Should i put my 7wk old baby down for a nap while she is still awake? She cries when i put her down.?

Question

She wants to sleep in my arms and i try putting her down when she is drowsy but she cries and its hard hearing her cry so i pick her up and rock her to sleep but i heard this is a bad habit.

Answer 1

Everyone has a method and answer, go with your gut and what feels right to you. Closeness and snuggling is important for babies, but they also need to learn to comfort themselves, it makes the separation anxiety an easier adjustment for them later on. They're only babies for so long, so use your best judgement and instinct for what works for you.

Answer 2

This is like the habit of letting your children sleep with you, once you start the habit is hard to break. When they are that young, it is easier to live with the crying. I know that your heart breaks when she cries, but in the long run, it will be better for both of you. Start by creating a routine, rock her, then lay her down. She will see the pattern (yes, she will) and get accustomed to it. This could take a few days to a week.

From experienced though, three days.... Even at 8 and 9 years old, my children still follow the time tables set for them. Up at 7, bed around 8:30 to 9, it is rare that they cannot sleep, and normally if this happens, they are not feeling well.

Answer 3

She is still young honey. Rock her to sleep for now she still needs that skin on skin contact for security reasons. When she is about 3 months old, start with the naps during the day rocking her till she is almost asleep, but not fully. That way she will know you are putting her down, but will be so tired, she will go to sleep on her own. Then little by little, as she gets older, try putting her straight to naps, after that is accomplished, try for the night times as well.

Answer 4

You can put her down while she is drowsy. If she wakes up, let her cry. Afterwhile, she will begin to get to sleep on her own. I know it is hard to listen to her cry, but as a mom you can tell if she's crying because she is uncomfortable or if she's crying because she wants to be rocked to sleep.

If you keep rocking her to sleep you will have to do it everytime you want her to go to sleep. With my son, his dad would rock him to sleep every night, and even now at 2 years old he still has to rock him to sleep. I have always refused to rock him to sleep, so when he is home with me, and I tell him it is time for bed, he only asks me to sit at the foot of the bed with him for a few minutes. I will sing to him or read him a story, but then it is lights out and mommy leaves. He doesn't cry or throw a fit.

Answer 5

Lots of people think this is a bad habit....

I liked holding my lil one or even breastfeeding until she fell asleep, Then I would gently lay her down. Shes 3 1/2 now and has gone to bed by herself (awake) since 14months. The first 2 weeks were hard but sleep training is.(the crying)

Wait til she's older to start. Either way you will deal with it when you are ready!!

Answer 6

I used to have a rocking chair with a wicker bottom..well that bottom got a hole in it from MY bottom sitting and rocking and rocking her. I replaced it now.
My daughter is 6 now and sometimes she comes and asks to be rocked for fun but shes too darn big to do that.
When she was a baby she would fall asleep in my arms and every time I would put her down she would scream and scream. People told me just let her scream but that did not work so I stopped and put her to sleep without her being all anguished, rocking and singing sometimes laying next to me ( I had to rest too!)

True, its tiring and your arms feel like they will fall off but she wont do that forever even though you think she will.
Start putting her down with a ''lovey'' like a doll or blanket , she wont really realise what they are yet but eventually she will grow accustomed to having it when being put down and MIGHT go to nap easier.
There is nothign wrong with try to schedule her naps but shes still a bit young. Keep trying..maybe one day she will stay there!

Answer 7

My doctor told me that for the first two or three months, its good to nurture them in any way you can. Pick them up whenever they cry, rock them to sleep if you have to. They have to know that you are there for them and that they can depend on you.

After three months, if they are tired and you can tell, and everything is fine with them, but they want to be held, just lay them down in the crib and whisper or use a sing song voice and pat them or rock the crib.

What I did when my son was three months (he is three and half now and goes to sleep by himself) is I would notice that he was tired because he would just cry and cry unless I was standing and rocking him at the same time. I would do this for a minute until he calmed down and then I would lay him down in his crib and whisper "shh shh shh" to him and pat him. At first, he would continue to cry, I would step out of the room and let him cry for ten minutes tops. If he was still crying after ten minutes, I would go in, comfort him, and then leave again. I only had to do this twice before he got the message that i was still around but that I wasnt rocking him to sleep.

He now does very well falling asleep himself.

Answer 8

personally I wouldn't sit up and hold her, but i will try to lay down next to her and rub her and let her know that I am here. But off of my own experience I did the same thing and my daughter is now two and she still expects me to hold and rock her to sleep while I was listening to people telling me that you cannot spoil a baby that little. There is nothing wrong with bonding with your baby, but there is a such thing as too much, I believe. My daughter had problems with daycare when I had to return to work, nonone would keep her for my mommy time because all she wanted them to do was sit up and hold her and especially in daycare, there are 2-4 other infants in the room for a provider to hold one child all day. I just think it a bad habit to start.

Answer 9

It is a bad habit, especially if you let her sleep in the same bed as you. Habits pick up quickly with newborns. It's natural for mothers to nurture their children but if you continue this, it will be harder to break when she's 1 and still wanting to sleep with you. Listening to a baby cry can break your heart, but unless it's full-throttle crying (that lasts a while) she's probably fine. Don't make a habit of picking her up at every squeak or she'll learn that whimpers bring back mommy, she'll cry all the time unless you're around. Best of luck!

Answer 10

I held my son for the first couple of months.

Other options
1. Lay down next to her so she gets used to being on a flat surface; after she gets comfortable with that move away as she sleeps.

2. Put her down and leave her. She will cry herself to sleep.

3. Put her down and pat her until she falls asleep.

All options will work, some will take longer than others.

Answer 11

Don't listen to those people who say it's a bad habit.

Think for a moment about human beings. For all of human history until about 100 years ago, all babies were carried all the time. We evolved to be held. Babies aren't even fully developed - they had to come out early because of their large head. At her age, she's like one of those tiny pink kangaroos - of course she wants to sleep in your arms!

Look at gorillas, chimps, orang utans, - our closest primate relatives - they all hold their babies all the time for years.

This is how our babies evolved. Their brains flood with stress hormones with mommy is not around - and this impairs learning and can cause depression and anxiety disorders. WHen a baby cries and mommy doesn't come - she learns not to trust you.

C'mon - be human. Hold your baby as absolutely much as possible and never never leave her to cry.
Those people who counsel otherwise are counseling something very sick - and they do it through ignorance and through a hatred of attachment and through a desire for you not to do a better job than they did.