How do you get your baby to go to sleep?

[tinky19]

My 7mo is a fantastic sleeper once he's asleep 10 to 12 hours but getting him to go to sleep is becoming more and more challenging. We have a good routine going. Dinner, play, bath, snuggle time/final bottle, book, bed. But when we put him down he cries and cries. It takes an hour to hour and half to fall asleep.
We don't leave him, couple of minutes then go in to reassure, etc etc and everything I've read says he'll get better but the routine only seems to give him clues as to what's about to happen and get him more wound up.
It makes me want to cry.
Any ideas please.

Does he still nap in the day? Maybe he's overtired? Perhaps move bedtime a bit earlier or let him have a short nap later in the day.

Also, I used to leave DD for 10 mins - that was the limit. If she was properly screaming I would go in sooner but she usually just sounded cross! She would always be asleep by about 5 mins. But she has always been better getting herself off to sleep without interference! I think if I had only waited 2 mins and gone back in she'd never have gone off.

I can't help much except to say that for us, it was a developmental thing. We rocked DS until he was around 1 when patting took over, then we sort of weaned him off the patting gradually - but I think he was just ready to do it himself. If he really gets upset I'd go back to doing what he needs - 7 months is still very young IMO.

He sleeps for about half an hour in the morning and half an hour about 4ish. At the moment bed routine starts at about 5.30 with the aim of putting him down 7.30ish but then he doesn't usually sleep to 9pm or later!

I probably sound cruel, but I found it upset my dd more if I went back in. She would settle much more quickly if left to cry. Literally about 5-10 mins and she would be asleep.

He will fall asleep in my arms quite happily and we would continue with that but in the last few weeks he always wakes up when we put him down.

4 sounds late for an afternoon nap.

I'm going to try moving our wake up time a bit earlier, from 8 to 7am. We've never had a fixed routines as far as naps are concerned. He never really slept during the day till he was 4mo. Not sure how to move them?

My DS did not start to go down in his own cot until he was !5months old, we made the mistake of rocking him and im a very small frame so by 12months i was having a lot of back ache from this. Have you tried getting in his cot with him? I did this for about a week every night until he fell asleep the sneaked out then i sat every night by the cot for a week then i did a week of sitting by the door and then left him, and from then on he knows once hes there mums will be back when he wakes in the morning. I also gave him a light up lullaby bug which really seemed to help.

I'd love to snuggle up with him in his cot but I'd break it. I will never have to worry about suffering with a small frame

scrap that then, hehe. I also heard that if this is the case baby associates YOU with sleep time and by introducing a comfort blanket or teddy they will associate that with sleep time instead and with lullaby bug its defiantly worked for us

How tough. Not fun for you or your DS. I have a very unsettled DS2 (our third) and we stay with him until he falls asleep.

At this age we patted and shushed. He also had two small beany teddies he can hold in each hand (we used to hold his hands). We found it easier to make his bed time less stressful for him by being there.

These are not necessarily the best sleep associations but there are no golden rules and nothing works for every baby - be gentle on yourself - maybe breaking the cycle will help.

I think your last nap is too late and that he may need more naps - he sounds overtired to me. 30 min naps are often an indication of having been awake for too long & being overtired. At 6 months apparently most babies average 3-4 hours' daytime sleep although some (including my DS) need less.

Many babies from 6 months onwards end up in a roughly 2-3-4 pattern: first nap 2 hours after waking, second nap 3 hours after waking, bedtime 4 hours after waking. I'd try getting him off to sleep at those sort of times and see if it helps. If he doesn't nap easily, I'd try pushchair / sling naps till you manage to find a pattern which suits him.

Another way of looking at it is wake at 7ish, then naps at around 9am and 1pm, possibly with a third around 4-5ish if the second nap was short.

I really struggled with DS's daytime sleep when I tried to follow his tired signs, and using these timings as a rough guide really improved things for us. At 10 months, he sleeps more in the day than he did at 3 months.

I feed to sleep at night and rock him in a rocking chair for naps (feeding to sleep doesn't work in the day any more :()

I also think he sounds overtired. Two 30min naps are not enough for a 7 month old.

Try putting him down earlier for his first nap and then earlier for the second nap.

As for settling on his own, it doesn't matter what sleep associations they have, eventually they all get there! So I wouldn't worry; pat his back or hold his hand.

With DS1 he put himself to sleep until the age of 6 months, then it all went haywire and we had to rock, then pat, then hold his hand, then sit by the cot, then by the door etc over a period of a year before he would settle himself to sleep. Then he moved to a bed and realised he could get out; so another 3 months of the gradual withdrawal method. Then he started fighting sleep as he was giving up his nap (age 2.5) so we reduced it and now (age 2.9) he doesn't sleep in the day but is out like a light 2 mins after his bedtime story.

With DS2 I either feed to sleep or hold his hand (he's 15months).

He's still very young - at his age my DS slept for 2 hours 12.30-2.30 and maybe 30 mins 9.00-9.30 every day. If this did not happen it was hard to get him to sleep for the night. I got quite anal about naps for a while I would drop the late 4.00pm sleep though asap. We stopped this maybe around 3/4 months- it was the first to go. I found routine really helped - if you drop the late 4.00pm sleep he will be knackered at bedtime and fall asleep earlier- hopefully. It's hard keeping them awake at that time but pays off in the end. Hope you get this sorted- massive cliche but he will be running about before you know it and nagging to stay up late!