I noticed that there r alot of threads about sleep. TO be honest, I dont really have any problems. I knw babies are different, but I noticed that if u implement a sleeping routine since day one, things will be much easier when they start growing up.

Before I gave birth, a freind gave me a little advice "Never hold or rock to sleep"

When I gave birth, I was soo sore fr the CS. At the hospital I didnt get much help & the baby was with me. I had a drip & catheter, & couldn't reach for LO to hold him when he's awake. I used to just pat on his tummy & head to sooth him & help him to sleep.

Since then, I used this method to sooth Omar. I change, feed him, then put him down on his cot or my bed, pat on his tummy & head & he falls asleep.

There r no naps on the sofa or bouncy chairs. All his naps r in my room in his cot or my bed with dim light. I use the 2hrs rule for naps as I knw he cant stay up for longer between naps. If he struggles, I just put him in his cot with mobile & watch him frm far.

He naps very well, & sleeps through at night. I have some days when he doesnt want to sleep at night, but I resist holding him. I just lie down on my bed with him & talk softly to him. I give him a tight cuddle, hug, & lots of kisses when we'r on bed, & this always do the trick.

I was very strict regarding the holding & rocking to sleep. I went through lots of arguement with DH, as I knew it's for the best

I just wanted to share my routine, which is working perfectly for us.

I think it depends on the baby tbh, I sometimes rock or hold ava to sleep, and shes fine. Ive never had any major issues with sleep and ive also not implemented a routine either, I personally think its important that the baby learns to nap everywhere and not in the dark bedroom during the day as it might cause issues that the baby will only sleep there. which as they get older makes it hard to get out cos he/she wont nap in pram/car/light/noise. I think putting the baby down awake is definately a good thing so they can learn, but i would, personally, recommend only having them sleep in the dark bedroom at night so they can differenciate the day and the night. x

Quick question to the OP: If you shouldn't rock or hold them to get them to sleep, then why is it OK to pat their tummy and stroke their head until they go to sleep? Aren't they the same thing really, just varying degrees of the above?

I thought these were all considered 'sleep triggers' and therefore weather you rock them, or stroke/pat them, it is still a sleep trigger for them?

I am pleased that your LO is sleeping through.

Also some babies are just not able to go to sleep without being held/rocked for the first few months. I know Thomas was not able to go to sleep without being rocked or bounced, he suffered very badly from wind and would just scream and scream if I lay him down in the basket awake. Shhing and patting did absolutely bugger all for us. I would quite simply not have been able to cope for the first three months if I hadn't rocked him to sleep. He can now settle himself to sleep but he honestly was not able to do this until he was about 3 months. For the first six weeks or so he would only really sleep on my chest and would scream and scream anytime we put him in the basket.

So I think for some babies the advice of 'never rock to sleep' may work wonderfully, other babies are just more needy in the early months. I think the important thing is to be tuned into your baby's needs and watch for when they might be ready to start to learn to fall asleep without so much help from you. I still bounce Thomas to sleep for all his naps but I know that he is developmentally ready to start to learn to fall asleep himself for his naps as he does it at bedtime, so I'm going to work on breaking this habit over the next few weeks. However up until now it has just been more important for me that he gets his daytime sleep and isn't completely overtired, even if that means I am stuck sitting bouncing his bouncy chair several times a day. All babies are different and if it was as easy as all that then there wouldn't be so many of us struggling with sleep issues. You are lucky that your baby is such a good sleeper and that it hasn't been an issue for you! But unfortunately not all babies fall into a good sleeping pattern so easily.

I didn't reply earlier today because I didn't want to write something unfair

I really appreciate the helpful and kind sentiment of this thread. It's just the tips could never have applied to my baby who needed alot of physical stimulus to evict the wind from her belly and bowels... which 9 times out of 10 sends her to sleep too. And the effort that takes makes 'the 2 hour rule' impossible.

But I hope for some ladies the advice will help

i have never really had any issues with my LO sleeping, and i do rock her and hold her. for me it feels very unnatural not to. in the day she has 3 long naps, often falling asleep on me or OH, sometimes we set her down in her crib, or our bed, most often we don't. i really love her sleeping on me, i try to sleep too. at night she usually falls asleep around 7pm and we rock her after she eats and set her down in her crib till we go to sleep and then we take her into bed with us. she sleeps from 7 or 8pm till 6am-9am (depending on her mood), and all in the night she "wakes" once or twice to eat or be changed, which is easy as she is right next to me in bed. (most of the time. sometimes it's different)
i'm not worried about her moving into her own bed, i'm confident the transition will be smooth when she's ready. i try not to stress about it as i know she can pick up on this and i want her to feel that no matter how she sleeps i am here for her and she is safe. i of course get tired, but i know it's just a season. it'll pass, things will change.
all babies are different of course, but this is what works for us. i think it really depends on the baby's personality how they are with their sleep. they might be ok with sleeping on their own, and they might not, they might be ok with either. all parents are different too. best to trust your gut.

edit: the past week or so poor baby girl has been plagued with a very runny stuffy nose which has impeded her sleep a bit. (and ours!) it wakes her up in the night and she snorts like a cute little piggy. it is sad/cute. we are working on it to make her more comfy.

That's pretty much what I meant to say in my post - I hope I didn't come across as rude because that wasn't my intention! I am always very eager to read ANY tips on improving sleep and as Seraphim says, hopefully it will be very helpful for some babies.

Seraphim - I think that Thomas might be finally starting to get better at getting his wind up. During the past day or so he has actually been burping properly after only 10 or 15 minutes of winding and actually seems to be getting rid of the majority of wind!! I don't want to speak too soon but maybe we are turning a little corner as he turns 4 months! (sorry for hijacking)

The way I read this thread is that the OP just wanted to share what works for her because she isnt having any issues. I don't understand why its neccessary to defend why it doesnt work for you. I think it was just meant to help. It kind of annoys me that people get jumped on so much on this forum for posts that are obviously well meant.

I know what you mean and I really didn't want to come across as defensive or put the OP down in any way, I think it is great when people share tips that have worked for them.

The only concern that I have is that if these tips don't work for your baby then it is very easy to feel that you are doing something wrong or that you are a rubbish parent because all the books say 'put your baby down drowsy but awake' - I know I was really hard on myself for ages that I just wasn't able to make all the good advice work for me whereas it seemed to work brilliantly for other babies. It can just make you feel so rubbish about yourself when everyone else's baby seems to sleep easily and yours doesn't.

So the reason I posted was really just to say to other mums with babies who these types of strategies don't work for, not to feel bad about it because all babies are different.

i know what you mean polaris and i also hate that people might be reading stuff on here and feeling bad about it. i just think mums have to be brave and not let others make them feel bad. i just think you cant control other people, only how they impact you. i understand it can be highly emotive when its about parenting.