Getting Boys To Sleep Without Rocking

Hi All,

I'm having a bit of a dilemma. Every night our bedtime routine consists of DH and I each rocking a baby to sleep. It gets especially difficult if, say, one of us isn't home during bedtime, or if we have a babysitter for the night. So my question is, what have been your experiences with different sleep techniques? I have no problem trying CIO but DH is a bit of a pansy (lol) and doesn't like to hear the boys cry for more than a minute or two. Also, is it too late to try and start implementing a new sleep routine, or are we doomed to rocking for life?

Thank you!

 

I would take care of changing it now, while they are still in cribs. Since you are willing to let them CIO, send DH to the movies or something, and go ahead and do it

 

Mine are 19 months and we JUST (within the last 2 weeks) transitioned from rocking/being held to going to sleep by themselves (we still have to be in the room though) in their own beds. Ours have been in toddler beds for a couple of months due to baby brother joining our family.


My one girl will NOT CIO for anything. She'll cry all right, but it will be ALL NIGHT LONG, literally.

Ours were used to just playing till they dropped, or 'J' would have to sit on the couch with DH to fall asleep. Or be rocked, or be snuggled right on top of you in the bed.

We went from that, to me first off setting a bed time of No later than 7:30. Previously it would be anywhere from 7 to 9 and sometimes later. We start getting ready for bed by 7:15 by changing diapers, brushing teeth and putting PJ's on (every other night the routine starts at 6:45 with a bath) I'd shut the door to the room and kick DH out ('J' has a very strong attachment to DH, he can NOT put her to bed or get her in the middle of the night, it makes it worse for her) we would all get in our big rocker/recliner chair, and I would read "goodnight Moon" one time. Then I would go through my list of 3 songs (twinkle twinkle, rock a by, and hush little baby) 2 or 3 times. Then I'd put them in their beds. The first few nights I'd wait till they were asleep before moving them. Then I started moving them when they were groggy. After they are in their beds and tucked in, for 'J' I turn on the sound machine, and for 'T' I turn on her little frog taht plays goodnight music for 10 minutes at a time. Then I'd just sit in the chair until they were knocked out. Eventually, after a few days, We've gotten to the point where they go in the room, get changed, and just climb straight into their beds. I turn on their noise makers, and just sit in the chair till they fall asleep.

Our only major hurdle now is to get me OUT of the room. I'm working on just putting them in their bed, turnign on the music, and sitting right in the doorway. Hopefully I'll be able to just walk out in the next few days.

It IS possible, and it's NOT to late. Yours are younger than mine. When people say consistensy is the key, they are SO RIGHT. I used to think, "yea right, they don't know my kids" but it worked!

Pick a routine, and stick to it, whatever it may be. We've made significant progress in only 2 weeks, I thought it would take a few MONTHS to get them into an easy bedtime routine at this age, if we could even do it at all...

 

QUOTE(blueclouds @ Aug 16 2008, 01:33 AM) [snapback]932894[/snapback]
Mine are 19 months and we JUST (within the last 2 weeks) transitioned from rocking/being held to going to sleep by themselves (we still have to be in the room though) in their own beds. Ours have been in toddler beds for a couple of months due to baby brother joining our family.
My one girl will NOT CIO for anything. She'll cry all right, but it will be ALL NIGHT LONG, literally.

Ours were used to just playing till they dropped, or 'J' would have to sit on the couch with DH to fall asleep. Or be rocked, or be snuggled right on top of you in the bed.

We went from that, to me first off setting a bed time of No later than 7:30. Previously it would be anywhere from 7 to 9 and sometimes later. We start getting ready for bed by 7:15 by changing diapers, brushing teeth and putting PJ's on (every other night the routine starts at 6:45 with a bath) I'd shut the door to the room and kick DH out ('J' has a very strong attachment to DH, he can NOT put her to bed or get her in the middle of the night, it makes it worse for her) we would all get in our big rocker/recliner chair, and I would read "goodnight Moon" one time. Then I would go through my list of 3 songs (twinkle twinkle, rock a by, and hush little baby) 2 or 3 times. Then I'd put them in their beds. The first few nights I'd wait till they were asleep before moving them. Then I started moving them when they were groggy. After they are in their beds and tucked in, for 'J' I turn on the sound machine, and for 'T' I turn on her little frog taht plays goodnight music for 10 minutes at a time. Then I'd just sit in the chair until they were knocked out. Eventually, after a few days, We've gotten to the point where they go in the room, get changed, and just climb straight into their beds. I turn on their noise makers, and just sit in the chair till they fall asleep.

Our only major hurdle now is to get me OUT of the room. I'm working on just putting them in their bed, turnign on the music, and sitting right in the doorway. Hopefully I'll be able to just walk out in the next few days. It IS possible, and it's NOT to late. Yours are younger than mine. When people say consistensy is the key, they are SO RIGHT. I used to think, "yea right, they don't know my kids" but it worked!

Pick a routine, and stick to it, whatever it may be. We've made significant progress in only 2 weeks, I thought it would take a few MONTHS to get them into an easy bedtime routine at this age, if we could even do it at all...


This is similar to the method recommended in The No Cry Sleep Solution. I tried to CIO with my oldest at 10 months and it was a disaster. He cried for hours on end. I read the book, we tried this and it worked. It does take patience and persistence but within a month it was the no cry sleep solution. As for leaving the room, I told my ds I had to go to the bathroom and I'd brb and I would come back. After a week or so I'd increase the amount of time I was gone. Eventually my ds started falling asleep while I was gone. The earlier you start the less hard it will be and the easier the transition will be on them.

G/L.

 

We have actually just started a new bedtime routine beacsue we have always rocked the twins to sleep.
DS started fussing some when we were rocking him so, we decided to just do it now or we were going to have problems. I do miss our cuddle time though!
Here's what we have started doing:
baths,pj's,sippys with warm milk, then we put them in their cribs awake & turn on the sound machine,give kisses & I tell them it's night night time turn off the lights and close the door.
The first couple of nights DD cryed/whinned for about 5 mins then went to sleep but, DS had no problem.
Now they know when we go in there it's bedtime and it's soooooo much easier then having to rock & rock for an hour!!

Good Luck!!!

 

We did CIO with all 3 of our kids and it was hard for the few days, but it worked. They are all great sleepers and go to sleep every night on their own (and Emilie is even in a bed and goes to sleep by herself). I agree with Sharon and would take care of this now. I think kids sleep much better when they know how to fall asleep on their own. Good luck!!