In need of an instruction manual

amother

Mon, Jan 04 2010, 1:24 pm

Please treat me like I'm an idiot and write out step-by-step how you put your 5/6 month baby to bed. Ex: exactly what is baby wearing, how are you holding baby, how to you put down baby without waking baby, etc etc.

mummiedearest

Mon, Jan 04 2010, 1:38 pm

ok, your first problem is putting baby down when baby is already asleep. if your kid doesn't transfer well, teach the kid to fall asleep in the crib. first step: create a bedtime routine. do you have a rocking chair in baby's room? a lot of the routine will depend on you, your child, and your home's layout. here's an example routine:

feed the baby supper. if baby nurses/is on formula, give him that, if he's on solids, give solids first. take baby into bathroom for a nice bath. make sure to close the door so the bathroom stays pleasantly warm. have a pair of fuzzy pajamas with feet and a diaper ready in the bathroom along with a towel and washcloth. (my kids tend to wake up from baths, so if your kid is the same skip this whole part.) dry and dress your baby in the bathroom so going from the warm bath air into cooler other room air won't wake him up. take baby to rocking chair/couch/cuddly place and sing him bedtime songs. read to him if he likes that. nurse/give bottle if he needs that before bedtime. place drowsy child in crib with blankie, stuffed animal, and/or any other comfort object he's attached to. say goodnight and leave the room. close door if that's what you do.

does your baby nap during the day? does he sleep through the night once you successfully get him into the crib? this is all about your routine with him. it is so important for babies to have regular naptimes/bedtimes. mealtimes should be regular too. I can recommend a good book about babies' sleep patterns/sleep training if you're interested. you may not be interested in sleep training, but it has other interesting information about how much the average baby of a certain age generally sleeps per day and how to create a routine.

amother

Mon, Jan 04 2010, 1:42 pm

...and then once you put the baby down, what do you do when s/he starts to cry?

A book recommendation would be great, especially if it's a quick/easy read.

mimismile

Mon, Jan 04 2010, 1:48 pm

amother, you're making me smile!! really!!! how many times do I wish that my baby would have been born with a manual!??? but its just a dream!!

as a side point, if your baby wakes up and cries you should try figuring out why (hungry, thirsty, diaper, cold, hot, scared) once all these are checked then you're pretty much down to the fact that you're baby is used to fall asleep in your arms and then its another story to see if you would want to try the different methods that exist out there, if your baby is not too young for that.
one thing I would for sure do is stay there and sing to baby patting or massaging him/her and this if this calma him/her down.
what about a mobile? it did wonders on my son.
hope I was helpful!

mummiedearest

Mon, Jan 04 2010, 1:50 pm

amother wrote:

...and then once you put the baby down, what do you do when s/he starts to cry?

A book recommendation would be great, especially if it's a quick/easy read.

there are different view on the crying business. I let my kids cry. some people consider it cruel, but I really don't. they cry out of tiredness, and they learn to fall asleep on their own that way. the book I recommend discusses different techniques in sleep training. I trained my oldest at about four months and he was a breeze. I waited with my second until ten months and it was hell for two weeks. so if you choose to sleep train, do it sooner rather than later.

here's the book:

http://www.amazon.com/Healthy-.....r=8-1

it isn't a short book, but you don't have to read the whole thing. it's easy to pick out the chapters that apply to your case. you can read about the health benefits of a healthy sleep pattern if you want, but that's not actually necessary.

greenfire

Mon, Jan 04 2010, 2:07 pm

there are no manuals for a reason ... by the time you learn what to do with an infant - they're already one ...

mummiedearest

Mon, Jan 04 2010, 2:13 pm

yeah, I'm really not a firm believer in parenting books. I'm a pretty firm disbeliever, in fact. but I found that particular book to be a lifesaver when I was overwhelmed with my ten month old.

amother

Mon, Jan 04 2010, 2:14 pm

I just requested it from the library!

Marion

Mon, Jan 04 2010, 3:16 pm

DS#1 was 2.5 weeks old his first Purim. We put a sign on the stroller that said "and he didn't even come with an e-manual!"

(Look at my signature to get the pun.)

Toot

Mon, Jan 04 2010, 8:25 pm

Marion wrote:

DS#1 was 2.5 weeks old his first Purim. We put a sign on the stroller that said "and he didn't even come with an e-manual!"

(Look at my signature to get the pun.)

Amazing!!!

the world's best mom

Mon, Jan 04 2010, 9:52 pm

If you don't want to let him cry it out, here's how the manual goes:
-have your bedtime routine, including supper, a bath if desired, pajamas... Use whatever pajamas your baby is most comfortable in. My girls slept in undershirts, ds sleeps in cuddly pajamas
-turn off lights in bedroom. Nurse baby or give a bottle. Rocking can help, so can soft music.
-When baby is finished drinking, he may already be asleep, or he may be drowsy. If he's still awake, I would walk around the room holding ds with his head on my shoulder, patting him on the back and singing to him. Sometimes this doesn't work, but rocking him in a rocking chair while patting his back and singing does.
-Once baby is asleep, wait until he's sleeping deeply before putting him down. This could take a minute or 2, or ten. I would recommend not to wait longer than 10 minutes because then they may wake up and think thery're finished sleeping.
-Put baby down gently and pat his stomach or back for a moment.
-If baby remains asleep, tiptoe out of the room.

intel

Mon, Jan 04 2010, 10:39 pm

I push dd in the carriage with music on until she falls asleep. not ideal. it takes a while. but first I want to get her into a normal schedule, then I hope to work on breaking this habit and do some "crying it out" (yeah right Smile

)

su7kids

Mon, Jan 04 2010, 10:41 pm

I strongly advocate The Baby Whisperer and related books:

Link:

The Baby Whisperer - on Amazon.com

flowerpower

Mon, Jan 04 2010, 11:07 pm

1-make a routine nightly, put him to bed the same time every night. Half hour before bedtime put him on his pjs or an hour before you can do his bath so he will know bedtime is comming

2-lavender baby lotion is calming so you can put that on

amother

Tue, Jan 12 2010, 9:35 am

OP here...

I read Weissbluth and LOVED it. Better yet, it's working!!!!

mummiedearest

Tue, Jan 12 2010, 3:03 pm

great, op! I'm so happy for you!

amother

Tue, Jan 12 2010, 3:19 pm

My baby is five months old and is impossible when it comes to going to sleep. untill he was 4.5 months he went to sleep at about two every night and sleep for about five hours and now I feed him in a dark room at about eleven twelve and he screams for about twenty min and then I rock him to sleep but he stopped sleeping for five hours he only does about a three hour stretch now and I feel so cruel letting him scream. but how else can I make him go to sleep earlier