Do you or did you rock baby to sleep? Or did you just lay them down awake?
I cant help it, I rock Faith to sleep each time, or I just hold her until she falls asleep. I did this with all my kids..My first was a rocker too.. My 2nd, she only liked to be rocked sometimes..Well and this one, she is just such a snuggle bug, I love to hold and rock her to sleep. Sometimes.. Ijust hold her even after shes asleep because it feels so darn good. She is my last baby, and I dont want to miss out on anything.
I know people are divided on this topic, they lay their babies down awake, let them get use to falling asleep on theri own etc..I think that is a great concept..Yet, Im not willing to let her try that or do it, as I hate hearing her cry for any reason..Im just a sap, I cant help it..
so what did you all do with your babies?

By Emdee on Tuesday, November 9, 2004 - 09:33 am:

My dd is 18 months old and we are just now trying to get her to sleep on her own (by on her own I mean us laying beside her patting her back until she falls asleep!!). She is also a cuddle bug and I love cuddling with her. I know alot of people don't approve of this method, but since I have the time to spend with her I like spending it! Now, if I had other demands where it wasn't possible to spend that much time putting her down, then I probably wouldn't. But usually she is asleep in 5 minutes anyway, so I figure no harm done. Well, one thing I don't like about it is that she is still up in the middle of the night every night--that is something we are now going to have to break.

By My2cuties on Tuesday, November 9, 2004 - 09:33 am:

Personally, I lay both of my dd's down, but they are 3 and 17 months old. I think it is wonderful if your dd will let you rock her. Take advantage of these days!

By Boxzgrl on Tuesday, November 9, 2004 - 09:47 am:

Ditto Candis!

Enjoy it, she's your last and we all know how much you love her. I think my last will be spoiled beyond belief because i'll be so sad not to have another.

By Vicki on Tuesday, November 9, 2004 - 09:48 am:

I think we rocked dd for at least 6 months. She actually dictated when we stopped it. She would just squirm around in our arms like she was trying to get comfy and couldn't. So at that point, we layed her in her bed and she went to sleep. Wasn't a hard transition at all for us! Maybe we were just lucky. LOL

By Amecmom on Tuesday, November 9, 2004 - 09:50 am:

Helen will sometimes only go to sleep if she is put down. Otherwise, the stimulation of my holding her keeps her awake and makes her want to play.

Go with your instincts. You waited so long and worried so much before she was born, I say enjoy her now.

If you're worried about training her to fall asleep on her own, then alternate. Hold her sometimes, and other times, put her down awake so she gets used to going to sleep by herself. This way when she wakes, she won't be looking for you to get her back to sleep.

Enjoy your little miracle.
Ame

By Tink on Tuesday, November 9, 2004 - 10:26 am:

Ditto Vicki and Ame and then Melissa and Candis! My last one was rocked until she wanted to stop because, like you said, I knew she was my last. My other two were too stimulated by being held and we both ended up frustrated. If it is working for you both, go for it!

By Emily7 on Tuesday, November 9, 2004 - 11:01 am:

I rock my daughter to sleep. We did that with ds too, he still likes to have someone in the room with him when he falls asleep. They grow up so fast, I just want every minute I can with them.

By Kaye on Tuesday, November 9, 2004 - 11:12 am:

I rocked mine as long as they would let me. My oldest two, that was not long (the middle kid actually couldn't handle it ever). My youngest I probably rocked most nights until he was about 18 months. It moved from rocking until he was asleep to rocking him a little before he went to bed. Last night he asked me to rock him to sleep, please, he misses it! He is 6 now..LOL. Hold that baby, rock that baby, life is too short not too!

By Coopaveryben on Tuesday, November 9, 2004 - 12:34 pm:

I rocked my first 2 the 3rd didn't want me too. I would rock and sing, I loved that time with them. I miss it, I did it until they were almost 2.

By Andi on Tuesday, November 9, 2004 - 12:34 pm:

I feed Taylor at 8:00 and she falls asleep while she is nursing then when I take her off the boob or the bottle she usually wakes up a bit and falls asleep while I am burping her. Then I take her up to her crib and sometimes she wakes up a little, but I just lay her down, cover her with a blanket and walk away. She always puts herself back to sleep.

For her afternoon nap when I know she is tired I nurse her, then put her in her crib awake. She cries on and off for about 20 minutes then she falls asleep on her own.

Many of you are going to disagree with me on this one but...All I can say is just because it's your last is no reason to spoil her. Taylor is my last and I do things the same way with her as I did with Dylan, infact I think I spoiled Dylan a bit more.

My SIL is spoiling her last one (who is the same age as Dylan) to the point where she is no fun to be around. It's her last and that is the reason she is "finding it hard to say no" It's been that way since day 1.

I guess 9 years of being a nanny and 3 years of teaching Pre-K has taught me a few things about how I want to raise my little ones.

Jackie, If you are enjoying the quiet time with Faith and it's working for you then I say enjoy it and cherish every moment.

By Lauram on Tuesday, November 9, 2004 - 01:20 pm:

I rocked one and didn't rock the other. My kids' personalities are VERY different. The one I rocked is my snuggly one! There was NO WAY I could put him down. He just wouldn't do it. He would cry so hard that he would be awake for hours. I think I rocked him until about 18 mo.

By Conni on Tuesday, November 9, 2004 - 01:41 pm:

I rocked all 3.

By Marcia on Tuesday, November 9, 2004 - 04:14 pm:

I put them all down awake, unless they fell asleep when feeding.

By Unschoolmom on Tuesday, November 9, 2004 - 05:45 pm:

I nursed mine to sleep. I occasionally got the, "they need to learn to fall asleep on their own,' (As if I be rushing over to the college dorms every night to nurse them asleep in 15 yrs ). When they need to learn that, they learn it. I think about what I'll regret in 20 yrs. Will it be all the time spent snuggling with them as they drifted off to sleep? I think not.

By Dawnk777 on Tuesday, November 9, 2004 - 07:01 pm:

I tried to rock Sarah to sleep. She wasn't a rocker. She would be so restless in my arms and when I would lay her down, she would settle right in and go to sleep. So, I stopped. I would lay her down awake, she would babble for a while and then fall asleep.

Emily I snuggled for a while, because she would be fussy in the the evenings. When she would get quieter, then I would lay her down. I think she was awake, too. Neither one of them really wanted to be rocked to sleep.

By Colette on Tuesday, November 9, 2004 - 07:32 pm:

Do what you feel in your heart is right. I rocked all 3. I loved doing it and would never do it any other way.

By Christylee on Tuesday, November 9, 2004 - 07:49 pm:

I did both, at naptime usually cuddled but at night he went to bed by himself for the most part from an early age... It just worked out better for us.

He's now 3.5 yrs old and goes in there and goes right to sleep usually without complaint. I think if we'd done the laying down with longer it might have been more of an issue but it hasn't.

I say do what you feel is best for you and your family.

By Imamommyx4 on Tuesday, November 9, 2004 - 08:05 pm:

I agree. You love that child and do what you and dh think is best for you and your family.

My last dd will be 4 in Jan. She still likes to lay down to go to sleep snuggled in my or my dh's arms. She will go to sleep in 5 minutes or less like that. I absolutely love it and make no apologies for it. She is a very independent, smart young lady. She has alot of self-esteem for a young un her age so I don't worry that she has any issues. My ds's never were cuddle bugs and none of them have ever had much self-esteem. DD is so much the opposite. When she wants to cuddle, she does and then when she's ready she goes out and tackles the world.