Toddler Sleeping- (RMD?) NEED HELP!

I am not quite sure I understand. Is he awake and standing up and shaking the crib? Or is he asleep, lying down and rocking back & forth? And what is RMD?

not sure if you talk to him at all when you lay him back down, but...if you are interacting with him each time you go in he may just be looking for that attention. The first time he does it try laying him down and reminding him that its bedtime and that he should not shake the crib. After that do not interact with him (as hard as that may be) Just walk in, lay him down, and leave. Try it! Hope that helps!

I agree with the other moms, your son is just trying to sooth himself to sleep, and you should leave him alone, as long as he's not in any danger. He will eventually stop and go back to sleep. He may be doing the rocking on purpose, because he's learned that mommy or daddy will come running....isn't that a thought!!! If you do visit him to lay him down, speak to him the first time, then don't talk, just swiftly lay him back down and leave.

Also, until he's climbing out of the bed, and unless you need the crib for another baby, I would keep him in the crib until he's three, or until he starts to climb out or in. If you think it is hard to get sleep now with the rocking, wait until your two year old starts roaming around looking for mommy and daddy.

Hi H.. There's a WONDERFUL book out there called, "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" by Marc Weissbluth, M.D. It talks about sleep solutions for all age groups (3 months to adolescents). I found this book when I was going out of my mind when my first son was 3 months old and would only sleep on me. Now, he and his younger brother are WONDERFUL sleepers!!! I've recommended it to a lot of friends (of which they have all different ages of kids) and all of them can't say anything bad about the book.

My personal option, he is trying to rock himself to sleep, especially if he's not crying. I would leave him alone, but going in might cause him to do it more to see you at night. Also, does he nap well during the day? If he's not getting the right amount of sleep during the day, it could cause him to wake more at night. Sleep begets sleep... which I thought impossible, but I've seen it for myself through my own kids. The book talks all about his if you want more info. Good luck! :)

P.S. I, personally, would not recommend the family bed. Only because I've seen it back fire to the point where my younger sister, 18 years ago, wouldn't fall asleep in her own bed until she was 10 year old.

try letting him sleep in your bed
the family bed is a great sleep

Hi,

My daugher used to get on all fours and rock back and forth to fall asleep. She did this at naptime, going to bed and if she woke in the middle of the night. It was very tiring, because the rocking was noisy. She went into a bed at 4 and we were so afraid she was going to fall out of bed, but she didn't even rock! She is almost 7 now, and goes to bed on her back and doesn't move the entire night! I would try not to disrupt him while he's rocking unless you are fearful of him hurting himself. He may start to associate if I rock, they will come and see me!

H.-
Your son is self-soothing himself back to sleep. That is a good thing, as some babies require soothing from Mom or Dad in order to "work out" the extra energy and/or crankiness and get back to sleep. In her crib, my daughter would rock as well when she was tired, but couldn't sleep. Eventually she fell back to sleep. She would rock so hard that I had to tighten the screws on the crib every so often. As your son grows, this should lessen. My daughter's rocking stopped by the time she was 3-4 years old. She is now a well-adjusted 13 year old. As far as getting more sleep; don't plan on that until your youngest is at least 18 years old!
Hope this helps- K.