How do you feel about rocking babies to sleep??

Question

I have four children: ages 10,8,2, and 14 mos. I rocked all of them to sleep at night and sometimes at naptime. I keep reading that you shouldn't rock them to sleep b/c then they don't learn to self-soothe, but I enjoy my time w/ them. Cuddling and rocking. I rock my 14 month old to bed every night & sometimes I still rock my 2 yr old. I am a SAHM, so I am the one who suffers the consequences if they want to be rocked not a daycare provider. What do you think???

Answer 1

I say go for it!!! I rocked all my babies. Wore out a rocker with my yougest. shes 3 and sometimes still likes to rock and cuddle. I am a SAHM too. Its not like we make other people do it! Enjoy all the time you get with you children. They are gifts from GOD!

Answer 2

I think as long as you both enjoy it then great. A lot of Moms are just tired at night and want to relax and some babies will stretch the process out soo long that the mom has to do something. Some will fall asleep but wake as soon as you move them and some will wake as soon as you lay them down so many moms who enjoy the rocking dont enjoy the delaying of bedtime. There is nothing wrong with enjoying that time of day and you sound like a great Mom who enjoys it. I myself would rock my children for a few mintues then off to bed with them thus getting the best of both.

Answer 3

I nursed and rocked my daughter to sleep every night until she was 2 years old. I have never had a problem and never regretted one second of it. Now that she's been weaned, we have a new bedtime routine... I read two stories and sing one song while she lies in bed. She sleeps wonderfully by herself and falls asleep on her own like a pro. Spoiled? Unable to self-soothe? Not at all.

I don't think there is anything wrong with rocking your babies to sleep. What more gentle way to help them drift off? I am a SAHM too and feel lucky to have been able to do it for as long as I did with my daughter. I am pregnant with baby #2 and will do the same with him.

One day our babies will be all grown up and asking us to drop them off a block away from school so they don't have to be seen with their "uncool" parents. I say cherish this special time with your little ones while you still can.

Answer 4

There is nothing wrong at all with the bonding that comes with rocking your baby to sleep, I did it with my daughter. The only problem that may come from it is that your baby may need you to do this everytime she goes to sleep or to resettle. I had to "teach" my daughter at 12 months how to settle as she could not do it herself and therefore had not slept a full night up until then. The way I had to do this was to have her in her bed and then pat her to sleep, then I reduce this to just a hand on her, then just sitting with her, then moving out the room a little bit further etc. This took me about a month to do. Your baby may not need to do this and may learn to self settle even with the rocking to sleep. With my second child (my son now 3.5 months) I have been putting him to bed awake and letting him try to settle himself. If he cries I go in and stroke his face til he relaxes and stay till he goes to sleep. Sometimes he goes off without my help, sometimes with it. I DO NOT believe in letting a baby cry themselves to sleep but there are other ways besides rocking and nursing to sleep if you are concerned. You sound like you are creating a secure environment for your baby which is the most important thing. There are a lot of experts out there with different ideas but no two babies are alike and what works for one may not work for another. The only expert on your baby is you! Intuition is the key.

Answer 5

Rocking is ok to a point. If you enjoy the "cuddle" time that comes with rocking, why not just cuddle in a big comfy chair and sing, or read stories to your child? If you insist on rocking the child to sleep, don't wait until he/she is sound asleep to put him/her in a bed - do it when you know he/she is on the verge of sleep. This should please both you (get the cuddle time) and the child (falls asleep being rocked). Then you can gradually cut back the rocking time until there is no more rocking. I used to rock my granddaughter to sleep too but changed to just sitting with her on my lap, then putting her in her bed just before she fell asleep. Good luck.

Answer 6

I think that life is short and that pretty soon they are going to be out the door to college and life. And I think that cuddling and snuggling is a wonderful thing. Enjoy the few moments that you get with them. Rock them as much as they (and you) want. They are not going to come to you as teenagers to rockabye. Take the time now. They will grow up thinking that you love them.

Answer 7

My son is 16 months and I rock him to sleep anytime he wants me to. I have a 19 year old son and a 15 year old daughter also, I rocked them to sleep when they were little also. When my kids need comfort they know they can count on me. I am always here for them. Now if I am sick or tired fed up or just need a break my older children are here for me. All those parents who did not give their children attention as a baby whine now because their children have no time for them........that sucks for them.

Answer 8

I think you know your children better than anyone. I think rocking is good personally. I think if your children feel the comfort and security of your love they will learn to self soothe on their own.

Answer 9

If you are a SAHM and this has worked for you, then don't worry about what you are reading. It works, it's what my mother in law did with all her kids.

This method doesnt work for me, as a working mother. My son go so used to being held and rocked, that he wouldn't sleep any other way...it was murderous on us for a while...he'd wake up in the middle of the night and refuse to go to sleep on his own...as a working mother, late nights and early days of work was making me a zombie at work. I had to retrain my son to put himself to sleep and it took a long time. Don't get me wrong, we hold, cuddle and have lots of bondign time with our son, we just don't rock to sleep because it doesn't work for us. Of course if he's sick and wakes up at night and needs me, I do sit and rock with him for a while.

It's all about what works for you and your family.

Answer 10

I rocked my daughter to sleep until she was 8 months old and looking back on it, I think it was pretty selfish on my part. She had no problem when I started putting her down without rocking and after opening my own home day care and studying a little more about the importance of infant sleep, I'm convinced rocking a child to sleep serves no purpose except to comfort the parent. I do not rock the children in my day care and I do not plan to rock any other children I may have in the future past a couple of months of age. I loved rocking my daughter, there is something very sweet and "romantic" about it, but it's not necessary, and frankly I don't have time to rock 5 children to sleep everyday at nap time, I need a break, too, LOL!