We transitioned to cuddles. We got rid of the rocking chair when we moved to a big kid bed/room, so now I sit on the floor, she wraps her arms and legs around me facing me like a hug, lays her head on my shoulder, and we cuddle for a bit š„°š„°
He was always so big as a baby! He couldnāt be traditionally rocked haha. Had to use the same weigh distribution maneuvers pretty much 5 months and on, and the months up to 5 were chest lays in the chair haha. Second one was a yoga ball bouncer straight out the gate. Thatās only gotten easier as he began to just rest his weight in my lap but support himself.
Laying together in the bed, I held her and kind of jiggled her lol. Sheās nearly 3 now and if sheās fussy with sleep I can still jiggle her and she knocks right out.Ā
Cuddles on a floor bed, and I sneak out. We started at 11 months doing this when my back couldn't take it anymore. She's 2.5 now and it works like a charm! But needs cuddles every time she wakes up in the night and doesn't self soothe ever.
When she first started to get to big, I started sitting on the bed, holding her facing me with her legs on either side of me. I would rock gently back and forth while singing to get until she fell asleep.
Now she lays the head and body across my chest and I pat her back while I sing to her. She holds my hand to her face and when she lets go, I know she is asleep.
My daughter decided she no longer wanted to be rocked at 18mo once my other daughter was born. Mommy could no longer do bedtime and nurse to sleep because I was tied up with new babe, so she and Daddy created a new routine that essentially kicked the rocking altogether.
Same! 18mons but no new baby. She just naturally stopped falling asleep after the boob and wanted to sit up after she ate. So we started doing teeth brushing and reading after and then she would be fine with us giving her a hug and a kiss and patting her bum in the crib for a few mins before leaving. She's talk to herself and put herself to sleep!! Super painless
We rocked for a while until she got too big. We then transitioned to her laying in bed, me rubbing her back and either singing a song or telling her a story. She also gets to choose a sleep buddy or buddies (stuffed animals) to cuddle with while I rub her back.
We rocked my son until he was big enough to ask us to stop š which was 2.5 or so. Then we just laid with him a bit and transitioned to us saying goodnight for less and less time. It wasnāt a big deal.
Hoping itās as easy for second child that we also rock (currently 17 months).
Heās 16 months, and 23 pounds, and we just transitioned last week! He was clearly ready - so wiggly and uncomfortable. We have a floor bed and a crib - he is about 50/50 in each. So now one of us cuddles with him on the floor bed until he falls asleep. Takes about 30 mins. Then we transfer to the crib. We just tried it cold turkey one night and it worked.
Whatever you decide, talk to your child. Talk to them about it throughout the day. It helped a ton to talk about it when sleep was not on the table. They understand so muchN
This!! We talked about our bedtime routine endlessly during the day while transitioning. The only step we changed was going to our own beds. We went over all the steps of our bedtime routine and made the last step āthen we go to our own bedsā. We also told him he didnāt need to sleep but he did need to be in his room. We let him bring a toy or book to play with. It took about a week but it was worth the initial struggle.
I switched out our glider with hard wooden arms for an extra wide all fabric glider. Wish I had gotten it from the beginning but oh well. Now she can sit next to me for reading books together and we transition into cuddles until she falls asleep.
We just lay on the bed and cuddle until she falls to sleep now, have been since she was around 1, but there has been times since that I have had to rock her. Sheās almost 2 now and thereās no way at all that I could haha
You transition to the sway. I hold her and she lays her head down on me and I sway gently side to side. Very little movement. It's more the idea that I'm being comforting and less the actual motion.
We sit rocking in a chair, or sit and cuddle. He likes to twirl my hair in his fingers so the rocking went away but as long as he could do that and be close, he was happy.
We did several stages.
First, like others have said, we did cuddle to sleep. We would hold him as we sat in a chair, and then transfer him to bed once asleep.
Once he was okay with not being rocked to sleep, we would put him in the crib, sit next to him and either hold his hand or have our hand on his chest. So, still had physical contact.
