Getting baby to sleep - Children's Health Message Board

Lynn893 · 02-26-2001, 08:55 PM

Hi, just recently I saw this program on how to get your baby to fall asleep on his own.
My senario was this: my daughter will fall asleep in my arms, I tiptoe into her room, put her down in her crib. She sleeps awhile, wakes, finds herself alone, stands up and cries for me to come and get her back to sleep. This was happening upwards of 5 times a night. So the next day I felt like a zombie.

This program I watched, stated that you have to teach your child that their bed is the place to fall asleep.
How do you do that?
Easy.

Hold your child 15 minutes before bedtime. Give bottle. Brush teeth. Put baby in crib. CLIMB INTO CRIB WITH BABY. Cuddle baby and talk calmly to baby for up to 5 minutes only. You may sing to baby, or tell nursery ryhmes, or a story. When time is up, tell baby that it is time to go to sleep. CLIMB OUT OF CRIB. Leave the room.
Baby will start crying. Wait 3 minutes. Go in, pick baby up, calming him until he stops crying (max. 2 minutes) tell baby that it is time to go to sleep. Put baby back into crib. Leave. If baby cries, wait 5 minutes before going to calm baby as before. Then 10 minutes. (Honestly, that is all it should take because now baby can picture you in the crib so you have made it a nice safe mommy place.)
Next night, do everything else the same with baby, except climbing into the crib. Sit on the floor beside the crib and do the 5 minutes of talking, story telling, songs, etc.. Then leave. Wait 3, then 5, then 10 minutes again.

It took my daughter 2 nights to learn to get to sleep. After the 2nd night, I did this also at nap time.
This works - I swear that it does. Nothing else worked for me. I tried to "Ferberize" her. She would cry for an hour. Then I would end up getting her to sleep in my arms then sneak her into her crib, where she would promptly get up screaming all over again, because she started to associate her crib with being left alone to cry.

This works. The baby associates mommy with safety and warmth and loving and etc... By climbing into the crib for that 5 minutes, you get the baby to associate those feelings with the crib.

Now after story time, and kisses, not a single peep from her. She rolls over and falls asleep on her own. I am soo happy.

This is a 100% true story. I watched the program last month - and she has been sleeping through the night and napping in the daytime by herself. I finally feel like I did something right by her!

PS. she is 18 months old and was programmed by me at birth to only fall asleep on me. That is now changed and it can be changed for you also.

Peace

Babernethy · 02-27-2001, 06:58 AM

I don't mean to sound critical, Lynn, but an adult climbing into a crib is extremely dangerous. A crib is not meant for that kind of weight. I believe that you are not supposed to put more than a 40 Lb child in a crib. There are weight limitation stickers on a crib. Take a look and see.
Putting more weight than is recommended could casue a failure of the wood or mattress holder. This could be detrimental to the safety of the crib and could cause the crib to collapse.
I would suggest a rock in a rocking chair, instead of 'lying down together'.
Brad

Smile4uhun · 02-27-2001, 10:36 AM

Allowing a child to get used to falling asleep in your arms is not a great idea. A child must learn to fall asleep on their own otherwise exactly what is happening to you will happen.

Lynn893 · 02-27-2001, 07:45 PM

Most cribs have a maximum weight limit on them. If you check with the manufacturer, it is usually 200lbs!!!!!!!! Most cribs today are built to last. I am only commenting on the program that I watched.
The lady - her job is to go into people's homes and teach their children to get to sleep - specifically said "CLIMB INTO THE CRIB FOR MAX. 5 MINUTES THE FIRST NIGHT" this way the child starts to recognize that the crib is the place to sleep. My child ALWAYS fell asleep in my arms. Since birth to 18 months old, she WOULD NOT LAY DOWN BY HERSELF. I did exactly what I said to do in my first post, and IT WORKED.
My baby girl now falls asleep and sleeps all night long in her crib AFTER ONLY TWO DAYS of doing "the program"
Please, if you didn't understand my first post, it was very long, read it again. I'm telling you about something I heard about, tried, and give my word that it worked for me.

Peace

PS> I would love for anyone having problems getting their babies to sleep to try what I've said to do - then reply to me with the results. Lets make believers out of everyone here!

Peace

PSS> please check the maximum weight limit on the crib first so Brad will see that I am a responsible person.

[This message has been edited by Lynn893 (edited 02-27-2001).]

[This message has been edited by Lynn893 (edited 02-27-2001).]

Babernethy · 02-28-2001, 07:30 AM

Lynn I never doubted the fact that you are a responsible parent. Hey, if your crib will take 200 lbs go for it. I myself would have a VERY hard time getting in. Although we bought a VERY good 'solid maple' Canadian made crib in '93, the weight limitation is indeed higher than I thought, but not 200 lbs. It reads CSA recommendation of a child combined weight of not more than 45kg, about 100 lbs if memory serves. I am a little to tall to squeeze into such a spot.
If it worked well for your little one, I'm happy for you.
I guess we were lucky, as we used the 5 minute method and the kids slept very well with this process. We would put them down...if they cieid for 5 minutes we would go in and give them a 2 minute rock and put them back down. This time we'd wait another 5 minutes (10) and do the same thing. It took 15 minutes at first but after a week they went to sleep almost as soon as they were put down...unless of course they were not well.
B