I was wondering what (experienced parents) thought about letting your baby cry her/himself to sleep? My 5 month old daughter is very spoiled and depends on me to hold and rock her for nap time or bed time. I know I spoiled her...she is my first baby and it's hard not to give in! It's been getting very hard to put her down after she falls asleep because she wakes back up. I am getting really frustrated!! My mom told me that I need to just let her cry herself to sleep when I know she is fed and changed and ready for a nap or bed time. This is the first day I have tried it and she fell alseep within 5 minutes but she rolled over on her tummy. I know she isn't supposed to be sleeping on her tummy. So what should I do? Do you think this is okay? How long should I let her cry before checking on her and soothing her? I hate hearing her cry!!!! I don't know what I should do but I need to do something for my sanity! Please help me with some advice. Thanks in advance!
2007-11-13 08:02:23 · 25 answers · asked by Anonymous in Pregnancy & Parenting ➔ Newborn & Baby
She's fine. At 3 mos, she had the neurological capacity to put herself to sleep. If she can get over onto her tummy and can roll back or move her head to the sides, she is fine to sleep on her tummy. They say back sleeping for newborns who have little to no head control or body control. That said, if you're really worried about it, go get the angelcare monitor--there's a pad that you slide under her mattress and it will detect her breathing. If it doesn't feel her breathing for more than 20 sec. an alarm will go off on the parent end of the monitor. 5 min. of crying is NO time at all. You're lucky! Let her cry for 10 min. before going in there. Don't pick her up, just pat her back so she knows you're around. Don't say anything to her, just pat her back gently and then leave. Wait ten minutes before going in again. She'll be fine. Listen to your mom and don't let anyone tell you it's mean or cruel. These are the same people who are posting questions in the toddler/gradeschooler sections asking how to get their kids to sleep on their own at age 5. Trust your gut and trust your mom! :-)
FYI, for the self righteous mom who cited a study discussing trauma-letting a baby cry on and off while being comforted every 10-15 minutes is not trauma. Trauma would be letting her cry uncomforted for hours on end, not feeding her, not diapering her, or not holding her at all. Her needs are being met-she's fed, she's already been held, she's been diapered. Her NEED is to go to sleep.
2007-11-13 08:10:57 · answer #1 · answered by Sit'nTeach'nNanny 7 · 3⤊ 3⤋
Baby Crying Itself To Sleep
2016-12-14 05:52:03 · answer #2 · answered by fenimore 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
My little girl is now 8 months and has been sleeping on her tummy and through the night for some time now. As long as you dont pile the crib full of blankets or animals she should be fine...Now about "Cry It Out" I think that every baby is different and reacts to different things. With that being said "Cry It Out" worked with my first and third NOT my second! You know as long as she has been fed and she has a fresh diaper I would say it's fine and let her lay how she wants to. Go in every 10-15 mins to check on her and let her know it's ok but dont pick her up try rubbing her back or just sitting on the floor....You will be ok and so will she. Good Luck :)
2007-11-13 08:31:29 · answer #3 · answered by jessluvspink07 2 · 2⤊ 1⤋
I recommend getting the book Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Dr. Marc Weissbluth. It's very good and it advocates crying it out (CIO). I've just started with my 6 month old son. He was dependent on me and nursing to sleep. I also created this bad habit because it was so much easier to just nurse him rather than try other soothing techniques. Also, he wasn't ever hungry, just sucked for a couple minutes and dropped.
Anyway, rolling on the tummy isn't bad now. If she can roll onto her tummy and lift her head (which most babies can do by 5 months), then it's not a worry anymore.
I hate hearing my son cry and I had to make my husband the strong person when we started to let my son CIO. If it's too much for you, just leave the house and come back after an hour. My pediatrician said somethign similar to what your mother said - make sure your child is fed, dry (diaper changed), and has the other needs met. Then put him/her down in the crib, say I love you, and leave. Of course they will cry, but eventually they learn to soothe themselves.
If just completely leaving her is too much for you, you can also try Dr. Ferber's method of going in and soothing. You can read more about that in his book.
Good luck with whatever you try - it's tough, but it's better for the whole family.
Oh and one last piece of advice -if you start a method at least go for a week with that method and be consistent. otherwise you just confuse your child and make things worse.
2007-11-13 08:31:14 · answer #4 · answered by Moghra 1 · 2⤊ 2⤋
I wouldn't let her cry it out. It takes a lot of energy for a baby to cry and therefore they are doing it because they really need you. But, driving yourself crazy isn't good for the baby either so I would recommend you try the Greek theory of "Everything in Moderation." and do the best you can for both of you. It's likely you are being too hard on yourself.
