baby sleeping alone?

[mariiinaa]

before i get the comments "it's your own fault" "you shouldn't have done this/that" i'm aware that my DS has fallen into a bad habit out of our own fault.

when he was little we did occasionally rock him to sleep and allowed him to fall asleep on our lap, and it turns out he's 5 months now and refuses to sleep if not in the car seat (when car is moving) or by being rocked to sleep. it's gotten to the point where it's highly tiring, especially in the heat we both just become sticky from the hot weather.

any suggestions on how to get DS to fall asleep on his own, in his own crib?

TIA x

We had this but used the pick up put down method for about a week to wean him off. Started with picking up each time he cried, then progressed into hand holding to sleep, then sitting close by, then gradual retreat until baby was able to go down by themselves. 5 months is still very young though so I wouldn't be too worried or find it very unusual at that age.

Not your fault at all, you have to do what you can to get them to sleep when they're young. You could do some form of sleep training in a few weeks when he's a little older.

Just rock him to sleep and hold him as much as he needs. He's a tiny baby.

i personally wouldn’t do any sleep training until 6 months old- does he not fall asleep during last feed ?

It isn’t your fault! Your DS is a baby, baby’s need to be held, he’s still so young.

I think you need to break it into stages, it’ll be a much easier process to get him to fall asleep in his cot than it is to get him to fall asleep alone. Remember babies really aren’t designed to be alone so it makes sense that he’s resistant to it.

I would introduce something else like patting as you rock him then slowly stop rocking and only pat whilst still holding him and then put him in the cot but still pat. Not a quick fix but there are things you can do.

I should add that my DC still fed
to sleep at that age 😂 it’s completely normal.

My DD does this too, not sure if it will work but for the last few days with the heat I've just put her on our bed and laid next to her holding her hand and she has dropped off x

Not a bad habit, still totally normal at this age. Its why any king of sleep training isnt recommended until at least six months. Do what works for you and the family. My DD is still in with me at 2 and that works for us! She falls asleep alone just fine at nursery and has started doing the same at home.

It's not a bad habit and nothing you have done. This is what your baby needs, and you are meeting his needs. You shouldn't even sleep train little babies like him so maybe just roll with it? I know it's hardly ideal, I did it for nearly a whole year (Contact napping & rocking to sleep every single time), but it will pass and they will sleep on their own when they are developmentally ready.

Our DD is 5 months and rocking was getting her so annoyed all of a sudden and she stopped feeding to sleep. I put her in cot, did some shushing and occasional patting and a bit of pick up put down and she fell asleep within 20 mins, I started doing it every night and now I put her down awake and she goes to sleep on her own.

Nothing wrong with it, it’s what we did with our DD and at 7 months we did gentle sleep training, at nearly 2 she’s a fantastic sleeper and I can count on one hand the number of interrupted nights we’ve had since, all due to illness. I’m currently sat here with my 1 month old snoozing on me while I gently jiggle him and plan to do exactly the same with him as we did with DD last time.

He’s only 5 month, he needs comfort and security to feel like he can sleep. Kindly, I think your expectations are way off. We still content nap with 10 month old to get anything more than 30mins nap.

Pop a Muslin between you and baby it will help minimise sweatyness

This isn't a bad habit that needs to be fixed . It is perfectly normal.