best way to put an infant to sleep

susan · **best way to put an infant to sleep**

How do you put your infant to sleep. I have a 6 weeks old baby and gives me a hard time falling asleep in the day time. HE is good at night, he sleeps 5 hours straight then wakes up, eat and goes back to sleep but in the day time it had been rough!! He sleeps while breastfeeding but as soon as I put him down in his crib, he wakes up! I tried to swaddle him, rock him but he will wake up again! Any suggestions?? please help!!

AyeOhKay · 10-05-2007, 08:29 AM

I don't know that I would try to get him to sleep more during the day since he's doing so well at night!

If he's fussy during the day but doesn't want to sleep, I would try to wear him in a sling, let him swing in a baby swing or sit in a bouncy seat.

Also, if he's falling asleep at the breast, is it possible that he's still hungry when you lay him down? You may want to try to keep him awake longer during feeding time.

HTH

brensmom · 10-05-2007, 08:31 AM

is he crying when he wakes up? if not just leave him and he will fall asleep on his own. he is still very young so a little rocking is not gonna hurt.(maybe a little white noise or low music?) we have always put our 3 kids down awake. even when they cry a little it is usually not for very long if they are truly tired. plus if he is over tired that will make it more difficult to fall alseep. he is still very young he may just not have fallen into the groove. but i would recomend putting him down awake as much as possible we did that with all 3 of our kids(6,3,1) and they all go to bed no fighting us on it. good luck i know it can be frustrating.

flybygrace · 10-05-2007, 09:25 AM

I too agree with putting him to bed awake so that he learns to fall asleep on his own. (I did this with him from the time he was 3 months old, and he has always gone to sleep by himself really well - and he's turning three. It's saved my sanity!) He still may be a little young to have a real sleep schedule. I don't know really - I've only had one, so I have just one experience with a baby's sleep schedule. Is there a chance that when you lay him in the crib, it wakes him up b'c he's being put on a cold sheet vs being in your warm arms? Maybe it would help to put down a fleece blanket on the sheet, so it's not such a temp difference. Or maybe wrap a blanket around him before you nurse, so when you lay him down, he can be in the blanket still - it may not be such a big transition (I did this with DS). Also, is there something he can clutch while feeding? A tiny stuffed animal or a piece of a blankie? Good luck!

SAHMto3boys · 10-06-2007, 11:22 PM

I've got a 6 week old too!

My oldest son was NOT a good sleeper at all! Then I read the book Baby Wise and realized it was my fault - not his! Basically the problem was that I'd feed him until he fell asleep! Then when he wakes up and is still tired, he thought he had to eat again to go back to sleep! At about 9 months I really started to notice that he was waking up in the middle of the night, nursing for 2 minutes and immediately falling back asleep! I finally said - enough - and let him cry it out! He didn't cry long, and was out! Within 2 nights of this he was sleeping thru the night!

With ds2 I started the sleep, eat, wake cycle with him from the beginning! He was/is a MUCH better sleeper!

Of course when they're REALLY little you don't necessarily want to let them cry it out! I'm not sure when you're really supposed to start this, but with ds3 I've been doing the sleep, eat, wake cycle from the beginning so if he does wake up he is able to put himself back to sleep! If for some reason he doesn't want to sleep and fusses too long, then I do pick him up a bit, rock him a little and then put him back down for another try!

Anyway, I know a lot of people don't like the cry it out method, but really my kids didn't really cry that much - they had the pattern down for the most part and it makes it a lot easier! They don't feed to fall asleep (except in the middle of the night, of course - no wake cycles then) and when I put them down I try to make sure they're a little awake so that they put themselves to sleep!

Hope this helps!

Noahsmommy · 10-06-2007, 11:26 PM

Here I AM AGAIN! Buy a sleep sheep or sleep sheep on the go! They are buy cloud-b. Cloud b - Helping Children and Babies Sleep Easier and Safer try and find it in a department store if possible or you can get it at a materinty boutique or on the website. It is WONDERFUL. My son was helpless against it. It has a rain noise a river noise an ocean noise and a whale noise. Its the best thing ever. You could also let him sleep in his bouncer if he has one. My son slept in his with his sleep sheep until he was 4 months.

faerieflr · 10-07-2007, 12:22 AM

Sorry to be unhelpful and glib but....

L U C K!!!!!!!!!

Noahsmommy · 10-07-2007, 12:26 AM

I wanted to note that we also have the twilight turtle.

Kimberley · 10-07-2007, 12:45 AM

i just held my kids when they were that age, i loved holding them all the time, i also swaddled, and would rock them to sleep and i would rock them for about 15 minutes to make sure they were out solid before i put them down. i have never had any sleep problems with my kids doing this. for your ds, i would just leave him lying there if he is not fussing, and if he is fussing leave him there for 10 minutes unkless he is really freaking out, but if he is just whining a bit, chances are he'll go back to sleep. with my dd i had an ocean wonders thing for her crib and she loved it on the ocean one. it soothed her to sleep very quickly.