How did you get your babies to sleep?

Lady Heather - posted on 02/29/2012

Also CIO I know would not work for this baby. I know people think there's a "right way", but Annie's crying will only escalate if you don't pick her up. Having had two such different babies, this is all pretty clear to me. The things I did with my first simply won't work with my second.

Lady Heather - posted on 02/29/2012

You must have my kids Becky! They sound exactly the same. My younger daughter is now four months and she still won't sleep on her own for naps. I have managed to get my bed back at night now though! She has her crib next to my bed. At two months I was bed sharing and now she does 7-8 hours a night in her crib. Woot.

Becky - posted on 02/29/2012

My older daughter was so easy! From day one home from the hospital we put her in her crib and after just a few minutes she'd sleep. She didn't cry much at all and as she got older, nap or bed time, she'd just go with out a fight, argument or drama. I think I get more fight from her now at 10 years old than I ever have in the past.



My new baby hasn't been so simple. She is 8 weeks old now. She hasn't wanted to sleep unless she was being held, and mostly by mom only. In trying to get her accustom to laying down for naps, I tried setting her in the pack & play, but she'd wake in 10 minutes or less after I put her down. Recently I'm working on getting her to sleep in her crib over night too. Yesterday, using one of those swadlers, I managed to get her to nap in her crib twice for 2-3 hours each time all on her own! I tried overnight last night and she slept for just over 1/2 the night in her crib. After she woke to nurse, I put her back to bed. In about 15 minutes, she was fussing. I went to her, gave her her nook and sat in the rocking chair next to the crib. She'd fall right back to sleep, but if I left the chair, she'd wake up. I finally gave in and brought her back to bed with me after over an hour of that (there was also a wind storm with slushy snow last night so it was loud outside the window). I figured 1/2 the night was a big first step!



I'm going to try again tonight, but I'm not going to let her cry. She's far to young for that, and she doesn't stop after a bit like some babies. Once she's upset, she'll keep crying until someone cuddles her.



I think each child and each family is different. There is no one method that will work for every baby or every family.

Cindy - posted on 02/28/2012

I let him cried...but would go in after 5 minutes (to start) and reassure him that I was just in the other room and kiss him. I would not pick him up that would only lead him to cling to me. After the first 5 minutes I would up it to 10 than to 15 and eventually he started to go down when I put him to bed without a fussy. There can be slight set backs, when they are sick or teething. It also got a lot easier when he was about a 1.5 and I converted him bed to a toddler bed. With him in and out of the room to see it. I dont think he liked being Caged in a Crib.



Its a trial and error process. Its whatever works best for you are your family. letting them cry does not hurt them. You know the cries if they are hungry, hurt, tired, etc. you use your judgement.



Start off with naptimes. and even reward them. Let them know when they wake or or if they go down without a fuss and make a HUGE deal out of it.

Mother - posted on 02/28/2012

Just Me...how could you have done it ALL WRONG....if it worked for both you and baby??? :)

Laura Zoey - posted on 02/28/2012

How did you do it all wrong with your son?

Cuz IMHO your choices for your daughter were 'all wrong' for my babies.

Laura Zoey - posted on 02/28/2012

Funny, I found research saying its normal for babies to need night time feeds until 2 years!

No need to let babies cry if you don't want to.

My babies are always nursed to sleep and usually held while they sleep. No crying at all. :)

At 4 monts, 9months, 1.5 years, 2 years lol any age, if they cry I respond soon as possible. Especially for bed time.

Lyssa - posted on 02/28/2012

i perosnally did research on how old a baby is when they shouldn't have to have nighttime feedings anymore. i did it all wrong with my son, trust me, so with my daughter i looked into it a bit more. it is said that at 4 months, they no longer need to wake up to eat, they do it out of habit. so my hubby and i did the controlled crying it out for about a week, then just let her cry it out, which would only take about 5 min and lasted maybe 3 nights. the only times she woke up after that period was 3 weeks of torture with teething, she didn't take to that well at all! but now, she sleeps at least 9-10 hrs, and 2 short naps during the day. hope that helps!

Mother - posted on 02/28/2012

I don't have wee ones anymore. :( Bedtime was MY favourite time, for a couple reasons. It meant cuddle time and later....MOMMY TIME!! I always nursed my daughter and then rocked her while humming a little song. When I could tell she was going to go off to sleep, I just put her in her bed, all tucked in a warm blanket and POOF....out like a light.