As for the tummy sleep, once the child can roll over on it's tummy by itself I don't think this advice still applies although you may want to consult your pediatrician about that. Typically, this advice is only for infants under 6 months of age. But, if you are very concerned about your baby sleeping on her tummy here are some articles you should may want to check out as they show why there are a number of negative things associated with back sleep. Letting your baby sleep on her tummy may end up being one of the best things you will ever do for her.
http://www.oandp.com/edge/issues/articles/2006-12_02.asp
http://cgi.thescientificworld.co.uk/cgi-bin/processHtml.pl?Id=2005.03.71.html&format=Dreamweaver
http://www.oandp.org/jpo/library/2004_04S_005.asp
This article says the "Back to Sleep" campaign is good but scroll down and look at the long list of side effects she mentions:
http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1595182
2007-11-13 12:11:34 · answer #5 · answered by Compguy 3 · 0⤊ 2⤋
This Site Might Help You.
RE:
5 Month old baby & letting cry herself to sleep??
I was wondering what (experienced parents) thought about letting your baby cry her/himself to sleep? My 5 month old daughter is very spoiled and depends on me to hold and rock her for nap time or bed time. I know I spoiled her...she is my first baby and it's hard not to give in! It's been...
2015-08-26 18:41:09 · answer #6 · answered by Mozella 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hi Kristin,
I'm a mother of 5, and I've never let any of my 5 month old babies cry themselves to sleep. What I have found is that most, at that age (including the day care babies I watched) really liked the motion of the swing, so many of my babies fell asleep in the swing. I also breastfed all of my babies and other than my 2nd child (who had some problems with his head) they all fell asleep at the breast.
I would often lay down with them on the floor, and they would fall asleep nursing. Then I could get up and go on with my day.
Pediatrician, Dr. Harvey Karp, teaches some wonderful baby calming techniques and has good ideas on how to get baby to sleep longer. I highly recommend his CD.
You can get a free copy of "50 Tips for Raising a Happy Healthy Baby While Still Getting the Rest You need" on my website. I've also included some great bonuses of audios and videos that show you how other parents are using Dr. Harvey Karp's methods to help their children fall asleep quickly and stay asleep. You can request them here: http://www.birthbabyandmom.com/50-tips.html
I've worked with many, many babies over the years. In church nurseries, in camp nurseries, with day care babies, babysitting and with my own. I often times would put a baby on her tummy and rub her back and gently jostle the crib to help her fall asleep.
Hope this helps, and all the best with your little girl!
Warmly,
Kirstyn Sierra
Mother of 5
http://www.birthbabyandmom.com
2007-11-14 02:25:04 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
If you want to put your baby to sleep in 20 seconds you must get the "Instant Baby Sleep" MP3 sound track. Here is their official web-site: http://www.instantbabysleep.net
The sound track gently produces energy over the full human hearing spectrum with an embedded pulse that gently eases the brain to the Alpha state well known for drowsiness and sleep induction.
2014-09-25 10:14:21 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
OMG i did that with my daughter to...Hey its your first child {as me} and you just cant stop holding them and everything OHH i know what you are dealing with.. your daughter is 5 months old myne is 8 months and what i had to do when she was 6 months old is first i got sick of rocking her to sleep so what i did was layed her on her back {which she hates she has been sleeping on her stomach since she was 1 month old} and i gave her a bottle and if it was a good day she would go to sleep all on her own but when that didnt work i would lay on her on her stomach and rub her back while she was in her crib and sing to her {my daughter loves me singing to her} i feel like its a soothing thing that she understand that you dont want to hold her but your not letting her go and on good days that work and of course on those horrible days when just leaving her in there to cry for 10 minutes didnt work i had to and still once in awhile i have to go in there hold her and let her lay her head on my shoulders and within 5 minutes shes asleep and than i lay her on her stomach and i go in my room and lay down.. But to answer your question mommy yes its perfectly fine to leave her on her stomach nothing will happen to her myne has been sleeping on her stomach since she was 1 month old and yes its fine to let her cry it out {cause that is the spoiled part} and to break her out of this whole spoiledness should take 3 days to about a week if you do it where you are the one incharge and not her if you let her be in charge it may take a little longer
Good Luck
2007-11-13 08:32:29 · answer #9 · answered by mommyandbaby 4 · 0⤊ 2⤋
my baby is 2 monthxs, and he has the same habit. However, I found a way to let him sleep on bed. I use quilt to enswathe him when he was sleeping, and he can sleep deeply for a night. I think he feel safe as like this. My husband think the idea, and it does work. Maybe it does for your baby
2007-11-13 08:40:09 · answer #10 · answered by lelema 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