People are always telling me how lucky I am that I can just take my child into their room and put them to bed awake and they fall asleep. Well, it wasn’t always that easy. It took some time and patience as a mom to be able to have this blessing in my life. I didn’t want to spend my evenings having to rock my babies for hours on end just to get them to sleep. I wanted them to soothe themselves to sleep, just like we all have to do eventually in our own lives. As a new mom, this might be very hard for you to do, so please don’t feel like a failure if this is not for you. Some babies are different than others. My first child was a breeze. He always loved to just get into his bed and go to sleep. My daughter, however, is an odd ball! She will put herself to sleep for her naps, but she will not soothe herself to sleep at night when it’s time to go down for the evening. I don’t know if she’s scared of the dark or what her problem is, so 90% of the time, I have to hold her until she falls asleep at night, but I keep following the steps each night in hopes that I don’t have to do that forever.
First, make sure the environment is a soothing one. Make sure the room’s shades are down and there is a soft night light if it is night time. I always make sure my daughter’s windows are closed, so that noisy neighborhood dogs or kids do not disturb her sleep. Some parents like to put a CD of lullabies on to help them go to sleep. I try not to have those kinds of things, because then that will become something they will always need to fall asleep. Another nice thing to do just before bed is to give them a warm bath with lavender. It’s a herbal calming mechanism for you and your baby. Even if they are a very small infant, you can try reading them a short book, keeping it soft and use your voice to lull them into a calm state.
When they are about three weeks old, when they appear sleepy, just lay them in bed while they are awake. Here’s the hard part… Let them cry. The first time I had to do this, five minutes seemed to be an eternity to me. My pediatrician told me to let him cry for 30 minutes! After five minutes, I was in his room holding him and telling him how sorry I was. Each time I put him to bed, I let him cry a little bit longer. Each time, it got a little bit easier for me to handle. The doctor had been right, he never cried for more than 30 minutes before he was asleep. Every time I put him to bed, he cried less and less, until one miraculous day, he didn’t cry at all. It seriously only took him days to get into the routine of putting himself to sleep. It is vital that your child is sleepy when you try to put them to bed. Make sure they aren’t wet, hungry, or have poopy diapers.
If your child is older than this, it might be a little harder to get into the routine, but it is possible to do it! They are never too old to start putting them self to sleep. Just follow the same steps!
So go ahead and give it a try. The important thing is to not give up! If you can’t let your child cry for 30 minutes, then let them cry as long as you can take it, then go get them. For me with my daughter, I can usually only handle about 15 minutes of her crying before I go to get her. She’s often asleep very shortly after that in my arms, but I still haven’t given up. I still put her to bed awake each night. Some nights she is just exhausted and goes to sleep, but most days she’s crying for us to come get her.
As I stated before, this is not for everyone. Some people think that this is horrible to let your child cry, but for me, it has been amazing to put my child in bed and just see them snuggle down to sleep! Good luck!