Kateryna - posted on 02/26/2012

Most of the time my doc is pretty understanding about most of the things I have done for my baby...and most of her advice has worked for my son....just not the whole cry to sleep thing. I totally agree with all the other moms....a bedtime routine helps ALOT!!!!! Before we had one, my son was getting up every two hours...now he only gets up one or two times...sometimes three if he isn't feeling well...

Sherri - posted on 02/24/2012

It has been different with each of my kids and I don't think there is a perfect way it is different with each child and each mom.

Rebecca - posted on 02/23/2012

I agree with giving your kids a lead up and warning about bed. As my daughter has gotten older, I let her know bedtime/shower time is coming. I sing the song "Five More Minutes" that she learned in her music class (they sing it at the end of the call to prepare the kids and get them to tidy up a bit). She sees this as a signal to finish up whatever activity she's into and it is less jarring.



I used to just say, "Okay, time for bed!", as she got a bit older though she would get kind of knocked off balance and have a tantrum about the whole thing. With the warning, she's a lot better about it. Of course, she's not perfect about it, some nights she's grumpy no matter what. Still, it helps.

Laura Zoey - posted on 02/23/2012

I don't follow a set routine before bed but I guess there are a few things that happen preceding bed time. Pajamas, clean diaper, tv turned off, lay in bed, nurse, lights off. I think just letting toddlers and older kids know what's coming helps. They don't like being caught off guard with bed time they need to mentally prepare themselves.

I know I hate going to bed when I'm not tired but if I know it's comming in a few minutes I can sort of gear up for bed.

All my baby needs is the trusty boob to go to sleep though :)

Sarah - posted on 02/23/2012

Both of my kids have a routine & they have to follow it every night or they have meltdowns. We do it in this order: a little drink of water, brushing teeth, going potty (my 3.5 year old, not my 20 month old) read a book or two & cuddles. I sit in their room until they fall asleep (usually 10-15 minutes) With my 20 month old, he likes to be cuddled to sleep & only mommy can put him to bed (if daddy is the only option, he will fall asleep for daddy - or even grandma is grandma is around) There's no perfect way of getting your kid to fall asleep. Just find what method you most feel comfortable with & stick to it. I'm not a fan of the CIO method, but that's my opinion.

Rachael - posted on 02/23/2012

i don't think there is a perfect way to get babies to sleep, it all depends on the child and the parents. I used CIO from 6 months to get my son to go to sleep and after a few days he just started talking himself to sleep. It worked well for me. Before 6 months I would walk him or rock him, and climb up stairs with him

Rebecca - posted on 02/23/2012

That being said, I was pretty out there as far as my "gut" went the first year or so. Granted I had PPD/PPA, but my gut would tell me things that weren't always the best thing for me and the baby. Like getting out more and allowing my husband to feed her/hold her.



Sometimes, it's not a bad thing to take a doc or loved ones advice.

**Jackie** - posted on 02/23/2012

Kateryna (love your name btw), always always always go with your gut. Your doctor may have a degree but YOU know YOUR baby best. :)

Laura Zoey - posted on 02/23/2012

Get a new dr kateryna.

Their expertise is medicine, not emotional needs.

Rocking your baby to sleep is a wonderful gift to him.

And the dr should butt out



Your doing great :)

Kateryna - posted on 02/23/2012

I have been rocking my son to sleep for eight months. His doc wants me to just let him cry himself to sleep, but my gut tells me not to. They say moms know best and to follow your instincts, cuz most of the time we are right. I say do what you feel is best for your child. Because in the long run, it'll work out for the best most of the time.

Teresa - posted on 02/23/2012

I nursed the girls for every nap and bed until we weaned at 15 months. Then they just went to bed w/ their binkies til right before 2. Then they just went to bed... but I had to drive them for a nap every day for 6 months. There were a few times in the middle of the night of 'CIO' (my ex's version and I definitely don't agree w/ how he made me do it... but it worked) when a kid wouldn't fall asleep again after nursing.



I nursed my son to sleep every night til 9 months, but there was a point where it was taking an hour and a half to get him to STAY asleep.... and I couldn't function like that. After trying to put him to bed asleep several times I let him cry for an hour... I didn't leave him or stop trying to comfort him the entire time.. I just didn't nurse him. Broke my heart, but it did help and he learned that he COULD fall asleep w/out nursing. I still nursed him every night and for most naps until we weaned at 3.25 years, but if he didn't fall asleep at the bedtime nursing (as happened much more often as he got older)... going to sleep wasn't much of a problem. We gently night weaned at 2.