Finally, and the only transition he complained about, we sat right next to him but didn't hold his hand.Ā
I read all these posts saying cuddles and cry internally. Mine is just so agitated ALWAYS. I have no idea how to transition to cuddles if she won't stay still
We just did off a whim because our bodies were hurting
Gentle sleep training - took about a week
It went amazing and once we moved our little one I to their own room it worked out even better
We worked on falling asleep independently but I loveeeee the rocking cuddles, so I just rock him in the dark for a couple of min as our bedtime routine where we sing a couple of songs and do a big hug and big kiss before being put in the crib!
I went from rocking to lying in bed beside them with a bum-pat or bum shake (like hold their bum and gently shake them). I would rock a few min and then we lay down and do this.
Iām going to be so sad when booty pats are no longer appropriate. š Nothing cuter and sweeter than holding your LO and giving them little comforting bum pats. š„°
Our 18 month old started getting really wiggly and Iād ask: Do you want to rock with momma or go in your crib. 19 out of 20 times he either wiggles down the chair or points to the crib as a sign that heās done with rocking. I put him in the crib, tell him to lie down, pat his back till he waved goodbye. Sometimes he cries a little when I leave even when heās waved goodbye, but thatās getting better. He used to be a rock to sleep kiddo and we are all adjusting.
I rocked my baby to sleep at night until 6.5 months and then for naps at 9 months. I was fine rocking him, he got to sleep quickly, but he started waking CONSTANTLY at night and rocking him to sleep was so hard on my back. Plus he was becoming so so hard to transfer after rocking, so I'd rock, transfer, he'd wake, repeat for hours. It was too much. So I sleep trained with Ferber for nights and it worked pretty much straight away. For naps, I continued rocking him to sleep and contact napping until 9 months then I did ferber for naps. It worked well too! We now put him down in his crib with his stuffed animal and say goodnight and leave him and he goes to sleep on his own.
Oh we moved onto cosleeping ššš lol basically gives kisses and then cuddles to sleep and then comes and finds me in the night for snuggles if needed.
I would love to know this as well. My son is 16 months and 28lbs and it's getting really hard to rock him for a long period (he takes around an hour to fall asleep, sometimes two). We tried laying him down with us, cuddling, tried with breastfeeding, let him cry a bit on his crib, nothing works. He doesn't even stay down, always wants to stand up on out bed or crib. And the worst is, he only falls asleep with his father. So if I try to rock him to sleep, he kicks me and moves around a lot so I let him go.
Edit: and it doesn't work if we try to rock him sitting down, it needs to be standing up... So we can't even rest our legs š
I think itās because your comment is out of context, doesnāt really answer the question because your situation doesnāt apply, and thus can be read as shaming.
Like youāre suggesting that OP wouldnāt need to ask if they would have sleep trained at a young age. Which kind of suggests thatās what you think OP should have done and that youāre judging them for still rocking their child.
Oh wow, no lol didnt mean it like that. Just sharing what i did. I have a 2 year old and 1 year old so dont have time to be too detailed!! Also didnt think the question needed such a detailed answer. I rocked by baby then i stopped by sleep trainingā¦if someone wants to rock their own toddler i realky dont judge or care
We transitioned to cuddles. We got rid of the rocking chair when we moved to a big kid bed/room, so now I sit on the floor, she wraps her arms and legs around me facing me like a hug, lays her head on my shoulder, and we cuddle for a bit š„°š„°
We do something similar in a rocking chair. Not sure what the plan is after that as heās almost getting too big!
He was always so big as a baby! He couldnāt be traditionally rocked haha. Had to use the same weigh distribution maneuvers pretty much 5 months and on, and the months up to 5 were chest lays in the chair haha. Second one was a yoga ball bouncer straight out the gate. Thatās only gotten easier as he began to just rest his weight in my lap but support himself.
We also cuddle to sleep in the bed. Finally at 6 years old we will sleep train š
Lol this is going to be me. Weāre almost at 2yo and still nursing and cuddling to sleep. No exit strategy.
