Putting baby down to sleep

[PollyPocket245]

I have a question on a very popular subject! My DD is 20 weeks old and I’m feeling a little abnormal as she will still only sleep on myself or her dad. She won’t co-sleep because she doesn’t want to be put down. I have a little bedtime routine for her and when her books come out she goes quiet and (I think) knows it’s nearly bed. But putting her down just isn’t possible. For those who have been through this, how did you start? I love her dearly but a bit of baby free time would be great to work towards.

[crazychemist]

Firstly, it’s not abnormal. It’s at the clingy end of the range, but there are TONNES of babies that hate to be put down.

My DD wouldn’t sleep anywhere but on me between 4 weeks and.... can’t quite remember, but it must have been around 20 weeks or possibly later. My “strategy” wasn’t a great one in all honesty. Does yours nod off with motion? We increased the number of her naps that were in the pram (which was a bit of a battle sometimes) to get her used to spending more sleep time on her back without a heartbeat. At night, I’d start her off on my chest. After 10 minutes I’d sort of slide myself down so she was lying flat on me. Then after another 5 mins I’d slide her sideways so she was between my body and my arm (but still had warmth and heartbeat) and then 5 mins later I’d sort of slide myself away! If she woke in the night I’d feed her lying down rather than picking her up.

I’m certain other people have done this much better than I did! But even with my crap technique, she didn’t insist on it forever. Yours will grow out of it too, perhaps with a little gentle encouragement.

Hopefully someone will come along with better advice

[crazychemist]

Oh, Nd btw, it’s not something you’ve done wrong. My twins have slept completely differently from Dd from day 1 (and are also different from each other). It seems to just be the personality of the child.

[LuckyC27]

My 5 month old is exactly the same trying to work on it now! Like the PP letting him fall asleep then gently trying to transfer him, he is waking hourly once he realises he isn’t on me but it’s baby steps... will gradually try to encourage him falling asleep on his own but he still feels so tiny!