Just curious... until what age did you rock/walk..your children to sleep?

By Emdee on Monday, August 23, 2004 - 10:52 am:

My dd is 15 months--almost 16 and we have a sleep time routine. We rock for a little while, say prayers, sing, and then I lay her down and pat her back for about 2-3 mintues. She usually falls asleep during that time. I don't know when I need to work on her going to sleep on her own.

By Marcia on Monday, August 23, 2004 - 11:03 am:

I never did. I put them in the crib awake, turned out the lights and shut the door, and that was that. Well, of course I did the normal hugs and kisses , but no rocking or walking. I wanted them to be able to settle themselves, so that if they woke in the night they could do the same.

By Kittycat_26 on Monday, August 23, 2004 - 11:26 am:

I've never rocked Timmy to sleep. I've done the same as Marcia. He goes into his crib (now a big boy bed) awake. He gets kisses and hugs and then covered up. That's it.

By Kaye on Monday, August 23, 2004 - 12:03 pm:

With my oldest I only did it for a short while, a couple of months maybe, I put her down awake and she would go to sleep (she didn't sleep through the night till she was 3 though, so it didn't help her), my middle kid I walked until he was just too big to hold, about 6 months, my baby, well he is 6 and still on occasion he will crawl up in my lap and rock to sleep My middle one was my best sleeper, so who knows.

By Cat on Monday, August 23, 2004 - 12:22 pm:

I rocked Robin to sleep until he was about 17 or 18 months old. I was pregnant and due soon, so he became the classic "Ferber" baby then (didn't want to have to rock two babies to sleep). He cried for three nights, 20 minutes the first, 10 the second and like 3 the third, and that was it. Randy didn't really like to be rocked, but he liked to be held and to play with my hair while he fell asleep. I did that with him until he was almost 2 and he stopped that himself. He wanted to go to sleep like big brother. At that point and time in my life, rocking or holding my babies was just part of my normal day. I had the time to do it. I probably wouldn't now, but I was glad to do it then.

By Mommyathome on Monday, August 23, 2004 - 01:25 pm:

Ditto Marcia. We did rock and have stories about an hour before bedtime as part of our routine. But, we always tried to put the kids to bed while still awake.

By Amy~moderator on Monday, August 23, 2004 - 01:36 pm:

Ditto Marcia and Robin. For all 3 of my boys, I would have some down time with them before bedtime, read stories, snuggle, etc - but then put them to bed while they were awake. HTH

By Pamt on Monday, August 23, 2004 - 01:50 pm:

Ditto others. Rocked and nursed and they usually just happened to fall asleep while nursing until about 3-4 months. Then we went through our routine and they got themselves to sleep. That is a VERY important skill to teach our babies, IMHO.

By My2cuties on Monday, August 23, 2004 - 03:57 pm:

Yes, we also put our children down still awake after bedtime stories and 'snuggle time'. My mother on the other hand felt it was the only way to get them to sleep and thought I was a 'bad mom' for just putting them in their room and letting them go to sleep by themselves. My youngest cannot stand to be held when it is her bedtime...lol

By Dawnk777 on Monday, August 23, 2004 - 07:03 pm:

My oldest daughter was only a few months old when I stopped. She couldn't settle down on my shoulder when I rocked her. When I layed her down, she would babble for a while and just fall asleep. I was sad, because I wanted to rock her to sleep, but in retrospect, it was a good thing because she almost never had trouble falling asleep on her own.

By Monicamomof3 on Monday, August 23, 2004 - 07:28 pm:

I freaked out about my 1st child putting herself to sleep alone. I then "gave in" and began rocking her. She is now 5 and I don't look back and say "gee I sure wish I hadn't rocked her all those hours/days!" Now, I take every opportunity to rock my other two, because life goes too fast and children can never receive too much love and touch. I try to rock my 5 year old (LOL!) but she won't let me! Although, it would be nice on those busy days, for my 7 month old to put herself to sleep!

By Luvn29 on Monday, August 23, 2004 - 07:52 pm:

My dd is 8 and still loves to be rocked to sleep. I regularly rocked her to sleep till she was five. Sometime in there, she started going to bed and falling asleep with me lying beside of her because of school.

My ds is five and just started kindy this year. I have rocked him to sleep (unless he fell asleep on accident on the couch or something) till now. Now he lies down on the couch and falls asleep while I am on the computer or watching tv. But if he wants me to rock him, I do.

The way I feel is these children will only be little and want to be rocked for a few years, max. Then we are going to wish we still had our babies to cuddle. My job is being a mommy. Even during the times I work outside of the home. Taking a half hour out of my night to cuddle and rock my children is not going to hurt anything, and I have found I now look back and cherish that time I spent doing it.

I will always be thankful I never made my children go to bed by themselves (though my dd now does, and my son is starting to) and that we have those memories and that special "mommy and me" time. They are memories I will hold dear to my heart forever and will look back on often.

As I am learning, they only stay little for such a short time, and you NEVER get that time back again.

I guess everyone has to make their own decisions. You just need to go with your heart feelings and do what YOU think is right for you and your child.

By Tink on Monday, August 23, 2004 - 09:55 pm:

My dks fell asleep while nursing for the first 6 months or so and then my girls began putting themselves to sleep if I laid them down awake. My ds was a whole other story! That boy never wanted to sleep! I would walk,rock, go for a ride in the car, put his bouncy seat by the dryer, you name it. He didn't go to sleep easily until he was around two. Since then he's had several sleep problems.
I envy you moms that rocked or walked your children for longer times than I did. I ended up so tired and frustrated that it wasn't healthy for any of us.