Stopping Rocking to sleep

[Erlouise]

Hi ladies
DD has only ever been rocked to sleep, or any type of motion really - pushed in pram etc

how do I get away from this? She’s 5 months and she seems really to self settle. She gets more frustrated by me rocking her.

I’ve started putting her in her crib, dark room, white noise, dummy. Leaving and just coming back in when I hear her getting a bit upset and wondering where I am. Hand on chest, dummy back in, and leave.

the other day it worked and she fell asleep, granted all for about 2 mins but the fact is she can fall asleep without me rocking her - I know that and so does she.

bit since that day she now refuses to fall asleep until I pick her up - so I can see her eyes going and she wants to sleep, she won’t and then soon as I pick her up and give her a litttle rock she sleeps.

the reason I want to move away from the rocking is because at night she’s struggling to go back down on her own without being rocked (which never used to happen). She’s also up at 4-5am each morning and reliant on my rocking her back down.

so she doesn’t get over tired I tend to cave once I’ve rocked her down and I sit holding her rather than putting her down.

any tips or advice please? Also please I don’t need any posts about she’s still little, give her what she wants etc. I know she’s young however, the reliance on rocking and me getting her down is becoming an issue and is actually causing us both to have less sleep throughout the day and night. I’m not suggesting she self settle completely, iust be less reliant on me to get her down.

tjanks …

Try rocking and doing something else shhing or patting. The rock to calm then just do the shhing and patting. Then reduce the shhing and patting and just pop your hand on them and a gentle jiggle if they become unsettled

My daughter has been a terrible sleeper and we slowly have over time taken the assistance to sleep down. For us it's been a very slow process because of how bad it has been and it's caused by health issues. With each step down we reduce the physical contact. Tbh I'm not that fussed by her being able to lie in her bed cot and going to sleep on her own. As an adult I do not do this. So I've never expected my daughter to do it. I always have a cuddle before bed and that human contact is calming and the day just melts away. When I was a teenager I used to go to sleep imagining I was being cuddled by my deceased grandad/sister and this now makes me so sad. My daughter now goes to sleep in her own bed stroking my arm with me sat next to her. She's 3.

There's a sleep discussion board where you might get more answers.

Agree with PP about forming other associations - it's called habit stacking. Build up lots and lots of positive associations then remove the problematic one.

Or swap with other physical comfort that you don't mind as much. Will she not off being snuggled next to you? Then you could do this and gradually decreae the amount of contact.

I know you said not to say it, but it is very normal for babies of this age to need a bit of help nodding off. The average age for babies to start connecting sleep cycles without assistance is 9 months. Don't feel that you have to rush, it just puts more pressure on you.