Laying down and going to sleep on their own - when did this happen for you?

[terryandthechocolateorange]

16 month old daughter can't self settle. Stems from being breastfed to sleep for probably a little longer than I should have allowed. Now doesn't feed to sleep all the time but certainly needs cuddling or rocking.

Have tried to talk her through bedtime, tried laying down with her, tried trying to sooth her or pat her but to no avail. She sits up, hysterically crying until I pick her up and let her fall asleep on me.

Her language is coming along well and she understands alot. I'm hoping that soon and with some perseverance I can convince her to lay down and close her eyes to go to sleep but I think she's still a bit young.

When did this happen for you? Anyone else in the same boat? Or is it just me, rocking and feeding a 16 month old to sleep still!

About 4 years old. Sorry. I'm sure other people had different experiences.

Honestly? At 2y 8mo, I stay in the room with DS while he goes to sleep but we're now at the stage he's in bed and I'm sat in a chair with hand there for him to hold. It's started being less hideous since we dropped his nap and is only 10-15 minutes most nights now.

But we didn't night wean til 21 mo and stopped pre bed BF just after. We then went through a phase of having to be ON ME to go to sleep then roll him down

I am glad I've waited until he's been ready in his own time, and honestly, I love watching him get drowsy and drop off.

I'm not sure he is ready for me not to be in the room. DH thinks he'd be fine, but to be honest, it's as much me!

I know at 19m DD stopped feeding to sleep at bedtime but then we started rocking to sleep in the nursing chair

I can tell you she was going to sleep on her own by around 2.5ish though.

I think I got to a point where I'd just had enough. I started to lay her down and put my hands through the bars and sing a song over and over and over and over and over and over then sat near bed, maybe a week, then in doorway, then outside room etc
It took us a few months I suppose but we also didn't want to do cio etc and I wasn't working so it worked for us.

Good luck!

Reliably for naps and bedtime about 11 months. She self settles with a comforter which makes all the difference, but I never fed her to sleep. She always got a breastfeed on waking

Erm 10 weeks and 5 weeks. Sorry, not helpful!

So all my 3 were breastfed until 2+. Always co-slept, breastfed them to sleep.

When they stopped breastfeeding I'd still read them stories and lay on the bed until they fell to sleep and then sneak out very slowly :))

By about 4 they'd fall to sleep on their own. I felt comfortable that they were at an age where I could say, "Look, you've had your bedtime stories, mummy is downstairs, you're safe, go to sleep!"

And now I have 3 wonderful sleepers. Never hear a peep from them during the night and get lay-ins at the weekend.

Keep up the good work. I promise you won't be rocking them to sleep at 18, even though it feels like it right now :))

I started sleep training my 11 month old yesterday. Mostly because rocking her to sleep is doing my back in, and I can’t breastfeed her back to sleep when I go back to work soon as I do a lot of nights. Last night she cried for four minutes and then sat quietly until she fell asleep. Tonight she cried for 40 seconds and then fell asleep. I always thought she’d never do it, but actually maybe I never gave her the opportunity?

DGS has always been able to self settle once bf established. Moved over to a bottle at bedtime when he was about 4 months, and again, the routine was bath, dressed in a dimly lit bedroom, bottle off whoever was available, put down semi sleepy and adult straight out, door closed, lights off. Now he's 19 months it's still the same. He slept at mine last week, in bed fast asleep a couple of mins after his bottle, and slept for 12 hours solid. He has a 2 hour nap every day too. He's a joy!

We still have to sit with our 6 year old and hold his hand until he goes to sleep - sorry!

On the other hand, we had to do some hardcore sleep training on our 2 year old when he was about 18 months old and he goes straight off now.

9 weeks sorry. Still loves his sleep

Ours was young - about 12 weeks I think.
She's now 9mo and does it easily. She has a bottle then goes to bed and self-soothes.

Still waiting at ages 5.5

Aged*

Currently sat at the bottom of my nearly 9 year olds bed (still)

11 weeks. Was deliberately never fed to sleep and put down awake from day 1 if that helps.

From the day they were born. Had a feed, a cuddle and back into the crib.

(In addition to my last post) My first I was still holding his hand at 6yrs. And nothing wrong with that.

The 2nd and the 3rd child I called it a day at age 4 as had so much else to do. But honestly, 10 years on, it's really paid off. Such confident, funny, healthy, well-adjusted kids. Honestly never hear a peep at night from one year to the next. So worth the years of co-sleeping, breastfeeding, meeting their needs...

Mine is seven and still comes downstairs to tell us one last thing or complain that he wants company. Sorry!

I've never had any problems putting mine down to sleep. Our issues were always once they'd been asleep for a few hours. Usually once I'd just nodded off!

Just turned 2 and he still goes off in our arms! I found it has gotten easier as he has gotten older though, he reached a point in his development where he seemed to want go to sleep himself, so there was no more messing around. It's fine.

From 5 months she’s settled herself to sleep for naps and at night — sorry that’s not much help!

Stopped feeding to sleep at 16m (fed to drowsy and then held/rocked a little).

Stopped feeding completely at 20m (just held and then popped in the cot once asleep).

Took the sides off the cot and introduced a gro clock at 22m (story, lights out, then at first i lay down next to him until asleep, over a few weeks this changed to me sitting in the chair waiting).

Story, lights out, "mummy's going downstairs now" at 24m. Just in time for DS2 to arrive and the cycle starts all over again!

My oldest was about 3 when she learned to self settle without the breast, dd2 is 4 and can't
Self settle yet but ds1 is good at
Self settling after a decent feed on both sides. Every child's different x

Day 1. Bath, bottle and bed. Slept in cot in our room.
6 months. Cot moved to own bedroom.