Does you little peanut clings on to you and wakes up as soon as you put him in his crib? For some time this was the story with us. We tried many different ways so that he would go to sleep and most importantly stay asleep without mommy. Here are five steps that worked for me:
Golden rule #1 is to ensure you change his diaper. If your little one is sitting in a lot of pee or worst case poop, he is most likely to get fussy and less likely to fall asleep. The reason why he is not sleeping may be because he feel wet and uncomfortable which keeps him from getting cozy and falling asleep.
Golden rule #2 is to ensure he is not hungry. If your baby is full, he is more likely to fall asleep and sleep for an extended time. If he is hungry, he will eventually fall asleep because he is exhausted but he will wake up sooner or later. If you are putting that much work into putting him to sleep, you would not want him to wake up shortly after you put him in his bed.
Golden rule #3 is to make sure to burp him after nursing. One thing I kept forgetting is to burp my little one. After I nurse him, I would try to rock him to sleep but he would continue to cry, kick and punch. I would think he does not want to sleep and when I stand him up, he would burp and fall asleep on my shoulder.
Golden rule #4 is try swaddling your baby. Infants have a lot more involuntary motions that are jerky in nature. Any type of loud noise may startle them and wake them up. I believe that babies also dream so once they fall asleep, they tend to wake themselves up by jerking their arms/leg. Once I swaddled my little one, his movements did not wake him up and he slept for longer periods of time.
Golden rule #5 Babies know their moms by moms scent. My little one would periodically open/close his eyes to make sure I was not laying him down. Once he really fell asleep, I would lay him down and try to leave the room and he would wake up immediately. I started leaving my worn-couple-of-times shirt or cardigan in his crib right next to him. That did the trick. He thought I was laying down with him I guess so he did not wake up.
I would love to hear about your comments! Your tricks, what worked for you and your little peanut!
Babyhood: A to Z 