When is a baby old enough to fall asleep on his own?

Question

My son is almost 6 weeks and I have to go back to work in a month. I work nights, and I have gotten into the bad habit of occasionally letting him sleep in my bed. He sleeps well in his crib, but I have to let him fall asleep in my arms first, and then when I put him down, most of the time he wakes up. He does not cry, he just lays then and makes noises and babbles. Is it ok to leave him and let him go to sleep since he is not crying? Or is he too young to put himself to sleep? I always pick him up if he cries and I rock him, but I don't want him to become reliant on me to go to sleep.

I am not an idiot, thank you, I know he needs to be fed if he is hungry, and I do not expect him to sleep through the night, I just want someone else to be able to put him to sleep without rocking him for an hour or him sleeping in their bed. Thanks everyone else for your answers.

Answer 1

I think it is definitely okay to let him go to sleep on his own..

If he isn't crying, no big deal. It is important for everyone to learn to amuse themselves when they are alone. And, it is important for him to learn how to fall asleep.

At this age, I wouldn't let him cry, though.

Instead of rocking him when he cries (more reliance on you), you can simply shush him and pat his back while he is in his crib.. as long as he doesn't get too hysterical. That way, he knows you are there for him. But, he is relying on himself more.

Answer 2

Babies of any age sometimes fall asleep on their own, however, the ability to self-soothe is dependant on each child. Some children can self-soothe from birth, and some cannot do so until about 6 months. You have to get to know your baby.

Obviously, your child is not going to sleep through the night at 6 weeks of age, which is what it sounds like you want. A 6 week old child's stomach is still too small to go more than 4 or 5 hours without food. It is important that you always feed your baby throughout the night.

Learning to self-soothe can be a relatively simple process. Try the following things.....

1-If your baby wakes up, but does not cry, leave him alone!! Do not pick him up unless he is absolutely inconsolable.

2-When baby does begin to cry, wait for a few minutes to see if he will stop on his own. A few minutes, for a 6 week old, is no more than 5 minutes. This does NOT apply if he is hungry. A hungry baby should be fed immediately.

3-After feeding baby in the middle of the night, place him back into his bassinet or crib, drowsy but still awake, and let him fall asleep on his own. A mobile or one of those moving fish tank thingies, or a music box, may help him with this. Do not rock the baby to sleep. Let him go on his own.

4-Do not turn on the lights in the middle of the night. Use a low wattage lamp. Keep it quiet and dark after baby's bedtime. Let him learn the difference between night and day. When your son realizes that nothing exciting happens at night, he'll be more likely to sleep.

Answer 3

This is an easy one! I have always (I have three boys) layed my babies down to sleep awake from day one.

This may seem cruel but they get so used to it and when they wake up in the middle of the night and it is not time for a feed, they can then put themselves to sleep again.

If you haven't been doing this for six weeks it is extremely easy to fix! It takes two or three days. Do this:

Just put him to bed awake and let him cry. Make sure he is full, burped, not poopy, etc. Then there is nothing wrong and you can let him cry. And cry he will. Just have the strength! He should only cry for a while. My two week old now only cries for at the most five minutes. I wake up to feed him in the middle of the night and I am back asleep in 20 minutes because I can just wrap him up and put him back to bed and leave him there awake. No soother, no music, nothing. It helps that he is a fast nurser!

Good luck. I got all this info and more from a book called, "Babywise" How millions of parents got their babies to sleep through the night. It is a great book with tons of great tips.

Answer 4

I think that if hes babbling to himself in the crib he may very well put himself back to sleep. But I wouldnt rely on it. Six weeks may seem early to me but I had a friend whos baby was capable of doing it at six weeks so really if hes not crying and in distress then he could easily settle himself back to sleep. Let him do that and if he starts crying go get him otherwise I wouldnt bother with him.

Answer 5

The No Cry Sleep Solution is a wonderful book! Read it now and you will save yourself a lot of exhaustion. I think co-sleeping is best, especially if you breastfeed. Learn how to baby proof your bed first. Most of the babies in the world sleep with their mothers. Don't listen to anyone who tells you that helping your baby fall asleep is a bad habit. You know what you're doing.

Answer 6

I would let him lay their and go to sleep on hos own, If you start rocking him every night and letting him sleep with you. He will be wanting to see with you all the time. i went throught the same thing with my daughter and now she's 2 1/2 and still sleeping with me and my husband. He will be ok to go to sleep by his self try putting some soft music on for him that might even help him go to sleep. Get stink to it and he will get use to it. If he cry let him cry for about two min and then go get him work with him and he will get the hang of it.

Answer 7

I am a believer in co-sleeping (letting baby sleep in bed with you) bc that is where they are comfortable and secure (think: they have been in your body for 9 months, your breathing and heartbeat are very important to regulating their breathing and heartbeat). That being said, that obviously isn't quite possible for you with working at night. I think it is important to not let your bay cry it out either. If you want him to get to sleep, try the "No-Cry Sleep Solution". There is also a lot of support on Mothering.com in the discussions.

Answer 8

Sometimes when you put a baby down and they wake up they are not completely awake. If he is not crying let him sleep on his own. If he puts himself to sleep then you will know.

Answer 9

absolutely! if he's not hungry, wet, or in any need of adult assitance, leave him be. Now, i might think this is too young of an age to let him "cry it out" but since he's not crying i definitely think it is okay. this is a BAD habit to get him into anyways....if you keep going you will be asking the same question when hes 3!
congrats by the way!

Answer 10

babies can go to sleep by themselves as soon as they are born. if you get into the habit of letting him fall asleep while you hold him or sleep in your bed, he will always want it.