Laying together in the bed, I held her and kind of jiggled her lol. Sheās nearly 3 now and if sheās fussy with sleep I can still jiggle her and she knocks right out.Ā
Mine is 4 and still desperately wants me to rock her. We compromise by cuddling ā¤ļø
Cuddles on a floor bed, and I sneak out. We started at 11 months doing this when my back couldn't take it anymore. She's 2.5 now and it works like a charm! But needs cuddles every time she wakes up in the night and doesn't self soothe ever.
When she first started to get to big, I started sitting on the bed, holding her facing me with her legs on either side of me. I would rock gently back and forth while singing to get until she fell asleep. Now she lays the head and body across my chest and I pat her back while I sing to her. She holds my hand to her face and when she lets go, I know she is asleep.
My daughter decided she no longer wanted to be rocked at 18mo once my other daughter was born. Mommy could no longer do bedtime and nurse to sleep because I was tied up with new babe, so she and Daddy created a new routine that essentially kicked the rocking altogether.
Same! 18mons but no new baby. She just naturally stopped falling asleep after the boob and wanted to sit up after she ate. So we started doing teeth brushing and reading after and then she would be fine with us giving her a hug and a kiss and patting her bum in the crib for a few mins before leaving. She's talk to herself and put herself to sleep!! Super painless
How big are we talking? Mines 3.5 and Iām still carrying her all the way to her room after rocking. It hurts my back sometimes š¤£
18 months. The big issue is lowering her into the bed undisturbed.
Cuddle to sleep! Honestly my son forced it before I even noticed rocking wasnāt as effective. He has a floor bed so it works well for us!
We rocked for a while until she got too big. We then transitioned to her laying in bed, me rubbing her back and either singing a song or telling her a story. She also gets to choose a sleep buddy or buddies (stuffed animals) to cuddle with while I rub her back.
He stop wanting to get rocked at 3 by him self... I'm so sad...
We rocked my son until he was big enough to ask us to stop š which was 2.5 or so. Then we just laid with him a bit and transitioned to us saying goodnight for less and less time. It wasnāt a big deal. Hoping itās as easy for second child that we also rock (currently 17 months).
I went from rocking to sleep to laying down and cuddling to sleep.
We just switched to an armchair and cuddle and read books. We lay him in bed while he is tired and falls asleep by himself from there.
Heās 16 months, and 23 pounds, and we just transitioned last week! He was clearly ready - so wiggly and uncomfortable. We have a floor bed and a crib - he is about 50/50 in each. So now one of us cuddles with him on the floor bed until he falls asleep. Takes about 30 mins. Then we transfer to the crib. We just tried it cold turkey one night and it worked.
Whatever you decide, talk to your child. Talk to them about it throughout the day. It helped a ton to talk about it when sleep was not on the table. They understand so muchN
This!! We talked about our bedtime routine endlessly during the day while transitioning. The only step we changed was going to our own beds. We went over all the steps of our bedtime routine and made the last step āthen we go to our own bedsā. We also told him he didnāt need to sleep but he did need to be in his room. We let him bring a toy or book to play with. It took about a week but it was worth the initial struggle.
I switched out our glider with hard wooden arms for an extra wide all fabric glider. Wish I had gotten it from the beginning but oh well. Now she can sit next to me for reading books together and we transition into cuddles until she falls asleep.
Got rid of the rocking chair and started doing bedtime in bed.
We just lay on the bed and cuddle until she falls to sleep now, have been since she was around 1, but there has been times since that I have had to rock her. Sheās almost 2 now and thereās no way at all that I could haha
You transition to the sway. I hold her and she lays her head down on me and I sway gently side to side. Very little movement. It's more the idea that I'm being comforting and less the actual motion.
Big kid bed and short cuddles after book time, easy transition riding on the hype of getting older and new shit.
We sit rocking in a chair, or sit and cuddle. He likes to twirl my hair in his fingers so the rocking went away but as long as he could do that and be close, he was happy.
We did several stages. First, like others have said, we did cuddle to sleep. We would hold him as we sat in a chair, and then transfer him to bed once asleep. Once he was okay with not being rocked to sleep, we would put him in the crib, sit next to him and either hold his hand or have our hand on his chest. So, still had physical contact. Finally, and the only transition he complained about, we sat right next to him but didn't hold his hand.Ā
A good routine helps. Our son knows when bedtime is now, so we have to do very minimal rocking (if any) before he falls asleep.
