# How to gently "wean" my baby off of being held or rocked to sleep?



## snelps (Nov 18, 2005)

I am an avid cosleeping, connected-parenting, extended-BF, organic sling mama. My older daughter, now 4, never learned to fall asleep for a nap without being in the sling, held, rocked, and - as she got too big for all that - ridden around in the bike trailer until asleep! (Great exercise, but yucky on hot or rainy days.) I had imagined I would gently transition her from sling-and-bounce, to rocking in the chair, to lie down with Mommy next to you and listen to lullaby tapes. Mind you, she would fall asleep lying down at bedtime, but only with long sessions of songs and stories. This was fine for bedtime, but did not work for naps. Finally, when the 20-min. bike rides turned into 60 min, we stopped doing naps (at about 3 yrs. old).

So now I have a 5-month-old beautiful baby girl who only falls asleep in the sling, usually walking or bouncing (not nursing! she already stopped falling asleep at the breast at 3 months). This is fine and quite lovely right now at 18 pounds, but I'm looking ahead to when this gets heavy and tedious. How do I gently transition her to my eventual vision of lying down someplace snuggly, with mom or dad, and falling asleep? Has anyone used lamb skins? I've heard these can help condition a baby to fall asleep. But I also read they should be avoided for younger babies due to SIDS danger (too fluffy? have to research this more.) Please advise - I don't want a repeat of the mandatory daily bike rides!

~~~~~~~~~~~
Lisa, mama to Zoe and Alma


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## fuzzypeach (Oct 28, 2004)

I don't have any advice, just want to add my plea to yours! Nursing baby to sleep has stopped working, as she is so interested in everything right now it's hard enough just to get her to eat!







She is nearing six months old.

Since she was five weeks old I've been bouncing her to sleep in the mei tai. What I'm doing right now in fact! I never minded as that's when I get my computer time... but she's getting heavy and I don't want to be doing this when she's 40lb!









So, any advice on how to change, mamas? Please?


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## GinkgoGirl (Jan 14, 2005)

How about using an Amby bed or something similar? What is great about the amby is that you can gently bounce the bed to soothe the baby. I combined this with the techniques from the NCSS and my daughter started falling asleep by herself. She started to even know that it was nap time when I put her in it. You can even put it next to you bed, lay there and bounce it to soothe her

Hope that helps

Liz


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## snelps (Nov 18, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *GinkgoGirl*
How about using an Amby bed or something similar? What is great about the amby is that you can gently bounce the bed to soothe the baby. I combined this with the techniques from the NCSS and my daughter started falling asleep by herself. She started to even know that it was nap time when I put her in it. You can even put it next to you bed, lay there and bounce it to soothe her

Hope that helps

Liz

Thanks Liz, that is the kind of thing I'm looking for. But:

What is an Amby bed? And also, what is the NCSS?







:

I'm new to these discussion groups and don't know all the lingo.

~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lisa, mama to Zoe and Alma


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## Neldavi (Jun 28, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *snelps*
Thanks Liz, that is the kind of thing I'm looking for. But:

What is an Amby bed? And also, what is the NCSS?







:

I'm new to these discussion groups and don't know all the lingo.

~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lisa, mama to Zoe and Alma

An Amby bed is (I believe) a baby hammock. You can google it and see a picture I'm sure.

NCSS is a book called The No-Cry Sleep Solution by Elizabeth Pantley. It's pretty good and has a few really good ideas for bridging the gap between sleep-deprived martrydom and CIO. (It really has nothing in it even close to CIO, though, thus the title.)


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## EdlynsMom (Aug 18, 2005)

Dont know if this will help, but DD has lately been falling asleep with both of us lying down on our bed and nursing. If I can get her good and sleepy before (vacuuming while mei tai-ing, for example), she only nurses for a minute or so. Its fairly easy then for me to get up and leave her sleeping.


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## GinkgoGirl (Jan 14, 2005)

Lisa

Go to ambybaby.com for pictures. You can get used ones on ebay or maybe find someone to lend it to you so you can try it out.

NCSS is no cry sleep solution. What I did was put her in and bounce her until she started drifting off into sleep, then stop bouncing. If she started crying/fussing I would start bouncing again. I kept on doing this until finally she would fall asleep with me putting her to bed with just a little bounce. Hope that helps.

Liz


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## natashaccat (Apr 4, 2003)

Do you have room for a rocking chair in your bedroom? Cheaper than an Amby and has a much longer age range. Another idea (this is what my dh does) is to place your baby on your chest belly to belly and gently rock her up and down.


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## snelps (Nov 18, 2005)

Liz and Sarah - Thanks so much for the info on the Amby bed. I looked at the website. It looks wonderful, but I'm not sure it's best for my situation because it is sized for babies not toddlers. Do you think my baby would "wean" from it to lying on the bed with me to fall asleep when she's too big for it? I am imagining some set up that she can associate with napping and sleeping that will continue through toddler years until she's too old for naps.

Rosie - I will try more nursing in bed, but making sure she's really tired and ready first.

Fey - It sounds like our babies are similar! Alma is already getting very distractible when nursing. Any more thoughts?

I have read the No Cry Sleep Solution when my older daughter was a toddler. I will check it out from the library again (maybe just buy it because it does have so many good ideas and I could lend it to my friends).

Has anyone used a lambskin or special blanket to lie on? I have heard that in other countries they are used a lot and babies associate them with napping. I'm just a bit reluctant because I read one place that lambskins are not recommended because of SIDS/breathing hazard. Don't know what to think.

I welcome more input!

Lisa


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