MaryEllen - posted on 02/22/2012

We carried our firstborn around for hours until he fell asleep, up until sometime after his first birthday (I forget when as her is now 26yo).



Things were different with his baby sister. We co-slept and bedtime was a matter of laying her down and telling her it was time to sleep. She's 10 now, has been out of our bed and out of our room for years, and has never been a problem a bedtime.

Bonnie - posted on 02/22/2012

Definitely agree with that one Elfrieda!

Elfrieda - posted on 02/22/2012

The perfect way is anything that gets everybody enough sleep!

Johnny - posted on 02/22/2012

Generally nursing, rocking, and cuddling. Sometimes singing and patting. We never used CIO really. Tried it once. She just screamed louder and louder and louder, absolutely hysterical turning red and nearly vomiting. Took her hours to recover. Never again.



I think some kids wimper and cry a bit to fall asleep. If that's their personality, I see no really problem with CIO. Not for every kid though, it was definitely not right for my daughter.

September - posted on 02/22/2012

Our son has always been super easy when it comes to bed time he just goes to sleep for the most part. In the first 2 months of life he liked to be rocked to sleep and I loved doing it. I would just stare at him forever. My husband would almost always have to tell me to put him in his bassinette. From 2 months on he no longer liked to be rocked so I just started laying him in his crib and he'd fall asleep on his own. He's 3 now and sometimes he wants me to lay with him, I love the cuddle time, it's about the only time he'll let me cuddle with him so I'm happy to lay with him. I usually ended up telling him at least 3 stories and he likes to tell me stories as well before he's ready to go to sleep. The only thing I disagree with when it comes to putting a baby/child to sleep is letting them sit in their room and cry themselves to sleep, if it’s controlled that’s fine but leaving them to just cry is just wrong imo, unless of course it’s only for a few minutes, but all out screaming for an hour, that's cruel. I don't think there is a perfect way to get one to fall asleep, I think it's whatever works best for your child and yes I'm sure that varies from child to child. I only have one at the moment so I'm just guessing that's the case.

Bonnie - posted on 02/22/2012

Mostly rocking/holding or just staying in the room with them until they are asleep. Didn't use CIO all that much and probably won't with this next baby either. If I do, it will be after a year.

Minnie - posted on 02/22/2012

Boobie. Still do. I feel I've helped Adelaide see sleep as a good thing, since she put herself to bed the other night. I do feel though that she missed out on things, probably just mom guilt, because she didn't seem worse for wear. :)



Yes, I think there's a wrong way to put a baby to sleep. Ignoring them (screaming, hiccuping, retching, turning off the baby monitor, swatting, etc.) doesn't give them a healthy relationship with sleep. I've experience with that.



I believe that nursing and sleep just naturally go hand in hand, but I know that indeed, all babies and mothers are individuals and that doesn't always work for everyone.

Celeste - posted on 02/22/2012

My first daughter was SO easy. She was about 3 months when she started sleeping through the night.



My twin boys came along and they were the opposite. I don't believe in CIO and "self soothing" the first year though we did routine. So I nursed them back to sleep and co slept part time. I felt that they needed that feeding in the middle of the night that first year. When they were about close to 2, we did a method of night weaning. There was crying involved but they were comforted by my husband. It took about a week and they've slept through since then.

Vicki - posted on 02/22/2012

Boob if I'm there or my partner lies down with him. He sometimes still has a nap when he spends the day with Mum and she gets him to sleep by rocking him in the pram... even though his legs are now hanging waaaay out. He's almost finished with day naps now.

Jenni - posted on 02/21/2012

I coslept for the first 6 months for my son. The first 3 months for my daughter.



Sometimes they nursed to sleep and I'd attempt many times to lay them in their cot, over and over. I'd shh/pat them until they were half asleep and lay them down. Repeat if they fussed. My daughter took a soother for the first 4-6 weeks. So that helped. It was a lot of work but when we'd get too frustrated/tired we'd cosleep.



Eventually, they got more and more use to their crib/cot.. And sleeping became a breeze once they discovered their loveys and I got to know their routine. My son is 3.5 and still absolutely has to sleep with his. He's allowed to crawl in bed with me in the morning. But mornings only.



