My son has recently started to wake up at night around 2ish and will not go back to sleep unless he comes to bed with my husband and me.I want to say that we do rock him to sleep and he has never slept with us all night before,usually only a couple of hours but often it is easier for us to bring him into bed with us but i know it has to stop.I usually let him cry for long periods hoping he will fall back asleep but if i do go in there he is standing up with his arms out ready for me to bring him into our bed. Today I tried to just put him in his crib for his nap without rocking him and i told him it was nap time, i gave him his blanket and walked away, he cried for about a half an hour off and on, my husband went in told him to lay down, he rubbed his head for a minute and he fell asleep. my question is what should we do to let him know he needs to go to bed on his own.im at a loss because I do not want him sleeping with us.
Establish a good routine, perhaps bath then books with cuddle time, then lay him in his crib. If you are comfortable with letting him cry, try the Ferber method (you can find it online or buy his books). Generally after 2-4 weeks of working on getting this routine in place, things will be smoother and you will all sleep better!
Good Luck!
K.,
I do not think you need to stop rocking him, unless you are rocking him to sleep and then putting him in his crib. I have a small music box that plays for 10 minutes. When the music is over, my daughter knows it is time for bed. We also have a music machine attached to her crib that we have noticed she uses recently in the middle of the night to soothe herself back to sleep. (http://www.amazon.com/Fisher-Price-Lullabye-Birdies-Sooth.... Perhaps something like this in his crib will help him know that it is ok to be in his crib by himself. The one for the link above has several different setting you can set it on and a ton of different songs. It automatically goes off after 20 minutes. It is user friendly for the little ones cuz all they have to do is press the little blue bird. We do not turn it on for her, but after we leave her room, we do hear it going on. Sometimes she will wake in the middle of the night and wiper a bit and then we hear her "music machine" and she goes right back to sleep. My doctor told me children at this age are smarter than we give them credit for. If he is doing this constantly, he knows he will be able to go to bed with you. Try the Ferber method and let him know YOU are in control. Be strong and give it a few weeks. It takes 7 days to break a habit and 21 days for your mind to break the habit.
Whatever you decided will be right and perfect because you are his mother and only you can make the decision on what you feel is right for him. Good luck and please feel free to email me personally if you need to vent!
Jenn
Mama to Bryce~9, Austin~6, Taylor~16mnths
Step Mama to Nich~15, Christian~14
I hate to say this so blunt, but if you are rocking him to sleep "Stop rocking him". You can rock him, just not right before bed!Do not let him sleep in your bed. If worse comes to worst, camp out on his floor to avoid giving in to him. Dont camp out all night though (that starts a new habit). When he awakes, let him cry for a bit. If he starts screaming, wait a min, then go in and let him know you are there. I ssshhhhhhh. I do not speak. If you have to camp out, just do so. Just say...mommy is going to lay here on the floor till you fall asleep. Try not to fall asleep, just pretend. Then when he is almost asleep...leave. You may want to do so before he falls asleep so that when he wakes up, he is not wondering where you went, cause he saw u leave. This is all something I and many moms hzave had to go through, and or still doing so.I have let my daughter cry it out, but I too have been weak, and giving in....it doesnt help. One thing at that age is that they love to read. When putting him in for nap, give him a book, and tell him to read(dont mention nap)...he will eventually go to sleep. Night terrors are very common at this age too.........Dont pick him up, just sooth (yes, they still need comforting). Best of luck...keep me posted.
You might be trying to make this happen too soon. I do not thing there is anything wrong with soothing or rocking them to sleep. I have a three and half year old and I still rub her head and sing to her when it is time for bed. I would probably still rock her if I had not needed the rocker for my other children.
