How to Get Baby to Fall Asleep On Her Own?

by Kyla
(Canada)

My husband and I have recently got our 8 month old to fall asleep without breastfeeding, but she still needs to be rocked and cuddled. I would like to just be able to put her to bed at night and for her naps and have her fall asleep on her own.

How can we do this with minimal crying? I have tried just putting her down, but I tend to give up and get her when the crying escalates too much and I know that doesn't help.

Thanx Kyla

Oh, and my husband works shifts so sometimes he is not home at night!

Baby Help Line:

Helping 8 Month Baby To Fall Asleep Alone Without CIO

How about a two step method; instead of putting your daughter down in her own bed, consider putting her down in your bed and lay down next to her. This way she'll get used to falling asleep in a bed rather than in your arms.

If you first let her be in your arms for a while, until she is really sleepy and then put her down and lay down beside her, she will probably accept this at least after a while, since mom is still there.

After a while, start skipping the rocking all together and just lay down next to her.

Once this works fine, you can start trying to lift her over to her own bed when she has almost fallen asleep in yours.

This method might take a while, but it has worked for my babies, when they have had periods of refusing to fall asleep alone.

Being 8 months old, it is not strange that she wants to be close to you, considering the separation anxiety many babies experience at around this age.

Do you think this could work out for you? It might not be as fast as just letting her cry it out, but it seems to me you don't like that (I agree!). Also, 8-9 months is a sensitive age so I'd recommend a gentle method!

Hope this helps,

Paula

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How to Get Baby to Fall Asleep On Her Own?

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May 21, 2009

same proplem
by: amira

i have 9 monthes girl baby too , she hate to sleep alone , i had all the time to carry her in arm and shaking , walking , singing till she falls in a sleep , but now she got heavier and i cant do this any more , but she still hate to sleep on her own , during the day and in night , this is making our day a horrow ..
i tried this way to put her with me in bed till she sleeps , yes it works , and then i move to her own bed , but after some few days , she refuse to sleep except in our own bed ,, and even if she do and i ry to lay her down in her bed ,,, she feel it , and she wake up screaming like crazy ..
but simply to let her sleep in our own bed is not acceptable by any way ,, and i dont know wht to do
her grandmother tell me tht i should let her crying in her own bed , whtever how she cry or how long , at end she will sleep , and may be one week and she will use this way and accept it then
but i have fear to do this , to let her cry tht much i feel she cant breath any more . and her face comes really full red .. or may she got a psyco proplem ... or she is a baby and this will not hurt ....
please please please help me sooooooon
my life is destroyed

Jan 19, 2010

Similar Problem..
by: Anonymous

I co-sleep with my 5 month old baby girl, but am having a tough time getting her to fall asleep on her own. I have been rocking her to sleep in my arms since she was a newborn. Now she needs to be rocked EVERY SINGLE time she wants to sleep. It is extremely tiring for me as I am the one looking after her for the whole day and I am simply exhausted. Can anyone teach me how to let her fall asleep on the bed without me carrying and rocking her?

Apr 01, 2011

Crying it out
by: Motherly love

I have an 8 month old that I had to rock to sleep every night and every nap time,so I know where you are coming from. Fianlly my mom told me to let her cry it out. I know it sounds so mean but it worked!!! Probley the HARDEST thing I have ever done and I felt so horrible listening to her cry, but it works great now. I put her to bed for two naps a day, both time I kiss her and hug her and say night night, then lay her down. The first week she cried for almost an hour, but now she cries for about 10 minutes and then sleeps for 1-2hours. And bed time is great now! I put her to bed, she cries a bit and is asleep by 8pm and sleeps the whole night until 9am the next morning. Im telling any mother to really try it.....its really hard the first week, but after that its easier. We even stayed at a hotel last week and I thought she could sleep with us for the night, she ended up tossing and turning so much we made a bed on the floor for her and she slept the rest of the night with out moving.
Im a new mom but let me tell you, how much eaiser it got around here with me just letting her cry it out for a few days.

Apr 11, 2012

Update on sleeping baby
by: Kyla

I wrote in awhile ago about wanting to put my 9 month old down in her crib and have her go to sleep on her own. I just wanted to let you know what we did. It was quite a long process but I am happy with where we have ended up.

First I used your technic of pressing the cheek to stop breastfeeding to sleep an then we walked and bounced her to sleep.

After that I walked her to sleep in the stroller for awhile because I felt that she needed to learn the tools of falling asleep on her own before I expected her to do it in her crib. We also did this in the middle of the night and it really cut down on those nighttime wakings (no snuggles, but very little tears).

Finally I just put her to bed in her crib, but I didn't leave her to cry on her own (I just cant!) I stayed with her, sang, rubbed her belly, patted her chest, and calmly tucked her back in when she squirmed out of her blankets.

The first night it took her 40 minutes to go to sleep and there was some very angry crying. The next night was 10 minutes and then 5.

We have stuck with this routine. It typically takes me less than 5 minutes in the room with her to send her off to dreamland. She practically puts herself to sleep on my shoulder on the way down the hall now and just closes her eyes and drifts off. She still gets up twice to nurse at night, but sleeps for 12 hours so thats still Ok with me.

The next step I plan is to slowly move away from the bed and into the hallway, but right now she goes to sleep so fast I don't feel the need to do that right away. This was definitely what all of us needed at this time. I am amazed at how much faster she goes to sleep now.

When we were walking with her it would take 20-30 minutes and then she would sometimes wake up when I put her down.

Anyways, I just wanted to say thanks for your advice. I am really enjoying having some time in the evening to spend with my husband now.

Kyla

Baby Help Line Response:

Kyla,

I'm so glad for you! I know very well the relief when you suddenly get to be adults - not just parents - again in the evening!

You obviously did a great job with your daughter and completely without any "cry it out" - excellent, in my view!

Thanks a lot for writing back, it really makes my work very rewarding!

(The weaning process by pressing a baby's cheek can be found here.

Paula

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