I thank The Baby Whisperer. :) (side note: cosleeping wasn't suggested in the book though but some of the other methods I used were)

MeMe - Raises Her Hand (-_-) (Mommy Of A Toddler And Teen) - posted on 02/21/2012

I breastfed my daughter until she would fall asleep and I allowed her to sleep with me until she was 3. BIG MISTAKE. It was hell getting her into her bed at that age.



No way was I doing that this time with my son. I breastfed him to sleep until 3.5 months. I then tried the "no cry" method, which was a disaster for us, he would fall asleep but as soon as I laid him in his crib he would be wide awake and freak out. I wasn't going to stand there all night, every night to get him back to sleep and I can't get up all hours of the night; too cranky, too old! So by 5 months, I had done a bunch of research and he got to CIO. He cried for the 1st 3 nights (40mins, 20mins, then 10mins - I however did go in and check on him every 10-15mins but ONLY to give him a kiss and pat his head quickly, he was 5 months so he wasn't moving alot - just so he knew Mommy was still around) and ever since then he has slept 11-12 hours every single night (I always check on him before I go to bed). He may have woke a few times over the past 11 months but he gets to cry if he does (unless he is sick of course), it is only ever for a min or two now, before maybe 5mins at most. I believe when it is bedtime it is bedtime and you are safe and fine, go back to sleep... I do however still rock him to sleep initially. It only takes 5 mins to do each night and then I lay him in his bed, he always stays sleeping now... he may be my last, so I can't give up that 5 mins of peaceful cuddling quite yet. But I know he will go fine when it is time, since he knows how to soothe himself very well.



If you're sleeping then you need to stay sleeping in my house. ;)



Oh and as Tam said. Routine is soooo important. He always goes to bed at the exact same time. We do the exact same things every single night starting at 7pm, sometimes he is ready to sleep by 7:30pm but his absolute bedtime is 7:45pm. If we go over by 5 mins he is freakin and pointing to his crib. He knows..



CIO does not mean to leave them until they fall asleep. It means allowing them to cry for a specific amount of time that you set and then go in lay them back down and walk back out, then do it again if needed. Many people think CIO means you put your kid in the crib and do not return until morning, that's not actually how Ferber suggests doing it. It's not how I did it...

Anna - posted on 02/21/2012

All babies are different and even the same baby can be different from one month to the next. I am generally like you Laura in that I 'mother' to sleep but I also have my limits. Both of my older children reached a point around 10 months or so where they fought bedtime tooth and nail. If it's been hours and baby is hysterical from exhaustion I will put him down to see how he does on his own. I am leaving him to cry so I know some mothers would call that CIO. I don't consider it CIO b/c I am not intending to leave him there for however long it takes him to get to sleep, my intention is to give him an opportunity to do it on his own, since nothing I'm doing for him is helping. Sometimes just being put down and left on his own helps him settle and sometimes I need to go back to help. Depends.



I enjoy nursing my babies to sleep and I really don't see anything wrong with it. I do it until it becomes obvious that it's not working anymore and then I try to be as gentle as possible while still being firm about bedtime. True crying it out seems very harsh to me. But I've done things as a parent that I swore I would never do (counting for example) so given a different baby perhaps I would do things differently.

Amanda - posted on 02/21/2012

I nursed rocked, and held all three of my children to sleep. Personally this worked well for everyone in my household.

Mary - posted on 02/21/2012

I don't think there is any one "perfect" way to get babies to sleep. They are all unique little individuals, so with each one, you adjust to their needs, and follow their cues.



I think Molly was just pretty easy - at least when I listen to other's stories. For the first 2ish months, there really was very little pattern or schedule. She nursed every 2-4 hours (with the occasional 1 hr stint thrown in). I nursed her, and she would drift off. Sometimes I kept her on/with me, and sometimes I laid her down. By about 2.5 months, she did tend to give me a solid and reliable 4-5 hour stretch from 8pm on. That is when we started our nighttime "routine". Around 7:30, I would bathe her (if it was a bath night), lotion her up, and put on a fresh diaper and jammies. We would sit in the glider, and I would nurse her until she dozed off, and then lay her down. It was almost always an easy, fuss-free process.



I never did any form of CIO, but tbh, there was never any need to even consider it. She wasn't an overly fussy baby, so if she was crying, there was a legitimate reason, and I always responded.



She started to consistently sttn by about 3.5 months (which, to me, meant from 8pm to about 4-4:30). We really just started to establish a routine, but it was really led by her cues. Naps became fairly predictable as well. Each time it was the same - when she seemed to be getting tired, I changed her, fed her, and held her until she dozed off, and then laid her down.



