Method of Putting an Older baby (over 6 mos) to bed at night

Just curious, what methods do you use to put your older baby to bed at night so he/she stays sleeping.


Do you first rock baby or do you prefer to set them into their crib alone to soothe and settle themselves?

How does it work for you , how long did the routine take to be established etc etc.

thanks mamas!

 

I nurse my son to sleep still...I do not let him soothe himself to sleep...he is not to that point yet.....He just turned one...I'll know when he gets to the point where he can fall asleep on his own.....

 

My mom rocks him to sleep when I am not here at his bedtime on Monday nights....

 

Oh how do you do it?


ooops, I see you've said that!


I work with young moms and that's the problem we've been having is establishing the bedtime routine, it varies so much ..... I know what I did with my babies but telling them what is recommended is very different.

 

What is recommended? And by who? ('m really curious, because I don't pay attention to "experts" and their advice. I'm the only "expert" when it comes to my kids)


I nursed mine to sleep until they stopped nursing, after 2 years. But we did sort of have a routine. About an hour before bed time, I turned off the TV, most of the lights, and mellowed the room out. Then we lay down and nursed and they fell asleep with me.
I co-sleep with my babies, so it was very easy to do.

I would never, ever, in a million years put a little baby down in a crib to cry himself to sleep.

 

I dont have kids yet but have a neice and nephew who im very close with and put them to bed quite alot.
My neice is 9 so she sorts herself out
My nephew is 2 his bedtime routine is 4 books read to him and then he has some milk and drifts off himself.
It was the same when he was younger, he is read a story then milk and he drifts off

 

Yeah we have to tell our moms the newest information. Like "Don't nurse them to sleep or it will cause their teeth to rot".


We also tell our moms to take baby to dentist before 1 year old, that's what's reccommeded.

I have to give them information of the healthiest possible alternative.

Baby tooth decay is a big problem, and can effect them for their entire lives... It's not just the baby teeth that get infected or rotton... it can effect eating and speech later on, and the way the new teeth will come in (if they are not rotton too)

 

I love this. Books at bedtime are the best, thanks.

 

I can't answer this question, as my 15 month old still doesn't sleep through the night.

Of course, all the "experts" in our life say that its because we still breastfeed and we co-sleep.

 

That only happens if you let them sleep with a bottle, bc the milk can drip on their teeth through the night. If you're breastfeeding, then you'd pull your boob out when they fall asleep. Christ, I hate "experts"...whatever happened to allowing women to trust their maternal instincts? I breastfed till I was 2 1/2, even while I went to sleep, and my teeth are perfectly normal.

 

Well breast milk is high in sugar content !!

And if they fall asleep nursing it sits on their teeth unless youre wiping them off afterwards.

I nursed my babies in bed all the time, but I can't recommend that at work is all. It was hard getting 2 of mine to stop getting up through the night when they depend on your for comfort. As well, its creating an unhealthy dependance if it continues after 6 months. They need some of their own coping and soothing skills.

When my kids were little it was all about the family bed, but now I realize that there are certain health risks involved in addition to behavior problems. I'm all for prmoting attachment but weaning the baby is a part of parenting...

 

I strongly disagree. OF COURSE they're going to be dependent on you for comfort--they've been on this earth a grand total of 6 months. It is completely unrealistic to expect a child to learn to comfort themselves when they can't even form words to describe what their feeling! Independence WILL happen, whether you demand it out of them prematurely, or you let them grow into themselves in their own time. Have you ever heard of a 15 year-old nursing? Or walking accross the stage at high school graduation in diapers? Unless you tell your kid that the world is a terrifying place to be feared, they are going to want to discover it for themselves.

Life is short enough as it is, why all the rush?

 

I really think the teeth thing has to do with genetics. And breastmilk will cause decay just as well as a bottle. Why wouldn't it? The good part is that babies make a lot of saliva so it helps wash a lot of it away.

My baby is one year old. We have used the same routine since she was born pretty much. We have dinner, play, bath, books, bottle, and bed. I nursed until 10 months, so it would just be boob instead of bottle. I cannot co-sleep. My hubby sleeps very hard and has rolled over on me so I am a nervous wreck with my kids in my bed. Plus, we smoke in our room and I'd hate for my kids to breathe that in all night.

All babies are different. But mine prefers to be laid down to sleep. If I hold her, she will stay up all night. I can lay her in her crib, her thumb plops in her mouth, and she's out. Some days she looks so grateful to be put in her crib. She never cries. I think just being consistent helped us. We also play a classical lullaby cd in their room when they are sleeping, so she relates the music to sleep. Good luck!

