Getting 2 Month Old to Sleep

C.,

You should start a ritual. Maybe after you feed her, give her a bath with some lavender in it. Maybe tell her a story even though she is sooo young it would be a bed time ritual you can continue untill she is 8 or so. It worked for my sons. I read it once in a parenting magazine. You could choose anything to do as long as its the same thing everynight that way she knows when she gets her bath and a story or a massage with smelly lotion she knows that its time to go night-night.
Here's another thing that worked, I gave my youngest son a pacifier only at night time so he looked forward to going to bed because he knew he was getting his ninnie.
Good luck,
C.

Hi Charrise,
I have found that it helps to put my son to sleep with a soft light on and even softer music. He tends to like jazz but what ever works,. you also might like to try a noise machine. they have ones that mimic the sound in utero. Also I learned from my mistakes with my first son and now I don't wait till the baby is sleeping to put him down, i put him in his crib while he is still awake. This way they learn on their own how to go to sleep and when they wake up (which they do often during the night)to go back to sleep with out mommy. My 2 1/2 is still a bad sleeper, Jake was better at 2 weeks old then Ozzie has been for the past 2 years! If you wait till the baby is sleeping to put him down, change that now before the baby gets too old and in a routine. What I am telling you will save you many sleepless nights. Good luck I hope my advice works for you. Oh ya one more thing I do , when Jake wakes up in the middle of the night for a bottle, i do not talk to him. If I do this tends to wake him up more and he has a harder time falling back to sleep. Ok thats all my advice once again good luck with your little lady!

Try just wiggling her a little right before you put her into bed so that she opens her eyes, and sees that you are putting her into bed. She'll hopefully fall right back to sleep, but it'll get her used to being put into bed with her eyes open.

I still have to nurse my little one to sleep at naptime, but she is awesome at bed time, and if she cries when I put her down, it's not longer than 10 seconds, then she settles right down and goes to sleep within a couple of minutes. :)

What worked for me was to start the pattern of eat-play-sleep during the day. Somehow this pattern developed into my son understanding night from day & being plenty tired at nighttime to sleep 10-12 hours by the 11th week. I also started the nighttime ritual of a bath, reading a book or singing in the rocking chair in the nursery & then putting my son down while he was sleepy, but not asleep. Ultimately you have to be prepared for some fussiness & crying in the beginning, but it will make your daughter a much better sleeper in the long run.

Good luck!

hi, C.

i have a 3 month old and she sleeps thru the night finally. the way that i got her to do that was to put her in her crib while she's drowsy and not completely asleep. my little one pretty much always fell asleep while eating, but as soon as she got a little older, she was less sleepy and it was easier to put her down without being completely asleep. at night, however, i don't worry so much about whether or not she was sort of awake. if she's sleeping, then oh well.

for naps, when i see that she's yawning or rubbing her eyes or showing signs of sleepiness, i put her in her crib and swaddle her real tight (not too tight, though) and use a paci, then i leave the room. the paci doesn't usually stay in for very long. sometimes she cries or fusses for a few minutes, but then she goes to sleep for an hour or so. i sorta wish she took longer naps still, but that's just how she is and since she sleeps thru the night, i don't mind that she stays up during the day.

i hope this helps. i had a rough time with my daughter in the beginning and then all of a sudden (at least that's what it seems like now), she started showing me signs that she needs naps.

good luck and let us know if any of these "tricks" work for you.

Hi C.,
I breastfed exclusively and it was convenient for me to nurse my little one to sleep. Now, she is 19 months and she has good and bad nights. About half of the week, she wont go to sleep unless she nurses. The other half, she puts herself to sleep. Try waking her after she falls asleep and is finished nursing and then put her where she will sleep and make sure it is dark in the room. Give her some back pats and then leave her for a bit. Hopefully she will fall asleep. Try breaking the nursing to sleep habit now. It is taking me a lot longer now.
Take care and good luck.
K.

Do you have a musical light crib mobile? That might help too.

My daughter still nurses to sleep most of the time. She's 20 mo now. I think she's a bit on the extreme end of the scale, many of my friends' babies have gently transitioned themselves to being able to be patted or rocked to sleep for a while now. I understand the frustration. Sometimes I would feel like I was so stuck and no one could help me with her! Sometimes my husband could walk her up and down the hall, but many times that wouldn't work, she needed me. I think that's just kinda how babies are supposed to be. Do you cosleep? If you're not getting enough rest, that may help with that.

There is some evidence that "cry-it-out" methods are damaging. And I think it ends up being more stress and heartache to everyone than just continuing to gently parent to sleep.

http://www.hno.harvard.edu/gazette/1998/04.09/ChildrenNee...

Do you go to any of the local LLL meetings? Sometimes it's easier to talk about it in person with someone. :D

My son is now 5 months old, but up until he was about 3 months old he would fall asleep nursing, no matter what I did to try and keep him up. Eventually as he got older he stayed awake long enough to be awake after he nursed. Then I gave him his pacifier and put him in his crib. I have a Whinnie the Pooh thing that lights up and plays soothing music that I play as soon as I put him down. He loves it, he stares at it until he falls asleep. Each baby is different, but they all love routine, so whatever you do, make sure you do the same thing everytime you put her down so that she learns what to expect at sleep time. Good luck.

I have an 11 month daughter (she'll be a year soon:)and what my pedi recommended was that I nurse her and when she started falling asleep stop and just rock and hold her then put her down. After she's down, rub her back until she's all the way asleep.

I've had mixed results with it becuase my baby is so old but i think it might work for you :) good luck!

C.,

What I'm about to say isn't an easy thing to do, But you will love it in the long run... First thing you have to do is start doing a routine at night.. Bath, PJ's, Feeding and then last Teeth (gums in this case ..lol). After her teeth are brush then you need to lay her down in her crib.. don't add to much stimulation such as singing and lights, for this could keep her up. Give her a comfort kiss and a few pats and then exit the room.. She may cry for alittle, but that is OK. It was the hardest thing for me to let my child cry, take a walk around the house once and then go check to hear if she is still crying. The first time you do this is the hardest, each night gets better. Let her fuss for 5 mins and go back in, sooth her without getting her out of her crib, then exit again, this time leave for 10 minutes.. so it might be 2 laps around the house.. go back in a check on her, next time 15 mins in between check.. It might take up to 45 min - 1 hr before she fall alseep, but she will. You might want to start bedtime a little earlier in this case. As the nights roll by, she will learn to settle herself down and fall to sleep on her own. I took my own advise way to late in the game he was finished breastfeeding and I found myself giving a bottle or even a sippy cup at bedtime (in his crip) this is wrong, might i add ..lol The earlier you start with her the better off and easier it will be on both you and her. Now My son is 3 and he goes to bed when I tell him too for nap and night time, I don't get any fussing and it is quite easy.. Infact, I have other mom's jealous now! If only I would have done it sooner.. Just remember nursing is such a great thing and a great bond that it is hard to break.. but the one you are breaking is really yourself. We enjoy it more then they do !! Good luck, I too hated to hear him cry, but in 3 days your problem will be solved, don't wait a year like I did, it took him over a month then! Not only do they get to sleep, but you get extra exercise.. Good Luck! Kiss her good night for me too !!

I also had this problem with my oldest son. I resorted to letting him cry himself to sleep after I put him down.