Thursday, November 01, 2007
sleeping
I keep reading that Brianna should be able to soothe herself to sleep now that she's just over 5 months old. She can't, really. Sometimes in the mornings or in the middle of the night she fusses I barely wake up and I turn on her Fisher-Price rain forest thing and she falls back asleep, but the actual falling asleep for nap time or for the night still relies on her being walked or nursed. I'm not really sure what I should be doing. I'm not into letting her cry, like most articles tell me, but they don't seem to give many other options. One I read today said that you can have a routine, and then put her down still awake so she can fall asleep on her own. It said that if the baby gets upset you can soothe them with your voice or by rubbing their back. Maybe this is the way to go, I don't know. Today for her nap I put Brianna in her crib and sat down to read in the rocking chair next to her. She didn't cry, but she kicked around a lot and "talked" to her mobile. I thought maybe she didn't realize it was sleep time so I went to my usual walking-back-and-forth-in-the-hallway method. Within minutes her eyes were getting droopy so I took her back to the crib and laid her down. She started to cry, not frantically, but she wasn't happy about being put down. I tried gently rubbing her head, which often works to calm her down if she becomes restless in the night. She stopped crying, but she no longer looked like she was going to fall asleep. I tried again with the walking and I sat in the rocking chair for a while, but she just wanted to sit up and look around the room instead. Finally I nursed her and she was asleep almost right away and I put her down in her crib. I know that eventually I have to let her fall asleep on her own, but I just don't know how to do it. I don't know how much fussing I should accept or if I should just continue to put her to sleep myself. I have no problem putting her to sleep myself, but I feel like a bad parent because of everything I'm reading.
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5 comments:
I didn't read the same stuff as you- I nursed James to sleep until he was 18 months old (or he fell asleep in the stroller). After that I think I would have to lie down beside him for a while until he got to sleep. Now he goes to bed on his own, plays with some toys and when he gets tired, tucks himself in bed.
I'm glad to hear that; I like putting her to sleep. Sometimes if my arms are sore I put her in her swing, but I end up taking her out even if she's happy.
oh i read the same stuff, but none of it ever worked for me... so i just went with whatever worked. and i always found (and still do find) that naptime is much trickier than bedtime... colby had to nap with me in my bed; maya needs someone to lay down in colby's bed (they share a room) until she goes to sleep. and with the littlest one, i'm usually on the go so much during the day that he just sleeps wherever he is. but our current bedtime routine includes laying down in my bed to nurse until he's sleepy, then making a transfer to the crib where i put his music on and pop his soother in, using a rolled blanket to help keep it in his mouth... so he's still a little bit awake when i put him down and he drifts off on his own. but c and m never took soothers so bedtime was much more involved...
remember, you're the mom and the books are not the gospel.
Thanks, Dawna. Bree doesn't take a soother either. I didn't want to give her one, but all my friends who gave their kids one have an easier sleep time. If I give her one now she just spits it out. Oh well, what I'm doing works for me.
My advice is stop reading the books!
I realize I'm an extreme case, but I nursed Astrid at bedtime until she was almost 4 and Muirgen nursed to sleep until she was just over 3.
If it's not a problem for you, keep doing whatever works to get Brianna to sleep. Most people want to rush their kids into doing it themselves because they don't enjoy doing it and would rather have that time for themselves.
Speaking of all this, August is crying in the next room, waking up prematurely from his nap...Gotta go!
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