How do you help your infant learn to self soothe?

Answer 1

When my son showed interested in his fish crib toy, we made it his sleep soother.

Sometimes it can be a gradual process. Just dont try to rush it or it will never work.

they way we did it was:

put him to sleep like we normally did. After putting him down, we turned on the fish ( its the ocean wonder one) for a few cycles during the night.
the next night, we put him now asleep but still awake a bit and did it again.
the third night we put him down as he was falling asleep and turned it on. he put himself right to sleep.

now we just put him down when he starts to try and snuggle into my arm and he watches it for a bit then goes to sleep. we do the same for naptime. worked very well and took only a week.

good luck!

Answer 2

By cuddling and nursing on demand and generally smothering her with affection. We've neither of us ever let her cry untended to.

Which seems to've fostered a sense of security, which means that here and there a fuss will start, and quickly stop as she either finds her thumb to suck, something to look at, or just responds happily to a "Yes! Mummy's washing her hair!" from the tub.

If you're consistently nice to your spouse, they end up secure in the relationship and not prone to a lot of complaint, right? Same deal with babies.

That is what "self soothing" SHOULD mean -- that a secure baby who is well-tended-to has become developmentally ready to look beyond a parent for comfort occasionally. It should not mean a baby who has given up because s/he was "taught" that his or her parents don't care. Cuddling is a NEED, and parents should appreciate that.

People who honestly think a baby should be left to cry, and that it does something good for a baby, might be interested in the *research* presented here:

http://www.talaris.org/pdf/research/CIOPoster.pdf

Answer 3

How old is your infant? Some babies need their mother or father to help them during certain times of stress. The age does make a difference. Self soothing is self taught..

Answer 4

You help them learn to self soothe by not immediately responding to every cry all the time. If your child is crying but has a clean diaper, is not hungry, and is safe then you can let them fuss for a while so they can learn to put themselves to sleep. When doing this, I check on my son often but don't try to soothe him or get him to sleep (I pat his tummy, give him a kiss, or put a pacifier in). If he's crying for a really long time I go ahead and pick him up and try again another time. Over time he became an excellent sleeper.

Answer 5

leave them alone. if you put the baby down to sleep, don't pick them up again til you want them to get up. go in and pat their back or talk to them, but don't pick them up. it's hard, but eventually the baby will settle down and learn to go to sleep on their own. then if they wake up in the middle of the night they can get themselves back to sleep in a few minutes. if it's a messy diaper or something else that needs attention, then of course pick them up and take care of it.