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Sleep

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Original poster

How do you get an 8 1/2mth old to lie down in their cot???

14 replies

homemama · 02/08/2005 09:11

My DS, 8 1/2mths has been going down awake in his cot for 4mths. Recently he's learned how to pull himself up the bars and cruise along. Now, when he's put down for a nap, he's pulling himself up straight away rather than nodding off to sleep.
Part of the problem is that he can't yet get back down therefore he's stuck. He'll babble to himself then realise he can't go anywhere and he'll cry. It seems that no matter how tired he is, he'll still pull himself up.
The only way to get him to sleep is to lift him out, let him fall asleep on my chest then transfer him back to the cot. But I don't think this is the best long term solution.
Any ideas? Thanks

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babynovice · 02/08/2005 09:42

My 10mth dd does this, at first she didn't know how to get back down either and would fall over and hit her head on the cot bars! Thankfully she learned how to get back down pretty quickly, as I'm sure your ds will too, but what I tend to do is just go in and lie her back down every time she stands up because even when she's tired it seems like an involuntary reaction to pull herself up....after a few (sometimes more than a few) times she settles herself.

Blu · 02/08/2005 10:18

Put him in a gro-bag so that it is harder for him to stand up in the first place?

TracyK · 02/08/2005 10:21

my ds used to do this too - I just lay him down and stroked his face till he was sleepy enought to stay down. If he got up or played around - I'd leave the room and he'd cry - so I'd go back in and lay him down and stroke his face again. Sometimes I had to do this 7 or 8 times - others 1 or 2 times.

piglit · 02/08/2005 10:44

Phew - I'm so glad it's not just me who's going through this. My 9 month ds does exactly this. Until last week I used to put him in his cot, he'd roll over and fall asleep. But not anymore - we have the constant pulling up and standing thing (with waving) for up to 2 hours. He gets beside himself with tiredness (as do I) and he screams the house down if I leave him. We've tried putting him back down but he screams and tries to get back up again (this can go on for over an hour). It's almost like he's doing it automatically/in his sleep. He's in a grobag but that doesn't stop him.

I'd be very interested to know what other MNers find works for them.

Original poster

homemama · 02/08/2005 11:11

Thanks,
Blu, he's in a gro bag for night time but I think it's too much over his clothes for naps.
Tracyk, that was my plan but after 1h 10mins we were both exhausted.
It's just so frustrating when he was so good at settling himself until now. I don't think it's been helped by the cold he has just had for two wks as this caused lots of night waking with blocked nose and resulting in extra cuddles.

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Original poster

homemama · 02/08/2005 11:12

If you find a solution Piglit, let me know

OP posts:

piglit · 02/08/2005 11:16

Will do homemama! (I'm reading everything I can on the internet this morning but there doesn't seem to be a "cure"). I know exactly how you feel having gone from a ds who settles himself so well at night to a ds who does cot gymnastics every night.

TracyK · 02/08/2005 11:55

when the cot thing stopped working - we switched to him sleeping on the couch in a 'nest' of cushions. dh was best at it - but he laid ds down and sat beside him with his hand across his shoulders - so ds was 'pinned down' so to speak. He wriggled and cried - but dh just avoided eye contact and ds eventually gave in and went to sleep. Spose you could do the same thing in the cot - it's just more comfy (for us) to be sitting next to them rather than bending over for so long.

toothyboy · 02/08/2005 21:23

Think I read this in the Baby Whisperer (could be wrong!) but she recommends showing them how to get back down, by sliding their hands down the bars then plopping their bum down! If he's worked out how to pull himself up - it shouldn't take too long for him to catch on to getting himself back down again!
Good luck!

piglit · 03/08/2005 09:39

Ds can get himself down - he went up and down over a hundred times last night (!) until he was hysterical with exhaustion and soaked in tears. I really hope this is just a phase...

babynovice · 03/08/2005 09:50

Piglit, I'm sure it is a phase. DD insists on standing up after you lay her back down no matter if she's tired or not - it becomes a battle of wills! At first I would lie her back down every time she stood up but now I just let her jump about for a bit until she gets fed up at which point she will either settle herself or she starts crying for me to come in and lie her back down. DD usually takes 10-15 minutes to settle herself in this way, if she's not settled after that I usually bring her downstairs for 5-10 minutes read a story or something then try again. Good luck

wendywoos · 03/08/2005 10:14

Tie his hands behind his back..... kidding!

I was going to suggest the gor bag but you've tried that.

I wouldn't get into letting him sleep on you, that will spell trouble. He will grasp getting down very soon, and when he does your going to come across the problem of getting him to sleep on his own if your not carfull. I have made that mistake with my 19 month daughter who desn't yet sleep through.

I came across someone else who had this problem and they decided to just ignore the baby t let him solve it alone, but when they went in when he had got quiet the poor little chap had fallen asleep standing up whilst holding on to the bars

I do remember my daughter doing this, and im sure I just kept on going in and laying her down, even if it was 50 times, she soon got tired and gave up. It was a matter of days, then she learn the art of sitting back down.

piglit · 03/08/2005 12:21

Thanks guys and sorry to hijack the thread homemama. It's so good to know I can come on here and get such good advice. Dh thinks it might also be separation anxiety and as I'm the one who spends all day with ds it's the thought of me leaving that's bothering him. For some reason he (ds, not dh!) has also suddenly started to reject his dummy completely. Dh has said he will do the next couple of bed times on his own (we usually do bath time together and I put ds down to sleep) to see if that helps. I hope it does as I'm now starting to dread every evening.

Anyway, thanks again ladies. You're all fab!

piglit · 04/08/2005 11:28

Dh did the bedtime thing last night and.... success! Ds went down straight away as quiet as a mouse. I'm not sure how long it will continue (he'll probably be back to his old tricks tonight) but I'd say to everyone having the same problem it's definitely worth getting your dp/dh/mother/a friend to give it a go. Dh is convinced it's a sign of this separation anxiety and that it's me that ds has an issue with. As dh puts it - he just loves you so much and can't bear the thought of you leaving him. Of course, ds still isn't going through the night but after the shennanigans we had over the last week I just don't care!

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