 

I have never seen a breastfed baby or toddler with rotten teeth. :H

I have to strongly disagree with these statements

Um, what's unhealthy about little children depending on their mother? They're supposed to. They do depend on their mothers for everything. They can't do much for themselves. What's unhealthy is feelings of abandonment and forced self-soothing. I have yet to see a co-sleeping child become unhealthily dependent, on the contrary, they are the most well-adjusted, independent, secure little people I know. They KNOW their needs will be met. They KNOW someone will respond to them when they feel scared or upset or hurt. Nothing unhealthy about developing trust.

What health risks? Unless the parents are drinking, smoking, or doing drugs, there aren't any health risks. And certainly no behavioral problems. I think there are more risks to the baby's life if they sleep alone. Remember SIDS used to be called Crib Death? Because babies died in their cribs.

There is a natural rythm to co-sleeping, with gentle waking, rustling, touching, breathing patterns, etc, that keeps the baby and mother from sleeping too deeply. The mother who is sober will respond subconsciously to her baby, the baby will respond to its mother's touch.
Most cultures in the world sleep with their infants and children. I don't get this emphasis on forcing early "independence" on small children in this culture. Parenting doesn't end at 8:30 when the children are in their cribs and behind a closed door. They still have needs that should be met.

 

Well I have to disagree with assuming all kids that BF get decay.

While it is important to get you kid into the dentist when they bust out with those teefies...

It's not the breastmilk that causes decay, infact there have studies down that refute your claim, and actually back BF as a source of protection for the teeth.

It appears that when a study was done in Sweden, they soaked teeth in breastmilk and the tooth was measured to actually be stronger. Also there are antibodies in the milk that fight off the bacteria that like to colonize the mouth.

Kissing baby, may pass off that harmful bacteria, and if you have that type of strain that is extra strong, that combined with refined carbohydrates, would for sure set off a decay venture against the enamel.

Modern diet, not a whole foods diet is the villain most likely!

Also the arguement about *sugars* pooling in the mouth, is confirmed with the bottle, and refuted with the latch on w/bf'ing, milk does not pool from bf. The child has to suck and swallow to get milk.

Our family still co-sleeps and has been since day one. One night I tried to put him in a Moses basket when he was small, and I couldn't sleep and ended up taking him back into the bed.

I'm not seeing the logic in your gross generalizations about *behavior problems*...

I've never encountered my child to have behavioral problems. He falls asleep quickly and stays asleep. Sometimes he gets hungrey in the middle of the night, and now we do get up to feed him. We used to just nurse, but now his tummy wants more. Growth spurts I guess.

I remember as a child calling out from my crib, and it taking FOREVER for my Dad or Mom to come and get me. THE CAGE I call it. Kids & babies wan to be with their parents all the time. Happy babies means healthy development. Why shut them out of your space? THey are a part of you.

All the time even now my Son reaches out in his sleep and keeps in touch with me.

It was funny the other night, he was coughing and complaining that he was too hot, yet he still had to sleep on me, I almost fell off the bed. So we got up and had a drink and back to bed, with the fan on, and a minute later, snoooze...

We have 2 double beds put together, so thats a lot of space! It's fun to see him jump around on them to let off energy, or we have a big snuggle party.

Sometimes I want him to have his own bed, but then I'd miss him.

 

I let my little ones play as long as they wanted.They had no schedules.They always seemed to tire around 8 or 9 and I enjoyed watching and joining them in their fun.When they got tired and were ready to go to bed was the best time to ask them how their day went--they'd tell me their little stories of the day ,which would start to mellow them out and then was the best time to read to them,1 at a time.I never had to go beyond a page or two before they closed their little peepers.Schedules started when they started school.Man,I sure miss those days--they go so quickly.I never put them down to cry themselves to sleep--ever.

 

I think some of the responses were a little extreme, I'm not saying all babies will get nursing tooth rot and I'm not saying that 15 year olds breastfeed, I am saying that a baby should be able to go to sleep without drinking themselves to sleep after 6 months or so.... is that ok at least?


Thanks for the varied opinions and other info which I can use for my students ladies.

 

Some babies will be willing and maybe even prefer to be put down by themselves to sleep by 6 months, but it's not a realistic developmental milestone for a six month old. Babies, and many toddlers, still need to suck and nurse several times during the night. Babies get about 30% of their caloric intake during the night hours. That's a significant amount of nourishment for a rapidly growing infant!

 

soothers?

bottle of water?

fingers?


The reason I asked the question is because WHERE I WORK I personally cannot recommend it. I said that I co-slept with my babies but am not allowed to tell them that this is ok, because I teach parenting... teaching parenting is different than parenting...thus me wanting ideas around bedtime routines for older babies starting at about 6 mos other than breastfeeding or laying down with baby in your own bed, thus thus thus .....

 

I think if a baby will take a soother, and if it works, then its a great solution. My son lost interest in his soother at about 3 months. He also tends to look at me like I am having some sort of mental lapse if I come near him with a bottle of water... lol.

But as I said, I think its pretty much a whatever flies sort of situation..