New to this board and need some advice!

[Bel920]

Hi there! My baby is almost 9 weeks old and I am worried that we have totally trained him to only sleep while feeding or in his swing. This makes for very difficult trips anywhere (i.e., grandparentshouse, etc...) because we can't just put him in his pack n play and let him fall asleep if he is tired, he doesn't know how. He will occasionally fall asleep but then wake up 5 minutes later. Is it too early for me to worry about this, or is now a good time to try and teach him how to fall asleep on his own? If it is too early, when should I start to do this? If it isn't, any suggestions? I have read bits and pieces of all the popular sleep training books out there (Healthy Sleep Habits, Baby Whisperer, Happiest Baby on the Block), but I just get so frustrated because they all offer such conflicting advice. I'd like to hear some real life tried and true experience! Thanks in advance

[Rachel]

HI and welcome! Liam is way too young to be on any type of sleep training. For babies 4 months and under, I suggest "The Happiest Baby on the Block". And you are doing nothing wrong with soothing your baby to sleep this way for now.

Once your baby is 4 or 5 months old, you can try sleep training. I am a "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" follower, and have found the book to be very helpful. I also own "The Baby Whisperer" and used that book to help me with my feeding "schedule". (The E.A.S.Y. system) Both books are good to read, and in terms of sleep training, it really is up to you to decide which one you are more comfortable with. Not all parents are able to sleep train using Weissbluth's method; some are just more comfortable with Ferber's or Tracy Hogg's methods. I think the more you read the better, because you can decide which works for you and your family's needs.

[Kristen02]

Hi! Welcome . Rachel gave you great advice.

I wanted to add that infants have very erratic sleep patterns until the sleep part of their brain matures at around 4 months old. You can use whatever method necessary to help Liam sleep, until he is old enough to learn. You can use the swing, bouncer, whatever means necessary.

The book, "The Happiest Baby on the Block" is a good one to follow until Liam is older. I didn't personally use the method, but I've heard so many good things about it for infants, that now I recommend it. My son used to take naps in the car, stroller, swing, bouncer, etc. I started the Weissbluth method (mostly) once he was 4.5 months old, and he is a great sleeper now!

This is a hard age for sleep, but it will pass soon and you will be able to work on it, if necessary when he's a bit older.

[Bel920]

Thank you girls - I suspected I was aiming to high and he was a bit young! It is just so hard to cope with no sleep being back at work right now, but this is what I signed up for and it shall pass, right! (God, I hope so...)

[Liz_84]

My daughter was exactly the same way about going to sleep for the first several months. I'd have to nurse her to sleep, and then quickly make the switch to the paci before she noticed what was going on, then she'd let me lay her down to sleep. Have you thought about buying one of those small travel-size baby swings? Most models are fairly inexpensive and easily portable for when you're visiting places.

[shea_meister]

Hey, Belinda! Funny meeting you here, eh? hehehe

Actually... we're trying to implement the Healthy Babies/Weissbluth stuff now, even though Ben is only 8 weeks... specifically, the "no more than 1-2 hours of wakefullness" piece, and only MOTIONLESS sleep. The book says that motion sleep (i.e., in a moving stroller, a swing, the car, etc.) isn't really restorative, and I'd tend to agree, so we've gone cold turkey on the swing for sleeping. We'll use it to get him soothed and drowsy, and then we whisk him up to his crib for the real sleep action. It was a little tough getting the transfer down so that he doesn't wake up when we physically take him out of the swing (and we're definitely still not perfect), but it's getting better. We've found that if we can actually follow the "2 hours" rule, Ben is like a totally different baby--so pleasant!!! It's unbelievable.

I gotta say, though, sometimes it takes me a LONG time to get him down for those in-crib naps. He doesn't always stay asleep and does exactly what Liam does. In those cases, I'll just keep trying--soothing and then placing him back in the crib--either until he STAYS asleep or else I feel myself losing my mind. The process can easily take an hour or more. If we have to give up, we give up and just try again in another hour or two. We have good days and bad, but overall, I do think he's getting better at self-soothing and falling asleep once we put him in the crib drowsy.

[sveaelaine]

i might be a terrible mom but i started CIO @ 3 months and it took a week to really work out but she puts herself to sleep now w/no problem.