Getting your baby to sleep...

Amanda - posted on 02/18/2010

Have you tried swaddling her? Both my kids felt a lot more comfortable and safe that way. It might help. My son actually liked being in an even more closed environment for a long time. He just didn't like the vastness of the crib. So we swaddled him and placed him in his car seat and then placed the car seat in the crib. It worked wonders! Over time we gradually transitioned him to his crib during his naps first and then at night. Maybe your daughter is just not quite comfy enough in her crib to sleep.

Amanda - posted on 02/18/2010

I agree with the suggestions on having a good routine in place. Choose a time in the morning when you are going to get up. If your daughter's not going to bed until 1 am then I'm assuming she's sleeping in pretty late. Is this true? I'd suugest dragging yourself out of bed and waking her earlier if that's the case. It should only take a day or two to get her on a good schedule and you should be able to go to bed much earlier, too, which will be a big help. My day starts pretty early, usually around 7:30 but I know some parents start a bit later. I don't know how old your daughter is but if she's still taking two naps a day you may want to cut her back to one. We eat lunch around 11:30 and the kids are down for their naps at around noon or so. If two hours goes by and they are still sleeping I wake them up. They are down for the night by 7 pm. This works great because then I have some time to spend alone with my husband, which I believe is very important to keep our relationship healthy. In terms of getting my kids to go to sleep, when they were younger I let them cry it out. They would go to bed full, clean and still awake. Then they would cry for a few minutes until they finally nodded off on their own. My daughter was more of a crier and sometimes she'd take a bit longer...up to a half hour or so. But persistence in putting them to bed like this has paid off and now I can tuck both kids in, give them kisses and they're out in a matter of minutes without any crying.

Alison - posted on 02/18/2010

Yikes! That's late! How old is your daughter? Often times, this occurs when you start putting your child down too late. If you are putting her down at 8:00, try 7:00. Usually 7:00 or 7:30 is a good bedtime.

Monika - posted on 02/18/2010

the best thing i find that works is giving my son a warm bath.it really calms him down, i feed him, then put him to bed.if he starts crying i time it,i wait ten minutes and then go in his room give him his binki and leave right away.if he starts crying again i wait 15 minutes the next time.and then eventually he goes to sleep, its sad but the crying wares them out....

Mandy - posted on 02/18/2010

As horrible as it sounds, start your day earlier:( A routine started earlier, will finish earlier. Limit naps late in the day, wake her up if you have to. Less sleep during the day may allow for an earlier bed time.

Kenitra - posted on 02/18/2010

Create a strict routine. Get her up early in the morning. Limit her naptime. Have a specific routine for bedtime, and follow it closely. For example, after dinner, have scheduled playtime, take a bath, read a book, then say prayers. Make bedtime their quality time with you. Something they will come to enjoy. What you do not want to do is get them all wound up again after bathtime.

Heather - posted on 02/18/2010

Start a routine. Say you want her in bed by 8, start the routine around 7. Start by making sure she is fed and has a full belly. Then give her a nice, warm, soothing bath; Johnson & Johnson makes a bathtime cleanser that is for nighttime and works great! This will relax her. Then play soft music in her room and put her to bed. The combo of full belly, relaxing bath and music to lull her to sleep should work. It may take a while to get her use to this, but establishing this routine now will make it even easier to have a routine when it is time for her to start school in several years!