Putting baby in crib to sleep

[Starlight32]

So silly question here

When it's nap time or bedtime, do you put baby down before they start crying of being tired and while awake? Does baby just decide to sleep and drift off?

Curious on what other people do.

 

[MindUtopia]

Ideally, you should get them settling to sleep before they start crying, as by the time they're crying they're usually over-tired and then it just gets more difficult. So I always tried to look for earlier signs of sleepyness (also generally after awhile, things fall into a pattern and you know it's coming just based on what time it is). Mine never really slept in a crib/cot, as we co-slept or she slept in the wrap or pushchair, but yes, I usually tried to be settling her down to sleep before she got overly tired and grumpy. It takes some getting used to, but eventually it's easier to know when it's coming.

 

[jessmke]

I always try to put my LO down before she starts crying from being tired. Sometimes I miss it but for the most part I put her down in the crib for naps when she starts rubbing her nose or flicking her ears. I put her in her sleep sac while reciting Goodnight Moon, then sometimes nurse her depending on when she last ate, then put her down in the crib. Sometimes if she is really tired she will fall asleep while nursing but for the most part she is usually awake when I put her down. She plays with her lovey and rolls around and chats to herself for 5-15 min before falling asleep. The only time she cries when I put her down in the crib is if I waited too long and she is overtired when I try to put her down for a nap. If I time it right there are no tears and she falls asleep on her own.

 

[CRWx]

I put her down before she starts crying for the most part (unless we're doing something that stops me from doing so!) because she's quite easy to read in that as soon as she's tired you can tell straight away. She rubs her eyes/nose and messes with her ears then her little eyes start looking tired. It's so much easier to put her down than when she's crying otherwise she gets herself worked up and it's a lot harder to calm her down and she gets overtired. I usually put her down and she'll rub her face on Ewan, wiggle about then fall asleep. Sometimes we have a bit of a game with her rolling over and chatting/crying but more often than not she'll be asleep within 10 mins without any tears.

 

[karlilay]

I put Poppy down awake, she's the same as little miss above, very easy to read and it's obvious when she's tired. She's goes to sleep within 5 minutes. I don't rock, or shhhh her or anything, I just leave her.

 

[Starlight32]

I tried this last night and it worked without tears!

 

[karlilay]

If she cries, I would pick her up, but I never hold her to sleep, I would comfort her and put her back. I have put her to sleep like this since she as newborn though, so she never cries.

 

[Starlight32]

Thanks all. This has been working the past three nights! Going to try it for naps today

 

[Kiwiberry]

Definitely before she starts crying. There are other signs like her rubbing her eyes over and over. Babies also love routine. So I just monitor my daughter and create her sleep schedule around what she needs. She does so well with her naps.

 

[xprincessx]

Callum co-slept with me so I always laid down with him while he was awake.

We don't co-sleep with Amelie and have always put her down awake, it was a bit difficult in the early days but has been a godsend since!

We will be doing the same with DS2 as we did with Amelie

 

[Starlight32]

Still going well with bedtime thankfully but naps have been more difficult.

 

[noon_child]

Wow all these babies with sleep 'tells'. I could never see when my LO was tired, it was like a switch and she just flicked to screaming. I could literally rock her all day, walk her in the pram, wear her in the wrap, lay her in a dark room ALL DAY trying to catch the tired bit, and she'd just refuse to drop off...and then scream!

 

[Starlight32]

Mine doesn't really have one except yawning. She'll stick her fingers and thumb in her mouth but she will also do that when not sleepy too.

She also shows signs of sleepy, then act wide awake, and so on.

This is the 8th night in a row she's gotten to sleep on her own for bedtime. She usually has to fuss first though. So I calm her then out her in crib while calm. This doesn't seem to work for naps.

 

[CRWx]

Yay! Well done to your LO

Hope you crack naps ASAP xxx

 

[jessmke]

Mine doesn't really have one except yawning. She'll stick her fingers and thumb in her mouth but she will also do that when not sleepy too.

She also shows signs of sleepy, then act wide awake, and so on.

This is the 8th night in a row she's gotten to sleep on her own for bedtime. She usually has to fuss first though. So I calm her then out her in crib while calm. This doesn't seem to work for naps.

Naps are always harder than bedtime because they don't have nearly the same 'sleep pressure' during the day as they do at bedtime. Just keep up what you're doing and she should get there!

 

[Starlight32]

So she only put herself to sleep from being awake for 1.5 weeks. Then she decided she wasn't going to do that anymore. She then needed to be very sleepy, like in the verge of sleep. There was a random day she went to sleep from being awake but the past 3 days she cries when I even put her in the crib (even when she seems totally asleep).