how does a baby sooth himself to sleep???

[pugsmum]

My HV has sugested that I should stard letting my 3month old son sooth himself to sleep... I have absolutly no idea how I go about getting him to do this and she wasn't very helpful with tips on how!!! We r currently doin a bed time routine which is workoing wonders at night but I still usually have to rock him, bounce cuddle or dummy him to get him to sleep .. If I put him down awake there is no chance of him going to sleep o n his own! and sleeps on his side if he rolls back onto his back he wakes up !!!

also I am not sure if I should be trying to encourage routine nap times in the day time or is it to early for this? ?

What they mean is a situation where your baby is tired, happy, relaxed but not totally asleep and then, when you put them down and a few 'shushes' and 'night nights' later they've closed their eyes and are happy to go to sleep without you holding them. Not all babies can do it, however, and some need a bit more fussing over before they'll go to sleep. If you can get him used to napping in the day in his cot, the nights can be a little easier. Good luck

ds2 has only just started to learn to self-soothe, at 10 months. some babies find it so much easier - the kind of baby that yawns, gets put down, and just falls asleep by themselves.

both of mine have been the type of 'put down, cry and scream a bit', so i've gone for the easy option and just fed, cuddled, whatever to help them get to sleep. gradually over time, then putting them down slightly less sleepy each time.

your lo is so very very little though, enjoy those snuggles.

bit of a ramble there, sorry!

Pugsmum -I have been thinking the same recently and it is nice to read your posts to know that its just not mean who is confused by self soothing! My DS is nearly 11 weeks old and he takes ages to go to sleep after his bath and feed. Like you I usually just cuddle him then put him down when he is asleep but can do this a number of times as he tends to wake. However once he is gone after a lot of persuasion, he so far has been great(touch wood)i can wake him for a feed at 10.30/11ish and he will then sleep till 5/6ish. Obviously i'm really happy with this but i do worry about getting him to sleep earlier especially for him to self sooth more on his own. I really don't want to do cc as he really has a temper and will just work himself up. Can i ask, do you put him up stairs after a certain time at night or do you still have him down with you? I'm in between ideas at the moment. I'm also struggling with the idea of putting him in his own room as his moses basket is getting a tad small but this is another challenge altogether.

Oh and naps are hit and miss again in the day. Usually after each feed he has a play then falls asleep. Timings depend on if we are out and about as he can sleep for ages then. At home he tends to cat nap.

I've gone on a bit probably not even related to your post really...and haven't really helped! Sorry...