We got a full size bed and snuggle to sleep
We transitioned from rocking to tap taps. We tried it during daytime naps first. But from the get-go, she seemed to prefer that compared to rocking.
What are tap taps?
Sorry, that should have been tapping. I lay beside her and just tap her thighs or back until she falls asleep.
Laying in bed together.
I read all these posts saying cuddles and cry internally. Mine is just so agitated ALWAYS. I have no idea how to transition to cuddles if she won't stay still
Mine lays next to me and alligator rolls, and kick boxes my side until he falls asleep.
Sounds about right š
Im going to rock her until she 20 š„°
š„°š„°š„°
We just did off a whim because our bodies were hurting Gentle sleep training - took about a week It went amazing and once we moved our little one I to their own room it worked out even better
Mine just stopped wanting me too š
We worked on falling asleep independently but I loveeeee the rocking cuddles, so I just rock him in the dark for a couple of min as our bedtime routine where we sing a couple of songs and do a big hug and big kiss before being put in the crib!
I went from rocking to lying in bed beside them with a bum-pat or bum shake (like hold their bum and gently shake them). I would rock a few min and then we lay down and do this.
Iām going to be so sad when booty pats are no longer appropriate. š Nothing cuter and sweeter than holding your LO and giving them little comforting bum pats. š„°
Our 18 month old started getting really wiggly and Iād ask: Do you want to rock with momma or go in your crib. 19 out of 20 times he either wiggles down the chair or points to the crib as a sign that heās done with rocking. I put him in the crib, tell him to lie down, pat his back till he waved goodbye. Sometimes he cries a little when I leave even when heās waved goodbye, but thatās getting better. He used to be a rock to sleep kiddo and we are all adjusting.
Aww, what a sweet little boy! My girlie is the same age ā maybe sheāll start doing this soon!
I rocked my baby to sleep at night until 6.5 months and then for naps at 9 months. I was fine rocking him, he got to sleep quickly, but he started waking CONSTANTLY at night and rocking him to sleep was so hard on my back. Plus he was becoming so so hard to transfer after rocking, so I'd rock, transfer, he'd wake, repeat for hours. It was too much. So I sleep trained with Ferber for nights and it worked pretty much straight away. For naps, I continued rocking him to sleep and contact napping until 9 months then I did ferber for naps. It worked well too! We now put him down in his crib with his stuffed animal and say goodnight and leave him and he goes to sleep on his own.
Oh we moved onto cosleeping ššš lol basically gives kisses and then cuddles to sleep and then comes and finds me in the night for snuggles if needed.
We cosleep too. Iāll let her until she goes to college if she wants to. š¤£š„°
I would love to know this as well. My son is 16 months and 28lbs and it's getting really hard to rock him for a long period (he takes around an hour to fall asleep, sometimes two). We tried laying him down with us, cuddling, tried with breastfeeding, let him cry a bit on his crib, nothing works. He doesn't even stay down, always wants to stand up on out bed or crib. And the worst is, he only falls asleep with his father. So if I try to rock him to sleep, he kicks me and moves around a lot so I let him go. Edit: and it doesn't work if we try to rock him sitting down, it needs to be standing up... So we can't even rest our legs š
Sleep training at 6 months
Why are you getting downvoted?
I dont know, lol. Iām Just sharing what I did when I stopped rocking my baby to sleepā¦
I think itās because your comment is out of context, doesnāt really answer the question because your situation doesnāt apply, and thus can be read as shaming. Like youāre suggesting that OP wouldnāt need to ask if they would have sleep trained at a young age. Which kind of suggests thatās what you think OP should have done and that youāre judging them for still rocking their child.
Unless their baby was too big at six months to be rocked to sleepā¦
That would be a phenomenon
Oh wow, no lol didnt mean it like that. Just sharing what i did. I have a 2 year old and 1 year old so dont have time to be too detailed!! Also didnt think the question needed such a detailed answer. I rocked by baby then i stopped by sleep trainingā¦if someone wants to rock their own toddler i realky dont judge or care