Should baby go to bed asleep or awake?

[Tilly]

Afternoon ladies

I am after some advice please, my daughter will be 4 weeks old tomorrow, she is not in a routine and I am breast feeding which she generally feeds every 2 - 3 hours. At the moment she has her evening feed and I rock her to sleep in my arms to sleep and then she goes in her crib. In the night she feeds and falls asleep with me or her dad holding her and then we put her down.

I saw a programme yesterday which said about putting baby down when they are awake to get them used to falling asleep themselves but it didn't say what age to do this from. What are you ladies doing?

Thank you

 

[nazmomi]

I've always feed my babies their night feed and put them down from birth. I did this after having horrible problems with my first not learning to fall asleep alone and having 3 and a half years of having to sit with her.
obviously there are times they fall asleep feeding etc but then i would just put them straight down.
The routine is much easier to establish when they are young and will save you lots of problems in the future.

Good luck xx

 

[charlie84]

The reason they advise to put baby down awake is to stop baby getting used to be rocked/fed to sleep as this can cause issues with it needing to be done everytime baby needs to sleep. Plus it also allows the baby to be aware of where it is, as if it were to fall asleep on you then wake in another place baby may get quite upset.

However i dont know when the best age is to do this. I cant remember when i started to put Calleigh down awake but i do know that she now settles fine on her own in her cot. And if she wakes in the night she tends to settle herself back off to sleep.
In the early days though i am sure she fell asleep on me/OH and then we put her down.

 

[daftscotslass]

We did it from fairly early (probably at about 8 weeks I think) on at night but we're not fussy about daytime naps (when she has them ).

 

[Gem & Leland]

weve always done it , it also saves baby waking up in a panic because their not in the same place as they were when they fell asleep , which will make them unsettled , specially newbies who are use to being in same place all time !

 

[maybebaby]

Until he was about 4 months we would cuddle/feed him to sleep in the evenings. Once he went into the cot in his own room we started to put his routine (bath, bottle of EBM, milk) into place and would always put him down straight after his bottle. Sometimes he was awake, sometimes asleep.

 

[CoreysMummy]

We put him down awake... he falls asleep instantly or after 10mins of playing. Hes out of my hair solong as hes not crying, I dont care what hes doing up there!!

Its better for middle of the night feeds too, when he used to wake up when he was alot younger I would feed him and put his straight back down and he would sleep, I didnt have to rock him again for 10-15mins then hope putting him down didnt wake him.

 

[bonny]

I use to hold mizzy till she was fast asleep till around 7 months and then she decided that she didnt want that anymore and would fuss and push against me untill i put her in her cot and she would just drop off in minute's..... Ohh the rejection.

 

[Sherlock]

Galen has been going into his basket or cot awake since 4 weeks old. And then into his cot at 6 weeks and falls asleep within about 15 minutes.

Not every baby will be so easy to get used to doing this so young and it can be something you have to persever with over a few weeks without controlled crying as baby is too young for it. It's a case of helping your baby adjust to being in their cot or basket and comforting them, finding ways that help them settle. We didn't just put Galen in his basket and leave him. We played music, had a mobile, stroked his head, held his hand and so on.

 

[Becky&Willow]

Up until Willow was 1 she went to sleep awake just laid her down and she dropped off on her own within 10 mins but now she wont settle unless i am cuddling her and i have no idea what changed it was like one day down awake the next that was no more.

 

[keli]

I've never put Cooper in his cot asleep or awake. lol. Daytime he naps on me or in his carseat/buggy if we're out. Then at night i feed him lying down in my bed, i BF, then i stay next to him! I'm not worried about this as i'm sure one day he won't want to sleep with mummy anymore and in his 'big boys' bed! Maybe i've got my head in the clouds but we'll see

 

[CoreysMummy]

I do sometimes wish Corey would sleep on me, or even with me for naps say in my bed. But he wont - its cot or nothing! Id love the odd sleepy snuggle like when he was brand new!!

 

[purple13]

i feed connor to sleep every night. he knows its bedtime and gives me the cues, and feeding him is our wind-down cuddle. he's perfectly capable of self-settling and has done it on a few occasions, but he prefers it the way that we do it; maybe it'll cause me problems in the future, maybe it won't, but for now it suits us and i have no plans on stopping

 

[happy-chick]

Ellie gets fed to sleep as I breastfeed or daddy rocks her, we've tried CC and it didnt suit us so we decided that we're happy the way it is at the moment. She does fall asleep on her own sometimes so i'm not overly bothered as I love our bedtime boob anyway, its my fav feed for definate

 

[Magic Monkey]

I do sometimes wish Corey would sleep on me, or even with me for naps say in my bed. But he wont - its cot or nothing! Id love the odd sleepy snuggle like when he was brand new!!

Me too! Ella will only sleep is no one is touching her! We encouraged this by putting her down awake from about 6 weeks, but sometimes I would like a cuddle It was also a nightmare when trying to get her to sleep on the plane recently as she wouldn't sleep being held and in the end we had to lay her across the seat and DH had to get up and sit somewhere else!

 

[lfc_sarah]

When Callum was younger he always used to fall asleep at the boob or expressed bottle if daddy was feeding him

But if it was awake we'd put him down anway and he fell asleep

Now is a mixture of both

But he still sleeps on us in the day

 

[Bexie]

From the day we brought our daughter home from hospital we always put her to bed asleep (after falling asleep at the breast) Once I stopped breastfeeding her at 13 months, I gave her a bottle then cuddled her until she fell asleep, then placed her in her cot. Now I give her a bottle a cuddle for a couple of mins, then place her in her cot awake. We've been really lucky and never encountered any problems (this is only for bedtimes though). Nap times have always been more of a problem!!!

 

[LisaJ1986]

I always put Angel in her cot asleep. Usually after coming off the boob. We just can't put her down awake. Very rarely she has been put in her cot while i nip to the bathroom and she'll be asleep when i come back. Sometimes even now she'll wake for a cuddle. She just wants to be laid on my chest. If i'm honest i don't mind as she'll soon grow out of the needing mummy stage.