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Just a bit intrigued.....

10 replies

loolop · 07/01/2008 22:43

How many of you cuddle your LO's to sleep? My DD is 10 months old, she has 2 naps a day a day and I cuddle for her for 15mins until she is soundo then put her down in her cot where she will sleep for anything from another 30mins to an hour. Same at bedtime she has her milk and a cuddle until she is fast asleep and then put into her cot. I am perfectly happy doing this and enjoy the cuddles with her just keep getting constantly told I shouldn't be doing it at 'her age'!! So tell me who is able to just put their LO's down awake and they go off on their own? And if you did cuddle your babies to sleep at what age did you put them down awake?

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ScaryHairy · 07/01/2008 22:48

I always put my DD down awake unless there was something unusual going on - unwell, lots of wind, overtired or whatever.
Obviously when she was very small (weeks old) she would fall asleep at the breast all the time but once she started to nap at regularish times she went to bed awake and fell asleep alone. It's all about what works for you. I thought I might go back to work quite early and wanted my poppet to go to sleep without me.

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loolop · 08/01/2008 09:14

bump

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Ebifa · 08/01/2008 09:21

i cuddled DS to sleep for naps and at night. i liked it. then at about 12-13 months he was just ready to go to sleep on his own. he got very annoyed being held to go to sleep so i tried putting him in his cot and he just went to sleep. now at 19 months he goes down in his cot awake and goes to sleep. with DD (now 6) we did controlled crying from about 4 months, so quite different methods.

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karen999 · 08/01/2008 09:21

My dd (10 months) goes down on her own, awake at 6.30 every night. Mt first dd used to need rocked, cuddled, sang to etc before she would go to sleep.

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meep · 08/01/2008 09:25

when dd was first born I would cuddle her to sleep - gradually we would put her down awake and now at 6 months she goes down for naps and night time awake. Alas I can no longer cuddle her to sleep - she won't have it and I miss it

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loolop · 08/01/2008 10:07

Ebifa - am hoping that DD will do that too and i'm not 'ruining' her and am destined to be cuddling her still when she's 18 as MIL tells me!

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ChubbyShcotsBurd · 08/01/2008 10:14

DS is 5.5m and would I count myself lucky if I could 'just' cuddle him to sleep. As it stands I can sometimes get him to feed to sleep, but often have to rock him. He's HUGE, it's killing my back.

None of this is because I held him too much by the way, it's because he's never been a good sleeper, he had colic, is refluxy and gets terrible wind, so we just do what needs to be done to get by.

I don't yet know a single adult who needs a BF/song/rocking to get to sleep. So I trust that DS will grow out of it. It's a PITA but then so are lots of things that I have no control over. And I can now get him off within around 15 minutes sometimes whereas it used to take a couple of hours on bad nights. So things are slowly improving all the time.

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choolie · 08/01/2008 10:34

DS, 10m will now fall asleep in his cot at his bedtime, but everytime he wakes in the eve or night I have to cuddle him back to sleep. - so that's put the theory of them falling asleep in their cot means they'll sleep better out of the window in our house! - altho' equally, I suppose I've spent a lot of time at bedtime sitting by the cot until he is asleep, whereas the cuddling (which I did until 7m or so) was much nicer!

I used to spend 2-3 hours a day sitting/lying on our bed whilst DS took his naps in my arms as not only was this the only way he'd fall asleep, but the only way he'd stay asleep!!! (CC not for me and I tried loads of other gentle tips, nothing worked). - Even now he'll only nap in pram or car.

Great question, have found the answers really helpful!

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Indith · 08/01/2008 10:37

Ds won't be cuddled to sleep. After the first coupl eof months or so he just began to go to sleep much better if put in his cot and left. Even now I sometimes find myself cuddling him if he has woken at night with him just getting more agitated because if he could talk he would be telling me to put him down and sod off

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loolop · 08/01/2008 15:17

I have tried a few times trying to put her down and see what happens but she gets hysterical, stands up and bangs the side of the cot. CC really not for me either (and honestly believe her will is stronger than mine when it comes to that anyway!) I really enjoy the cuddles and it is easy to settle her that way - guess I am just getting a bit anxious at the inevitable time that will come where I have to change it - anything for an easy life me!