Desperately looking for ideas please!
DD is 4.5 months old and until a couple of weeks ago would fall asleep at night after feeding whilst being cuddled and we'd pop her in her crib. The last week or so she's finished feeding and immediately started to wimper which quickly turns in to hysterical crying whilst me or my partner try and rock her to sleep. She eventually drops off after 20-30mins of rocking but is crying for a lot of the time which is heartbreaking. We've had a simple bedtime routine of bath, PJs, feed, bed since she was around 10weeks and it used to work really well until recently when the crying started
We're bottle feeding mostly formula (breastfeeding nightmare that stopped at 10weeks ish) and she's definitely getting enough over 24hrs so I don't think could be hungry. She naps pretty well, mostly in the carrier (first nap of the day is normally in her crib after being rocked to sleep), and has a last short nap of the day at 5ish so there's around a 2hr wake window before bedtime so is tired but normally not 'overtired' (although sometimes I'm sure she is if the rocking takes too long!)
I'm not sure what to do to help her not be so unhappy before bed, we're happy to rock her to sleep but it's heartbreaking that she gets so unhappy! Also at some point it would be nice if she'd be able to start going to sleep on her own without rocking but I'm not sure how we start even thinking about 'drowsy but awake' as there's no window between feeding and sleep that she isn't sad and I don't want to put her down crying
Any suggestions or even others who have experienced anything similar - I'm starting to think we're the only people it's happening to and I don't know what to do to help it be a calmer bedtime
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Baby cries when rocking to sleep before bedtime
Jinglejanglegiraffe · 14/03/2024 20:09
WingSlutz · 14/03/2024 21:06
My oldest used to sob his heart out while being lovingly rocked by his doting mother. I finally gave up one night and put him in the cot, he relaxed immediately and went to sleep. Turns out he wanted to be left the fuck alone to go to sleep! When he got older we would have a cuddle then he would say, 'want to go back in the cot' .
Your baby is quite possibly knackered- try putting them in the cot, stay in the room and see what happens.
Jinglejanglegiraffe · 15/03/2024 07:57
@TwinkleStarWhatAre how did you manage the transition? Our knees / backs could def do with less rocking but I have no idea how to start changing to anything else! We're also doing lots of shhing in her ear, I think the more she cries the harder we try to console / help her drop off which probably is making the whole thing more stressful for everyone!
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