and rub his back so he would fall asleep. Then if he woke up during the night, I would just put my hand down and rub his back. After having him sleep in our bed for a year, we had had enough. It took a few months, but he learned to sleep in his crib and soon was sleeping longer and longer periods of time. He then went a whole night with out waking up so we began moving his crib farther away from our bed to the oppositte corner. (A little at a time.) After another few months, he slept in his crib with no problems, so we decided it was time to move him to his own room. There was a few bumps along that road, but not as bad as the first time that we tried to move him cold turkey out of our room.

Hi T.,
My daughter was the same way. She didn't start sleeping in her crib through the night until she was a year old. And even then we had to put her to bed after we rocked her to sleep. She has always been clingy and in need of mom! I used to worry about it, but then I decided to just let her sleep where she would, usually in my bed. When we thought she would be more receptive to sleeping in her own bed, we put her crib in our room and eventually she did good on her own. She is now 16+ months old and we can put her to bed awake and she falls asleep on her own. She still naps on our couch during the day, which works for us.

I think that you need to do what is best for you and your family. Figure out what works and what doesn't and go with it. They are only little for so long and then they don't want us anymore. I'm positive she won't still be sleeping with you when she goes off to college! :) Good luck and I hope things work out for you.

I had a hard time getting my son to sleep in his crib.. I found that laying him in there to change his diaper, and to play for 5-10 minutes here and there, helped him get comfortable in his crib.. then I when he would fall asleep in my arms, i would lay him down.. usually with my shirt or pillow case.. something with my smell on it.. now he is almost 7 months old and is falling asleep in his crib without me holding him.. he loves his crib now. You really have to keep trying.. and do it everyday.. not just here and there..

During the day, try letting her fall asleep in her baby swing with a neck pillow support and let her nap. Don't remove her to go in her crib. Also, when putting her sleep in her crib, after rocking her yourself, use TWO of the baby side support pillows. They are sort of triangular shaped. This way her body is "surrounded". Sounds to me she likes the feeling of snugness rather than in a wide open crib. Hope this works for you.

Hey T.-
We have a 3 month old who won't sleep in her crib unless she is swaddled. It works wonders and she started sleeping through the night when we started swaddling her. Good Luck!

My kids loved to be swaddled. I swaddled them both until they were about 5-6 months old. This definaltely helped them sleep for longer periods of time. Once they learned to sleep they didn't need swaddling anymore. Since your daughter is a little older it may not take that long for her to get used to sleeping. Good luck!