At around 9 months, she threw me for a curve when she stopped falling asleep in my arms. I was rocking her, and just about dying for her to doze off, but she just wouldn't. I finally set her down on the floor so that I could pee, and she just crawled into her room, and headed towards her crib. I put her in, and she just started happily babbling away, until she dozed off a few minutes later. That was the end of us holding her and rocking her to sleep. She was just that kid who wanted to be alone, and have some down time to fall asleep on her own.



We still stick to a bed and naptime routine now that she's 3. Both of these are pretty hassle-free, and rarely, if ever, involve any fights, tears, or getting back up. On the odd occasion she balks about going to bed, I keep her up with me until she's ready. She's a kid who usually tells you when she is ready to go "night-night", so if she's putting up a fuss about it, it means she really isn't tired yet, or something is legitimately bugging her. We have very little issue with her fighting going to bed, or popping back up later in the night.



Did I do things "right"? Who the hell knows. I just know that we all sleep reasonably well, and there is little to no drama involved with it. Is that because of "good parenting", or is it just her? No real way to know.

Rosie - posted on 02/21/2012

i fed them and put them into bed sleepy but still awake. i mostly didn't have problems except with my middle child. he would not sleep no matter what. he spent most of the night in the swing, it was the only way to get him to sleep. try to move him however, and hell would break loose. i did do CIO with him. i'd let him cry for few minutes, go in check on him, and comfort him, then leave. after about a week it worked.

Stifler's - posted on 02/21/2012

Logan.. it depends on the day. Some nights I'd wrap him and put him down after a bottle and he'd go to sleep with his dummy. Other nights it was carrying on for hours with us walking around patting him or singing until he fell asleep on exhaustion. We let him cry it out way earlier than recommended because I just didn't care I was so over it and then when I put him down he'd go to sleep. Then he started refusing his dummy I ended up giving him his bottle in bed because he would thrash around and not let us feed him anymore and now he still takes a sippy cup and Elmo cuddly to bed, very bad.



Renae... gave her a dummy and her cuddly and she'd go to sleep. If she fussed we'd give her her dummy back. She used to fall asleep on my lap in early days with no dummy. Now she's really difficult to get to sleep because she's teething so yeah, I'm having a lovely day with her. She thrashes around and refuses to feed when I try but she will drink it herself lying down too so I can see what path this is going down.





Also I put them down at regular times every day and the same time every night etc. and tried to do the same things in the afternoons to get them ready to go down.

Rebecca - posted on 02/21/2012

My kid always responded well to the whole routine thing. The routine, when she was a baby, was a feed, a bath, a swaddle and bed. When did it at the same time every night. I would put her down in her crib regardless of her being asleep by that point or not. If she did cry, we let her fuss in her crib and did a version of CIO that worked for her. This rarely happened. She's always been a good sleeper, since she was a few weeks old.



I think part of it is her nature, she is like my husband. She is a heavy sleeper who easily goes down when the lights are low and she's well fed. I'm not like this, I'm sure if I had another child and they were like me, I'd have to find a whole new way of doing this.



One thing that I'm sure a lot of people won't like to hear...because they don't like to hear that there are some advantages to formula. I breast fed until she was three months with the exception of a formula bottle before bed. My SIL told me that she had done the same thing, that the formula sits a bit heavier in their tummy and gives a bit of turkey dinner-like sleepiness. For my child, this seemed to work. I've heard about other mothers doing it. I know it is not for everyone, especially those who hate formula. It is just something that worked for us.



We've continued the whole nighttime routine, with the exception of the whole bottle feeding thing, as she's way too old for a bottle now. I put her down wide awake now and she is in the habit of entertaining herself until she falls asleep. There is no crying or screaming. She knows it is time for bed.



Now, she still loves her crib at 2 and a half. We are getting to the time we figure she'll need to change over to her bed (which we have). I don't know what new challenges that'll bring up, but I'm hoping she'll still understand that bedtime is bedtime.

Ania - posted on 02/21/2012

I tried different methods for 10 months and then I decided that I will just follow my babies wishes and wait out. Made my life so much easier and in the end I won! I always put my kid for a nap and early bedtime and My son finally grew into it...

Kate CP - posted on 02/21/2012

I let my daughter cry it out when she was over a year. My son hasn't had issues at all with sleeping yet. I mean, he wakes up at night wanting to nurse but that's it.



