how to get DD to fall asleep on her own when she never really appears "sleepy"?

[kookiegoddess]

my dd is 11 wks and I'm keen to get her in some sort of routine. at the moment every evening is stressful because I don't know if and when she'll go down. When I do put her down, I have to rock her with music, dimmed lighting and covering her eyes. It takes a good 25 min or half an hour.

Any tips for getting her to go down on her own?

Your DD is still really little, so please don't worry that she isn't falling into a perfect routine yet. Things should improve over the next couple of weeks or so though.

Does she yawn at all? Rub her eyes? Get swollen or purple eyes when tired? I found it really difficult to spot when my DD was tired, and it was only really trial and error that made me realise that she was tired 2 hours after waking from her last nap, like clockwork. The evenings were trickier though, but it was when she was about 12 weeks it got easier as she fell asleep by herself in her cot (provided I picked the correct time to put her down, not too tired but tired enough). I used to dim the lights and put on a lullaby CD too.

Things will get easier, promise!

We still have good nights and bad nights at 17 weeks although it has got easier as time has gone on.

Like Onlyaphase said - I think you get better at reading the signs. My ds definitely rubs his eyes with his hands, gets a bit red eyed and turns his head from side to side a lot when he is tired.

We've really been sticking to our evening routine and I think it helps. Some nights he goes down almost straight away but others can take up to an hour - so 25 mins to half an hour isn't bad at all!

I've started leaving the room even though he is awake and still grizzling slightly. I stand outside the door on the landing for a while and he either gets louder and louder (in which case I go back in and stroke his head or pick him up if he is really crying) or he gets quieter and falls asleep - hooray.

I think some people are luckier than others in having babies that go down really easily. Your dd sounds very normal to me