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Honestly! Do babies grow out of this...? Update, aagghh!

Do babies grow out of needing to be rocked or fed to sleep?! DD is almost 5 months old. Was debating doing some form of self-settling technique but I don't have the guts and its just easier and quicker doing it her way! Just wondered if anyone's babies had learnt how to settle themselves over time and stopped needing to be rocked or fed to sleep? Was it something they did themselves? How old were they? Honest experiences pleeeease!!
xx

[Modified by: hopefulmummy on 30 June 2010 20:50:33 ]

Replies

  • I fed or 'sshhd' my lo to sleep for about 7 months then decided to gradually teach him how to put himself to sleep. I did this by not letting him fall completely to sleep on the boob, he'd go down sleepy. After a few days of this I moved the feed to before his bath, he'd cry a little but I'd pop back in to reassure him.

    From my experience it is something you have to teach them, I've no doubt that now , at 15 months, he'd still be falling asleep during a feed. He sometimes needs me to just sit next to his cot for a few minutes .

    Every babys different though, you may find that yours does it naturally x
  • Adam is the same! He is 19+3 and still needs rocking to sleep for naps (he will fall asleep ok at night).

    I started doing PUPD last week and am not getting on too well with it - naptimes have gone from being nice and peaceful to being something I dread (I think we both do!)

    So I am admitting defeat for now and will try again when he's a bit older (and when my hubby has a week off work so he can help!)

    xx
  • up until about 2 weeks ago i was rocking lizzie to sleep coz like you i didnt have the guts to put her down awake,lol.
    i was then reading that by 6 months they should be able to sefl settle (lizzie is 6 months old today!yay!!) so i saw her rub her eyes about 10am one morning so i took her up to her cot without takliing to her laid her down on her back gave her her dummy and left the room. she winged twice and both times i just went in put her back on her back and gave her back her dummy and left the room. it took 20mins ish but she feel asleep on her own.
    from then on i tried it at night to. so now i feed her last bottle, then change her nappy whioch wakjes her, casrry her up stairs withoyut her dummy in (otherwise shge would fall asleep on transport,lol) then ;ie her down awake,give her dummy and leave her and only once in 2 weeks habve i had to go back in.
    if you want to try it, i woyld start with naps as you wont be too tired. i normally stay upstyairs in my bedroom sat on bed for 5 mins before i come down just so if she does take 15 mins to settle im nit up and dfown stairs x
  • Yes, or at least, mine did. I ALWAYS fed or rocked Lily to sleep up to the age of about 4-5 months. We then had a month or 6 weeks of transition period where I would put her down in the cot awake simply because she didn't always fall asleep at the breast at bed time any more- this was hit-or-miss and it took her a while before she reliably got off to sleep on her own. However, she has self-settled and slept through since 6 months.
  • Thansk for the replies, different experiences as expected!! I tried to put DD in cot today but she wasn't having it so had to rock her to sleep again! I've made a note of the things you did. Going by what you've said, maybe I just need to encourage self-settling, but not worry about it too much for now. Seems like its around the 6 month mark that I do need to worry - eek, only 5 weeks then!! Its just a little frustrating cos she can self settle in the middle of the night and she wakes up and chats to herself at the end of naps so its not a case of needing my shoulder thats suddenly no longer there, just a habit we have got ourselves into that she doesn't need to be in!
    xxx
  • In my case yes. I rocked Roisin to sleep for as long as she wanted me to (on the occasions that she didn't fall asleep at the breast)- in her case this was until 5 months. I just noticed at this age that she was getting extra wriggly in my arms when I was rocking her - I just put her down awake and she went to sleep! If I'd have tried this a month earlier she'd have screamed the place down! She is now 10 and a half months and has self settled ever since x
  • littlerose, I did wonder that a couple of times with DD, she rubs her face a lot in my shoulder and almost seems to be trying to push herself away from me, so tried to put her down, but she still cries!

    I've decided that I'm just rubbish at this sleeping malarky! Fed her at bedtime today, tried to pop her off when she was just comfort sucking, but she woke right up and wouldn't let me put her in the cot, so I did what I shouldn't have and put her back on me... She fell asleep and I successfully put her in the cot. About 45 mins later she woke agan. DH tried to rock her but she kept grizzling. In the end, I gave up and took her - she fell asleep on my boob again and is now fast asleep in the cot. Meanwhile I feel like a failure...

    Spoke to a friend today about her DD's sleeping and she was saying that she self-settles at nighttime no problems, and although she needs a little ritual for her naptimes, she also self-settles for these too. It just feels like I'm the only one of my friends who needs to rock their baby!!

    On the one hand, I'm thinking it doesn't matter, she'll grow out of it, and its easy to rock her. But on the other hand I worry about bad habits and having to spend months and months doing this. Aaagghh, this is so hard!

    xx
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