I remember being so shocked when I realized that rocking chairs are very uncommon here in Europe. I had been led, through my copious experiences baby-sitting and working in daycare centers, that rocking chairs were a MUST HAVE for infants, that all babies loved to be rocked to sleep, and how in the world are you gonna get them to fall asleep without a rocking chair?!?
Fast forward to now... We did manage to get our hands on rocking chair over here-- it even came to us free, it's a really pretty wood and wicker rocking chair that this guy happened to have and want to get rid of. D has absolutely no interest in it. Doesn't like it at all. He squirms and moves and doesn't seem to enjoy the rocking motion one bit, no matter how I try to hold him in it.
The way I "rock" him to sleep is this: I hold him with his back on my tummy, one arm holding him across his chest under his arms, the other under his butt, and I jiggle him a bit (as described in
Happiest Baby on the Block) while walking around the room and either humming, singing, or "shhh"-ing in his ear. Sounds like an awkward way to hold a baby, huh? It kinda is. Not to mention that I have no idea how it's comfortable for him to fall asleep with his head lolling forward with no support. But it's the only way I can hold him and have him calm down and go to sleep. I used to be able to hold him facing me with his head to my cheek or shoulder, but he now hates that a lot of the time and will flail his arms and hit me in the face. And I've occasionally gotten him to fall asleep while holding him in a cradle position, but most of the time it just makes him freak out. I used to also often nurse him to sleep for naps, but then I found I didn't like having his eating and napping schedules so intermixed, especially since his periods of wakefulness vary so much right now.
Anyway, I "rock" him like this until he nods off, which some days is only about 5 or 10 minutes. Other days (like today) it takes more like 20-30 minutes, by which time I'm usually breaking a sweat. Every so often we're able to lay him down once he's in that perfect drowsy state and he'll just drift off, but those days come about once in a blue moon.
As I was getting him down for a nap just now, I got to thinking about this routine we've settled into and I must admit I'm curious... are we normal? What does it take to get your baby to fall asleep?
Comments (3)
Normally not much, especially if we're home. He just starts to rub his eyes, and down he goes...especially if he's rubbing them constantly. Jonathan is a tummy sleeper, which is becoming more interesting as he's trying to roll over, and slightly complicated...but for the most part, it's really easy. I just lay him down and give him is pacifier and cover him up. Away to lala land he goes...most of the time.
I nurse and rock to sleep. Well somewhat. Lately he's been pulling off when he's drowsy and goes to sleep just while I'm holding him. Usually takes about 10 minutes. Going to sleep is the easy part, getting him to stay asleep is entirely different.
If I am lucky, my daughter will nurse and fall asleep. Sometimes though I put her in a sling and walk with her, or I dance with her in my arms until she dozes off. I have to walk with a certain rhythm, enough bounce in my step to get her to sleep, but not too much jiggling.