Seeking Mommys Who Are Experts on Getting Babies to Sleep on Their Own!!!!

It looks like you got great advice. You have to let her cry it out. Secondly, you need to put her on a schedule. My 10 month old has been sleeping by himself since he was 4 weeks. My mom told me then to to start a routine of "going to bed" activities. It was the BEST advice I ever got. Now, he goes to bed in his room every night between 8 and 8:30. He hardly crys anymore. He knows when he gets a bath and bottle, bedtime is next. Its great for ALL parties. He gets the rest he needs and I get a little down time which is much needed with a full time job and baby.

At this age I don't see co sleeping as an issue really. I honestly would not worry about it.

Try swaddling her in a blanket that has yours and your husband's scent all over it. Put her to sleep on you, then put her in her crib. If she wakes sing to her with your hand on her.

You could also try a co sleeper system that goes right by your bed.

IMO crying it out teaches baby that she cannot rely on you to meet her needs. Babies only cry so as to alert their parents that they have a need that needs to be met. It also takes away from the bond she has with you, as well as the bond you have with her.

Babies that love to sleep with their parents
are the lucky families! ...and that would be
all of us mothers.
I have 8 children and they all slept between
us (parents) for at least two years - and then moved
on quite happily! The rest of the world sleeps
with their children, either for comfort, climate (warmth),
safety...follow their lead! and they're all best friends
now and doing the same..

Be happy that you have this opportunity!
Forget the "cultural" norm here.

I am sad to see that "let her cry it out" is the dominant message here. And that, moreover, the message is "there is no other way." It may "work" in that your child gives up on expecting a response to her cries. But this is, in my view, not the message a 7 month old should get.

Later on, much later on, when a child can distinguish wants from needs, it makes sense to not "give in." But a 7 month old simply has needs. And the only way she can present them is with crying. She gives up crying because she has gotten the message that her needs are not going to be met.

It IS natural for a tiny baby to want the security of her mother and father when going to sleep. I suffered a lot of sleep deprivation in those days when my girl was an infant, but I can say now it was worth it. In a few months, there are more gentle ways that you help your baby gradually learn to sleep on her own.I suggest you get some books by Sears and Sears or check out their website, as you move on in your parenting journey.

As much as it sucks you are going to have to try to let her cry. I did not do this with my now 3 year old son and he STILL has a hard time falling asleep and asks if we will lay with him despite the fact that he has been in his own bed, by himself since 15 mos old. With my daughter I was determined not to let this happen so when she was about 5-6 months old I started letting her cry it out in her crib a little to get herself to sleep. She started to fall asleep without one of us next to her within 3 days. I did find that she did not stay asleep for as long in the crib as she had in our bed which i attributed to comfort. So, around 9 months we put her in a full size bed with 2 body pillows on the edges of the bed in case she were to roll out (which she never did for some reason). Her room was 100% babyproofed with a gate in the doorway. She slept sooo well by herself I was almost a little sad that she didn't "need" me near by. She is now 2 and we literally tell her to get in her bed and lay down and she is in there and asleep within 5 minutes every time, no joke. Your life will be 200 times easier during the toddler years if you create an independent sleeper now. Whatever method you decide to use with your daughter, do it NOW, do not wait until after she is one or it will only get harder. Good luck!! :)

I had the same problem with my little boy. As much as I disliked to do it, my mom's idea worked. You have to put her in her crib and let her cry herself to sleep. Its horrible to hear but it works. Any other questions for anything else, just ask. Im a young new mom as well so I'm kinda in the same shoes. My son is 16months

Hi,

Sometimes it takes us until almost 9:30pm to get our little one to finally fall asleep. Then I realized that we are in charge, and not him. He needs the structure. Change you night routine and you will change the outcome. it may be hard at first, but ultimately it will be good for everyone. I lay down in my son's bed for 10 minutes and snuggle with him and then say "I will check on you in 4 minutes" His dad holds his hand for another 5 minutes and again says we will check on you in 4 minutes. Let her pick the amount of time. He is fine with that and by the time I come back...10 minutes, he is asleep. I have never let him sleep in our bed, because it was drilled into me not to start down that road. It's tempting, but hard to break! As you know.

M.

I know that this may seem harsh to some, but it does work and it is only after 2 maybe 3 days at the most you will have to endure this. My daughter had gotten sick for about a week and in that time she would only fall asleep on me and then I would transfer her. So when she finally felt better I had to get her back into her own bed and me back into mine before my back fell apart. The first night I put her in there and she went no problem, but then woke up an hour later crying. I went in and consoled her and then laid her back down in her crib and walked out. She cried the first night for about an hour and I cried sitting on the couch in the living room. She did it the next night and I did the same routine, but she only cried for about 20 minutes and fell asleep. The last night she only cried for about 5 minutes and then the cycle was broken. Be strong, I know it sounds like tough love, but she will sleep all the nights and to this day my daughter is now almost 4 and she rarely comes to our bed at night and if she does it is because she has had a nightmare and we give tons of love and take her back to bed. Hope this helps! S.

First i would say that the sooner you break her of this the easier it would be. But her in her crib with she is just about to dose off but is not asleep yet. then turn some soft music on for her. and then walk away if she crys time it what might seem like 10 minutes might only be a minute. believe it always feels longer then it is. But it is importent to let her get to sleep by herself in her own crib.

Dear Lori,

I just hate to say this, but you need to just rock her to sleep or sit on the couch or a comfortable chair or even walk, but do not let her sleep between you anymore. You are creating a problem - in fact two problems. Dad and Mom need private time, and baby will grow up and it will be sooooo hard to wean her into her own bed. It would be a lot easier to just hold and rock and place her then place her into her own bed. Some people really think that it is the right thing to do to have the baby in their bed for a long time, but that was not done in my generation and I really loved holding and rocking my babies. So you make the choice for your family and generation. C. N.

I have a 2 year old that has been sleeping in his own crib in his own room since he was 3 weeks old. The problem I had was the fact that he wanted to be rocked to sleep every time as he got a little older. I, too, had to end up letting him cry it out. It broke my heart to hear him cry but in the end it's been better for him to fall alseep by himself.

Hi Lori
I think the key is to just make her sleep in her own crib and not have your bed be an option at all. I know it sounds so harsh to her and also to you, but thats really the only way. You have to be consistent and I honestly feel like, at least for me, thats the hardest thing about parenting and its one of the first things you have to perfect. Otherwise it just begins here and you'll struggle so much. You have to be willing to put in the time in the middle of the night and its so hard but you will be rewarded x10 I promise!! And as for your question is this normal~ its only normal if you make it that way for her and so yes its normal for her right now but u can change that. Good luck Lori!!!

One thing I would do when I put my daughter to bed when she was little is I would massage her. I would give her a warm bath and put her to bed and read her a story and massage her to sleep. Try that and see how that works. You might want to also try praying about it, there is power in prayer!

You need to teach her how to fall asleep on her own. The best way is to put her to bed awake and let her fuss it out. It will be hard but with in 3 nights if you stay strong with it she should be fine. Good luck in what ever you try.

You have to let her cry it out. My daughter went thru the same thing. Slept by herself til 6 months of age, then suddenly had to sleep with us. I finally had to just put her to bed and let her cry. The first nite it took an hour (we checked on her a couple times), the next nite 30 minutes, the third nite she cried for 10. Since then she's been great...she even enjoys getting into her crib and having her quiet time before she falls asleep. I know its awful, but you just have to do it (go outside if you can't take the crying...that's what I had to do). And when they wake up in the nite, comfort them in their room. DO NOT bring them back into your bed. Good luck and good sleeping.