Different kids need different things. *shrug*

Lady Heather - posted on 02/21/2012

My first just went to sleep. Just put her down in bed and that was it. This one...omg. Usually I just give her boob to shut her up. She is four months old and won't nap on her own for more than 10 minutes. But she's my last baby so meh. I'll just enjoy the snuggles.

Laura Zoey - posted on 02/21/2012

I parent my kids to sleep until they don't need it anymore.

So I nursed my son to sleep for most every nap and night for two years. Once he was asleep I'd lay him in his crib and return at the first peep, I'd nurse him to sleep and return him to his crib. At nap time I held him most every nap until he was around 9 months and then I started laying him down once he was asleep. When he was 2 he started falling asleep withoutnursing and now he's an amazing sleeper and never a fight for bedtime.

Never let him cry a bit.

For my daughter im doing very similarly and I nurse her to sleep and at night we share a bed so she nurses as needed all night. Wonderful sleep I get this way :) nap times I held her for her naps most of the time until recently as she's 9 months and needs more room to sleep well so I lay her down once she's asleep.

Never let her cry either.

I really just do as I think is best for them and I don't think crying is ever the right choice for my babies :)

It may seem like a big sacrifice to mother them to sleep and hold them for naps and bed share but in all honesty, it feels right and I'm happy to do it.

Kimberly - posted on 02/21/2012

Oh I was so naughty when I first started, right from the get go my daughter would feed to sleep. I would think she was asleep after so many minutes so I'd take her off and she would scream blue murder!!! So I would put her back on and she would sleep again! Yes she was still drinking but that is how she used to sleep. It wasnt a problem until I wanted to stop b/f and then she wouldnt take a bottle or anything. If she could feed to sleep she wouldnt eat or sleep which wasnt great at all. I finally got sent to a live in clinic that helps with lots of thing but we were there for eating and sleeping. They did what was called self settling which is kind of like control crying i guess. I would feed her tea, little b/f then bath, story bed. I would take her in fully awake and say ' its bedtime, i love you see you in the morning' while giving a kiss and cuddle then lay her down and leave the room. She screamed blue murder the first time and after 20 mins I went in just to resettle her saying the same things then leaving again. This routine took all of four days for her to except and we havent looked back since and its almost been a year ( we were 18 months when we went) I totally believe that a good routine is best and you dont realize how much sleeping and eating are connected, once we got her sleeping good eating improved. I think every child and mother are different so you have to find what works for you but I can tell you if we have another one and I need help I will go straight to that clinic again!!!!!

**Jackie** - posted on 02/21/2012

OH yes, one more thing. BEFORE you put your munchkin to bed make sure you KNOW they are fed, changed, (in my daughter's case we gave her little tummies for her severe gas), teething is tricky so if needed, give them baby orajel or tylenol or what ever your doctor says. So when you put him/her in you KNOW they aren't uncomfortable or still need something. IF you do go in there (I would go in if she was like crying for real, not just mad), don't make eye contact, don't say anything. Be as boring as you can be. Let her know it isn't play time.



Every child is different. Unfortunately, it is going to take some time to figure out what works for you. Good luck!

Tam - posted on 02/21/2012

Routine, routine, routine. My kids are on a routing now and they will put themselves to bed at eight if they notice the time.



When they were babies, I'd go in and comfort them when they fussed, but generally would not pick them up if they didn't actually NEED anything. You know, diaper change, feeding, etc. As they got older and more cognitive, they would get a visit at their beds once, followed by a visit at the door the second time, followed by a time interval if they decided to continue.



I'm all about kids self-soothing. I don't have the ability to be there constantly due to lack of desire to sleep - and with my kids, I could tell when it was an actual issue that needed addressed, or them just being ornery.



I hope the twins are as easy to read.

**Jackie** - posted on 02/21/2012

I bribe them! jk. I have a 15 month old and she has always been a good sleeper, knock on wood. She started getting separation anxiety around 11 months and it lasted for a good month. I think a bedtime routine is key. She knew that when we started our routine that it was going to end with bed time. We made sure by the time she was saying good night to daddy that all the lights were off and the TV so that she didn't think she was missing anything. I would give her her blanket and tell her to go say good night to daddy. She would walk over to him and he would cuddle her and kiss her and tell her he loves her and put her down. I let her walk into her room herself. She was walking since 9 months so something that part isn't possible with 11 month olds if they are still crawling but I just didn't want her to think I was like putting her away for the night.