Accidentally had huge success with "drowsy but awake"

[jessmke]

I have been trying the 'put baby down drowsy but awake' thing, but if I am honest she is far more than drowsy when I put her down to sleep. Well today I stumbled onto total success with truly "drowsy but awake!". Normally when it's time for a nap, I pop Isla's pacifier in, put a blanket over her, and sit down with her in the living room chair and she will put her head on my chest and fall asleep within minutes. Then I put her down in her pack n play for her nap, she might open her eyes briefly when I put her down, but she is basically asleep (ie. not just drowsy!). The last couple of days she has been fighting sleep like you wouldn't believe during nap time (I think we are in the 4 month sleep regression), so today I got fed up with trying to get her to sleep and I gave up and put her down awake in her pack n play and went downstairs to put her diapers in the wash. I came back up 10 minutes later and she was asleep! So when it was time for her next nap I put her pacifier in, put her in her pack n play awake and walked away. Boom, 5 minutes later she was asleep. Then her third nap came, she was already in her pack n play with some toys. I took the toys away, put the pacifier in, walked away, and she fell asleep again! No crying, no fussing, just closes her eyes and fidgets around a little bit and goes to sleep. I am so happy, we have been having some difficulties with her sleep lately, this is the first time I've been happy over something sleep related in weeks!

 

[prettybirdy27]

Awesome!! It feels so great when you find something that works.

 

[jessmke]

We've been doing the same thing for the last couple of days and it works every time! I do miss the sleepy cuddles, but I am very happy that she can fall asleep in her own!