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sleep...

I have a 6 month old daughter who was doing pretty well with her sleep schedule. After a grueling sleep training period, she was reasonably on track with taking 2 predictable naps during the day and then sleeping well at night. But then she started crawling, and it seems like she has forgotten everything! No matter how sleepy she is when she's in my arms, as soon as I put her down she wakes up, rolls over onto all fours, and refuses to sleep. This has been utterly exhausting for me, and I'm not sure how to deal with it. Has anyone else experienced this? Many thanks...

See also: babies, sleep, naps, crawl

Written by Audrey

Posted on 09/01/2009

See all posts by Audrey

Answers:

I am in the process of sleep training my 15 month old and it's working...they say that when babies reach milestones that their sleep can be thrown off for awhile..what I did for my son was to put his crib mattress on the floor and make sure that all four sides have either a wall or a cushion or something so that he won't fall onto the hard floor. then I started the routine of bathing, giving him a bottle and reading him a story (the last two happen in his bed with me beside him). when he's done the bottle, i put the book away and turn down the lights and tell him it's sleepytime. the first night I did this, I rubbed his back and said soothing things like "you're just going to sleep" and "mommy is here, she's going to stay until you fall asleep". the first night it took 35 mins of crying and then he lay down himself and fell asleep to a lullabye. second night: 25 mins third night: 18 mins and the last night was barely ten mins. afternoons are the hardest, and sometimes he takes almost an hour at night to go down, but I"m just glad I don't have to rock a 25 pound baby or have him in our bed anymore. the three important rules of this method are
1)don't let them stand up, when they do, pick them up and gently put them back down on the mattress
2) don't let them get off the mattress or crawl up into your arms, let them know you mean business and that bedtime is not negotiable
3) try to restrict eye contact, but keep your voice soothing and calm. this shows that it's not play time, but mommy isn't going anywhere either. hope this helps....

posted by Melissa on 09/06/2009

Thanks for your feedback! I've been doing a similar bedtime routine, but I've been including a brief period of rocking her to get her more drowsy. But you bring up a good point...my neck and shoulders are already killing me; I can't imagine having to rock her when she's 10 pounds heavier. I'll try to do more of the soothing from her crib. Thanks again!

posted by Audrey on 09/07/2009

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