Hi moms,
My almost 10 month old son stands up in his crib the moment I put him in there, and will stay standing for a reeeeeally long time. I am not sure if he doesn't know how to get back down, but I know he LOVES to stand. If I try to lay him down again, he just gets up again, even if he is very tired. This could go on for hours if I let it. Since he started doing that, I rock him to sleep myself and only put him in the crib once he is asleep. Is there another way? Or do I wait until this stage passes and then start putting him to while he is still awake? I just hope I'm not messing him up :) Thanks!
More info: Before he started standing in his crib he fell asleep just fine by himself. He didn't cry, just talked himself to sleep. I don't like letting him cry it out, so if he cries I make sure to calm him. But he stands up now, and doesn't cry. He could stand there a very long time just talking to himself, he is not really calling for me.
My son did the same thing. When he got a little bit older, he even started jumping while holding on to the side of the crib. He was so proud of himself! We just left him alone because he wasn't crying, and eventually he got so tired he layed down all by himself and went to sleep. He still does this. Before we go to bed, we go in and cover him up and make sure that his legs and arms are not sticking out of the crib. Hope this helps!
I'm with Mom B. Weisbluth is not the end all be all that people have made him out to be. There is more research that disputes everything he says. It's amazing to me that one doctor writes a book telling you to go against every instinct as a mother and everyone believes it. I think your son has just learned a new skill and is trying it out. It will probably get old to him soon and he'll start going to sleep on his own again. Until then, if you want to rock him, do it to your heart's content! Don't let anyone tell you that he's too dependent on you. He's supposed to be, he's 10 months old!!! Since when do little babies need to be independent. You can't mess up a child by holding them and loving them. Only by ignoring them can you do lasting damage to your son. At the same time, if he's not crying or calling out for you, you might want to leave him and see if he can figure out how to get back down on his own. Encouraging a new skill is a positive thing. Good luck and follow your gut instincts as a mom, not a book.
My son is 18 months old, and I have to say it doesn't get easier. He is in a toddler bed now...About a half hour before bed time we go in his room and both lay in his bed. I turn on Barney and he falls asleep to Barney...then I sneek out of his room. He might wake up once or twice during the night- and I will just go in his room for 5 minutes, hold his hand, and he goes right back to sleep. I tried Weisbluth- it worked until my son was about 10 months- after that I could not do it anymore.
If I were you, I wouldn't pick him up. He may be doing it for you to pick him up. Once you get into that habbit, it will be hard to break him of it. Trust me. We would rock my daughter to sleep, and everynight from that point on, she needed to be rocked asleep. Another bad habbit is letting your child come to bed with you, because of crying and then think that you will put her in her bed when she falls asleep. 4 years and she still takes over my bed. We put her in her bed when she is asleep and sometime during the night, she wakes up and sneaks into our bed again. That was my husbands doing. Now, he has no where to sleep. His own fault!! My advice to you would be turn the lights off, and walk away. Check on him now and then, but try not to let him see you.
It sounds like your boy is very smart and has already trained you! He knows that you will eventually rock him to sleep -- and what child wouldn't like that? I don't think this is a temporary stage: I think your son will continue his behavior (to get exactly what he wants) until he learns that you will no longer be manipulated. I would recommend finding a sleep training method and sticking to it. There are many books available. With my kids, I have used the sleep training methods of Dr. Marc Weissbluth, "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child," which would urge you to teach him to soothe himself to sleep instead of depending upon you to rock him. This can be done using "cry-it-out" (just let him cry without ever going into the room) or "check-and-console" (let him cry, but enter his room in a specific fashion at increasing longer intervals). Dr. Weissbluth's book can teach you these options, if you choose.
Whatever book or sleep method you choose, your son will NOT be happy if you stop rocking him to sleep -- so be prepared for his behavior to escalate before he comes around to the new behavior you are trying to teach!
After I read that book, I threw it in the garbage, because that is where that book belongs. Please do the research on what happens to babies and children when you let them cry it out.
