If you didn't sleep train

[WeDontTalkAboutLove]

did you always have to use a 'prop' to get your baby to sleep?

DD is 7 months old, is rocked and shushed to sleep for all naps and nighttime. She wakes 1-2 times a night between 7pm-6am which I am more than happy with as it used to be 6+ times. She naps well (over an hour each for 2 naps and a short one at about 4, again I am more than happy with this!).

Basically, I am happy with her sleep now but when I go back to work in 4 months, my mum will be looking after her 3x a week and I don't want to have to ask her to rock/shh to sleep twice a day with a weighty baby. Physically, it can be demanding for me and I am obviously much younger than my mum. I realise I am very lucky that we have this help and want to make it as smooth as possible for her.

I don't really want to do any intense, CIO sleep training (if I was on my knees with tiredness, I would perhaps feel differently, but I am happy and rested now for the most part).

If you didn't sleep train, when did your children manage to fall asleep independently?

I had the same with needing to rock son to sleep and he was getting heavier so I needed that to stop. A few people recommended a light projector for his room. I feed him and read a story and he has a toy that plays lullabys. When he is drowsy I put him in his cot awake and the projector which shines stars onto the ceiling plus the lullabys makes him very sleepy. It's early days so I still shush him and pat his back but he's falling asleep in the cot rather than needing to be rocked . I'm hoping over time I can phase out the shushing and put him down with the music and lights and leave the room.

I know that's still using some sort of prop to get him to sleep but it's a big improvement for us. Maybe something like that would work for you, and you could take it to your mum's house. We got it on Amazon

That definitely sounds like something we could try. I don't really mind using a sleep prop at all, I just don't want it to be a physical strain on my mum (or me, to be honest!).

Thank you

Would a bouncy/rocking chair be a possibility?

My LO is a lot younger than yours but I found that rocking him to sleep/walking with the sling was killing my back. So now I put him in the sling and bounce him to sleep on the chair - I can still get up and do things afterwards as he is in the sling, but the actual rocking bit is easy peasy because I’m sitting down watching TV!

I'm more than happy with her napping in the sling when I'm out (doesn't happen much at the moment! I wonder if it'll still work after this...) but I think my mum will need a break from holding her, especially as she tends to nap for 1.5 hours and is very tall so her legs repeatedly hit my thighs. It's definitely one to recommend though for those nap refusal days when you'll take anything.

I used to use a yoga ball to bounce her to sleep so that's an idea.

Thank you for your suggestions!