Hi, title says it really.. He is not a bad sleeper, in a decent napping and evening routine, sleeps about 10-11 hours straight a night (on a good night, we have had others), often does 1.5-2 hour lunchtime naps. I am sure he can self-settle to a degree.
But he always needs our help to get sleepy, he won't be put down into the cot when just tired. So for naps I usually shush, pat, jiggle and sing, then he seems to fall asleep in my arms, then I put him down. He often complains when put down but most of the times settles when I place my hands on his chest and shush. When he is tired the whole thing takes about 5 minutes.
At bedtime he usually falls asleep on the boob, then I put him into his sleeping bag in the cot. Usually being put into the sleeping bag wakes him up again but by then he is so milked up that he does not care and turns over and goes to sleep.
Now whilst I don't mind doing all this now, after all it's lovely holding a sleepy baby, I wonder whether I have created a rod for my own back and the longer I keep going with this habit, the harder it will be to break? Or will he just grow out of it? A lot of times when he wakes up in the night, we have waited for 10 minutes or so and in 7 times out of 10 he has been able to go back to sleep.
All my mum friends just put their babies down into the cot, give them a brief stroke and then leave the room. (I tried this when he was much younger and it all went horribly wrong, this is probably why I am so reluctant to try again..)
Have I missed the boat? Or is what I am doing just normal?
Thanks!