3 Month Old to Sleep on His Own

My daughter (now 16 months) is the same way we rocked her from day one and now you pretty much have to get her solidly asleep before putting her down. With my newborn (now 7 weeks) I just rock her until she's just about asleep and then lay her down. Typically she will just stir for a minute then close her eyes. Sometimes, I use a hand to "vibrate" the crib so she is just kinda rocked a little longer without me actually holding her. She loves to be swaddled, and although its hot, we still do it because it seems to help her go to sleep and stay that way longer. Perhaps, I've just lucked out but she's sleeping 10 hours at night with about an hour break in the middle somewhere to eat. Good luck.

As hard as it is this will be the best thing for you in the long run! Congrats on wanting to start this early with him putting himself to sleep!

I'd suggest something that smells like you. Sleep in a shirt or blanket that you can then leave with him for a while after. Scent for kiddos helps a ton with comfort.

Trial and Error will be your best bet, but you've got to give everything a good chance and stick to your guns before you move on to the next trick! Safety obviously is the best idea! You could also ask your pediatrician if they have any ideas. They'll be able to consider your child individually and see what might be considered!

This makes transitioning of any type in the future much easier! If you move, or even just change the room around, they'll have to get used to that. Then of corse as you put them in big kid beds etc, this will help so much! Just stick to it until you figure it all out! :o)

Best wishes!!
~T.~

I personally believe that 3 months is too early to expect a child to fall alseep on his or her own. You can try to rock him until he is drowsy and then put him down to fall completely asleep, but I really don't know if that will work. It may work for some babies. It never worked for my son.

I have a 5 month old daughter who has been going to sleep by herself in her crib since she was around 3 months old! I would nurse her and burp her - so she was still very awake and I just put her in her crib with one of her favorite blankets the first week or so she would fuss a little and i would let her alone if she cried I would pick her up rock her a min and then put her back down. Sometime she would just fuss (not cry) and them fall asleep. Now I nurse her lay her down and she will talk (babble) herself to sleep!! (Plus the babbling is SO CUTE to listen to on the moniter!!) good luck!! oh.. and 3 months old is NOT too young- babies are so much smarter than most of us give them credit for if you challenge them they will rise to the challenge, but with sleeping it could be a long struggle (we were luky and my daughter did it easily) stay strong and this is what is best for your child!!!

I also commend you for wanting to teach your 3 month old to fall asleep on his own. We have 3 children who fell asleep on their own by the time they were 3 months old. Now they have learned to occupy themselves quietly at bedtime before they fall asleep. They are 8, 6, & 3. We used the concepts we learned in the book "Babywise." We have also never had any trouble with naptimes because we used these concepts. Our kids can take a nap anywhere. The book mainly emphasizes setting a schedule for your baby following these three steps consistently throughout the day: eat, play, sleep. Using these steps we were almost always able to tell that our baby/child was tired because he/she would only whine when it was time to sleep (after being awake for a period of time...after eating). The "Babywise" 3 step concepts are a little difficult to get used to at first, but the rewards are priceless in the end.

Most people would tell you that you can put him into his crib and check on him every once in awhile. Just go in and soothe him and he will hopefully fall into a routine after a few nights, but as a mother of 3 who are now 12, 15, and 19 (the 19 year old is married and pregnant with her first baby, I really think you should rock them as much as you can. A 3 month old especially needs that security. You can not spoil a baby no matter what people say. You can spoil a child. I would never trade those moments, even though many nights I was very tired and wished to be back in my own bed. I'm sure you're a good mother, but my philosophy is to keep them as close as you can for as long as you can, because they will fly away all to soon.

L.