How to Stop Rocking?

I feel like she is only 13 months old, why stop? My little girl is 3 1/2 now, and I miss rocking her to sleep.... They are only babies for a short while, enjoy it while you can :-)

Try putting her on her stomach, and then patting her butt........enough to bounce her..............that worked for my son.........

If not, then try to wear her out during the day.........after her last nap......let her run around the house a little bit more, have some fun play time of some sort that she is moving alot.........do you exercise? Let her do some too, play exercises are fun for kids.....

Also, take the rocker out of her room........put it away, pretend you gave it away.......something..............Oh, and another great tool to get kids to sleep quickly, hold her like a baby, and twist back and forth at your waist......do it rather quickly, they fall asleep pretty fast because they can't focus their eyes on anything because you are moving..........works like a charm at any age.......plus it was exercise for me trying to lose weight. I use it on the grandkids now.

Good Luck and take care.

What about something totally different? Like a walking tour once around the house with her in your arms. Say goodnight to the kitchen, the living room the bathroom, your bedroom, etc., etc., and lastly, her bedroom.

I agree that you need to start a bedtime routine that your daughter can always depend on. My son (16 months) takes a bath, brushes his teeth, gets water, we read him stories, say prayers, sing songs, and then lights out. It's the same every night, and everything happens at the same time every night, too. This kind of routine will signal to your daughter that it's time for bed, and after a couple of weeks, you'll notice that she automatically gets sleepy as she goes through the routine. Also, at 13-months, your daughter needs a dependable bedtime. Decide what time your daughter needs to go to bed, and stick to it.

As for the rocking, I differ from other posters in that I recommend weaning. Having her cry it out right now seems a little cruel because you haven't yet taught her how to put herself to sleep yet. She needs to learn this skill first. We weaned my son off of rocking, although he was much younger than yours when we did it. Rock your daughter until she is not asleep, but very tired (blinking, closing her eyes occasionally, etc.) Then put her in her bed. Never put her down asleep, but don't put her down wide awake, either, or you'll be doing CIO for a long time! If she wakes up and fusses, go ahead and let her CIO, but if she screams for more than 5-10 minutes, try again. Hopefully, combined with a solid bedtime routine and a predictable bedtime, she will learn to drift off the last little bit in her crib.

Once she learns to put herself to sleep (I would think it will take at least several weeks, possibly more like a month or so), you can begin rocking her for shorter periods of time and putting her down more and more awake until she will learn to put herself to sleep. This entire process may take months, but hopefully it will be a little less painful than just trying to quit cold turkey, especially since your posting implies you've tried that and it isn't working. I wish you the best of luck.

I rocked my daughter until she was 4 almost 5. She is 9 almost 10 now and I am lucky if she sits in my lap for any length of time. I rocked my son until he was 3 almost 4. He is now almost 5 and I get to rock him maybe once a month if I am lucky. I miss my rocking time with my babies. This was special time for me and them to cuddle and bond. I would sing to them or talk to them. It was only for a few short minutes ever night minutes that I would not trade for anything.
You were getting more sleep when you were rocking her than you are now. If she was letting you lay her down once you rocked her and staying asleep then I think it is much better then you having to check on her every few minutes and then cleaning up vomit nightly because she wants you to hold her. And much better then you laying a mat down in her room and sleeping on the floor when you could be sleeping in your own bed and resting much better.
Children grow way too fast and rocking he will not be a forever chore. When that time is gone you will miss it.

I firmly believe in versions of CIO at this age. She's not in charge, you are. Time to lay down the law.
If she cries so hard she vomits, then go in, clean her up and put her right back down again. Don't talk to her. Don't rock her and try to soothe her that way. She needs to fall asleep on her own, like it or not. And at this point, she KNOWS what will get you to come to her.
She also doesn't need a bottle (especially a bottle) anywhere near bedtime anymore. I stopped that around 9 mos when DS started eating regular food and regular meals. Give her a sippy of water, if she's thirsty. Nothing more. She's not hungry, it's habit.

Sorry this may all sound cold, but you have to take the reigns. You can do in a gentle way and still soothe her, but you have to be firm in "how it's going to be". Develop a new routine all together and stick to it. Maybe story time while rocking before you put her down? After a few nights, she should get the message.

I'd say just keep rocking her. 13 months is not too old to rock. I usually rocked mine until around 2 years old. It is easier to start laying them down then. I only rocked at nite after about a year old. They need that closeness and it doesn't hurt you either. I believe 13 months is too young to remove that bonding closeness that rocking to sleep provides.

Start a new bedtime routine that involves cuddling on the couch or in a stationary chair- read a book, little backrub, something totally different, but still soothing. Then put her down at the same time each night and prepare yourself for a tantrum. Stay consistent and don't pick her up! I know that people think the CIO method is harsh, but it works quickly (3-4 nights) and we have had no sleep problems since!

My son also cried so hard he would vomit. We rocked him until he was 2+ and finally quit when I began to resent him (totally MY fault, not his!) If she sleeps in a crib, try lying down on her bedroom floor and hold her hand through the crib slats. Get yourself a good sleeping mat and take your blanket and pillow with you!

I agree with the posters below, you'll have to switch up the routine a bit and be consistent with the new routine and be prepared to withstand crying for a few nights. With our son, I rocked him until recently, but never all the way to sleep, only as our last little bit of cuddle time before going to bed. In your situation, since she expects the rocking until sleep, it might be best to take rocking out of the picture all together and replace it with something else. I've found that changing our son's routine was always easiest when some new element was introduced. For example, we didn't include rocking on the nights he didn't sleep in his crib (during transition to bed) and those nights we sat in his new room to read before bed instead (rocking chair is in the nursery) and now we don't rock anymore. Have you tried getting a music/projector machine? My son loves that still. He would lay and relax and fall asleep in his crib after rocking and watch the "movie" on the ceiling and listen to the music, so that makes it more fun to go to bed awake instead of already asleep.

Unless there is a need to stop it, I wouldn't. My almost 6 year old was rocked to sleep every night of his life until he was about 4.

My now 2 year old was rocked to sleep every night of his life until about 2 months ago, he started putting himself to sleep.

The baby (almost 8 months) doens't like to be rocked, but loves her swing, or will put herself to sleep.

Personally, I'd not stop until the child was ready. Enjoy the cuddles time while you can, before long, she'll be too big to want to sit in mommy's lap for any length of time.

In my opinion, you chose to rock her, you got her hooked on it. Why punish her for your decisions now that you no longer want to rock her? Why make her cry so hard she vomits just because you all of a sudden want to stop something you started to comfort her? Can you imagine how confusing this is for her? She's not ready for that comfort to stop.

If you really need to stop, slowly do this. This has become a great comfort to her. She spends time in mommy's arms. You can't just stop and expect her to be okay with it. Do it slowly if you must do it at all. Slowly over a few months reduce the time spent rocking.

This sounds just like my daughter. I rocked her until 18 months and thought I could get her to sleep on her own. After having her vomit a few times, I put her in my bed. She is almost 4 and is still in here with us. :)

This won't make you feel better, my mom rocked me until I was 5!!!
The fact that she gets so worked up that she will make herself vomit, makes me think I would rather rock her than clean up vomit....but that is just me. I still would try to work her into a routine that is easier for you, my kids all loved a bath and a bedtime story or singing lullabyes...I NEVER rocked any of my babies, my mom scared me too bad about that one! Don't feel bad, I made other bad choice, my first son was in bed co-sleeping with me until he was 3...that was definitely worse than rocking. I don't think 13 months old is too old, she still needs love and soothing...lots of luck = ) I am sorry I have never been fond of the CIO method...seems mean to me.