Hi ladies, I am a ftm and looking for advice from all you experienced mothers here. My 2 month old needs to be carried and sushed to sleep in the mornings and at night he goes to sleep only at the breast. I enjoy doing all this now cause I have the time and love the cuddles time we get but I am getting back to work once he completes 3 months. At that time my mom is going to be looking after him and she cannot carry him around for long cause of her arthritis. I wanted your advice on 2 things: 1) How do I help my little one transition to deep sleep on his own. Ive read books where they say that you shud put the baby in the crib when he is sleepy but not asleep etc. Any practical tips to make this happen. 2) Is 2 months too early to start a sleep routine and I am expecting too much out of him! I just want to make it easier for him and my mom when I start work. Looking forward to ur advice. Thanks!
Congrats and happy motherhood Well 2 months is little early for sleep training, usually it take 3-4months for the little ones to get adopted to things around them. Slowly start putting him in the bed or in the crib and start patting him gently,usually music works well with them. Babies love to be carried and cuddled at this age, but it can gets too hectic as time goes. Please check if you can play music or lullabies which will make him sleep, sometimes white noise really works.
1. Set up a routine for the day. You don't have to be regimental about timings but try to use it as a guideline. At two months feed the baby every 3 hours, keep him awake after the feed to play, then make him sleep. You will see that at one point during the play time he will show signs of tiredness -rubbing eyes or turning away from stimulation or some such. You will know best what his cue is. The second he exhibits the sign you swoop in and take him away to start his sleep routine. No waiting to finish your coffee or answer the phone. Just go and take him away. 2. For sleep, have a sleep routine. Draw the curtains and turn off the lights, change the nappy, humming a soothing tune perhaps, really keep the place as calm and silent as possible so there is a clear distinction between sleep time and awake time, read him a book, Swaddle him in a cloth to prevent Moro reflex, you could turn on static in the radio - the White noise soothes some babies, place him on his bed/ crib. You could also alternately hold the baby on a pillow or a cushion or even over your shoulder. Make sure you don't feed him in response if he cries though. Once you start following the routine - it will seem difficult at first - he will figure out that it is sleep time surprisingly quickly. The point is that regardless of any visitors or your grocery shopping or your tiredness you need to persevere to stick to the routine. There is no question of the baby staying awake half an hour more because someone has come 20 miles across to see him... It really is up to you. Once he figures out the routine- believe me, he will - you can slowly transition from the shoulder or cushion to bed or his crib. Stick with it. It will make things really easy for your mum. Have fun!
PS: incase your child is unwell or is going through a growth spurt, do cuddle lots more for as long as it soothes your child.
Thanks so much for your suggestions guesshoo, like u said I need to be very disciplined myself to get him into a routine. Especially the visitors part, my fil expects me to bring the baby out mid feed if guests come!