Sleep associations should I be worried?

[RtIou]

So my little girl is usually a good nighttime sleeper for the most part I think we’re quite lucky really she’s 11 weeks she will mostly sleep from 8/9pm until 3/4am bottle then usually goes back to sleep until 6-6:30am. We do have the l occasional night (like last night 🙄) where she will wake around 2am then won’t go back down sleeping in 1-2hrs bursts but hey she’s still young that’s not a worry really atm.

My question is… sleep associations and should I be worried. So we do pat/shush/rock/bounce her to sleep I suppose you’d call it. Now she’s about to leave the newborn phase all the info out there is saying avoid doing this at all costs as it will create a sleep association and she won’t sleep without it. She needs to ‘self soothe’ put her down drowsy but awake. Now my baby is not a drowsy but awake baby she simply will not sleep if we do that and truthfully I don’t believe she has the ability to ‘self soothe’ at such a young age. I think personally developmentally that will come a lot later. Plus I think If she’s sleeping well can it really be a bad thing?

We do contact nap throughout the day as she is a dreadful napper in the day will sleep for no more than 20-30mins if put down. I’ve no issue with this and love the relaxation I get whilst she is napping. However as she gets older we do plan on trying to introduce independent naps as the number of naps she needs decreases. She also will not sleep in the pram/car seat for love nor money!

So just wondering what your experiencing/advice is surrounding this? Are sleep associations something to worry about?

I wouldn't be worried about it, they change loads in this first year and there's likely to be plenty of crap sleep to come unfortunately so do whatever you need to get you through. I think all these books/websites put so much pressure on the first few months when habits can be changed later on down the line.

I wouldn't worry. Shes tiny and shes sleeping well. You shouldn't sleep train before 6 months anyway and if what you are doing now is working for you then it works - I think there's a bit of scaremongering about sleep associations. We all have them! And you can change them if you need to when she's older. Congratulations on having a good sleeper!

In my experience, babies change so much that whatever you think you know is suddenly different...she might start napping in the car and eventually she'll start napping longer in the day (let's not mention that it can also go the other way so she might start sleeping less well too..hope not

Don’t worry about it, shushing and patting are great associations because you can still do them in the cot later when you want her to fall asleep in the cot instead of being held.

My baby also wouldn’t nap in the cot in the day at that age. He does now (5 months).

Thank you! Yes not too worried I think it’s definitely just a case of doing what we have to to get through. My niece was rocked shushed etc and as my mum said she would ‘walk around with a mattress strapped to her back if she could’ so it’s certainly done her no harm. Will just take each day/night as it comes!

I wouldn't worry. With mine I just did what they needed until it didn't work for us anymore. Did contact naps till 7 months then one day she just decided she didn't need that anymore. She's 13 months now and still needs a cuddle to fall asleep at bedtime but then sleeps through for 11 hours. I really don't think it makes much difference what you do and when, all babies are different and some are just better at getting and staying asleep then others. Sounds like you DD is sleeping well at the moment so I'd just keep doing what you are doing and if things change in the future try something else.

If I were you, I would just keep doing whatever works for your baby. I'm at a very similar stage with my second DC who is 13 weeks. We contact nap in the day and she sleeps great at night. We do a lot of shushing/patting/bouncing to go to sleep...its what she needs. I did a lot of reading about sleep with my first DC and there is a lot of talk about sleep associations which really started to irritate me. The vast majority of adults have sleep associations but we don't view them in the same way...only sleeping in certain ways/whale music/ear plugs/certain drink before bed etc. For some reason, baby sleep associations are viewed as bad. All they are looking for is routine, familiarity and comfort. They are only this little for such a short period of time....enjoy the cuddles! If you don't already, have a look at @careitoutsleepconsultant on insta as she gives lots of reassurance about what is normal for baby sleep.

@Willthewashingeverend that’s a very good point! Yes will definitely carry on I think if she’s consistently sleeping anything between 5-8hrs it’s clearly working atm. I’ll look her up on Instagram now thank you! X

Drowsy and awake is a myth, though there are some unicorn babies who will do it... Sounds like you're doing great lovely! She's sleeping better than my 7 month old!

@kitkatsky 😂 definitely must be unicorn babies as my little one pings open and looks at me as if to say ‘don’t think so mum nice try 🤣’.

Honestly I think this sleep association stuff is a load of crap. None of the business around baby sleep even exists where I live (Italy) and kids are rocked, bounced, fed to sleep etc and I don’t know of any school age kids who don’t sleep on their own, in their own beds and in their own rooms. I’m very much of the “do what you can to get them to sleep and get some rest” school of though.