The Ultimate Baby Swing Sleep Guide For Swing Hating Babies
Studies show babies sleep better in cute jammies.
Step 1: Buy baby swing.
Step 2: Assemble swing.
Step 3. Put baby in swing.
Step 4: Turn swing on.
What, it’s not working for you?
But My Baby Hates the Swing
I have never failed to get a baby to fall asleep. Contrary to what you may have heard, I do not do this by reading my blog posts to babies.
I use baby swings.
Most of you live too far away for me to show you in person how I get babies to fall asleep in baby swings so I’m going to do my best to describe my no-fail baby swing sleep technique here. If you have a newborn baby (0-6 months old) and are struggling with sleep, short naps, etc. I would give the swing a try.
Start with the basic baby swing steps:
- Put the swing where your baby currently sleeps (or sleeps most often). This is probably in your own room and it’s OK if it’s not currently THEIR room (we can easily move in that direction once we’ve mastered the swing). This is our new “sleep spot” and for the next few weeks, the baby should generally sleep in that location, in the swing, round the clock. (It’s OK if a few car/stroller naps sneak in there, it happens.)
- Make your sleep spot a dark place. Room darkening blinds work great for this. However you can temporarily create a dark space by simply taping aluminum foil to the windows with masking tape. Sure it’s a little ghetto but it works great!
- Put something in there that will create loud and continuous white noise. White noise will help your baby sleep and (assuming the sleep spot is YOUR room) will also help block the sound of the swing so YOU can sleep.
- Set up your baby monitor.
- Move whatever other sleep supplies (swaddling blankets, pacifiers, books, chair for nursing/feeding, etc.) you need so that it’s relatively close to your new baby sleep spot.
- Put your swing into the sleep spot.
- Use your swing on the highest speed setting available. For newborns, faster is better.
Put the baby in the swing, strap them in, turn it on, and voilà – baby sleep nirvana!
For some babies, it may be just this simple. If so, congratulations and I hope you are currently enjoying your victory nap. In fact everybody should try to put your baby awake into the swing, turn it on, and walk out of the room. Wait a few minutes (literally – use a timer and don’t go back for 3-5 minutes) and see what happens. Your baby may surprise you.
Or maybe not. In which case we move on to what I like to call the Varsity Sleep Swing technique. We’re going to slather your baby with so much soothing that they will literally be incapable of staying awake. It’s like when I have 2 glasses of wine and then try to watch Masterpiece Theater, only modified for the younger set.
Varsity Sleep Swing Technique
All of the above PLUS:
- Swaddle your baby. Remember swaddling is all about the arms, having the legs wrapped up doesn’t add anything. So it’s totally fine to leave the legs loose so you can safely strap your baby into the swing with swaddled arms.
- Put something that smells like Mom near baby’s face. Like that t-shirt you’ve been living in for the past month because you’re too tired to deal with laundry. Cut off a small piece (~6″X6″ nothing large enough to become an entrapment hazard) and put it in the back of the swing near the baby’s face. When not being used for naps/sleeping keep this little piece of t-shirt tucked into your bra during the day so it always smells like you/milk.
- Use a pacifier. Some babies don’t take to pacifiers but if yours does then by all means use it.
- Jiggle their head.* Put your swaddled pacifier sucking baby in the swing in the dark room with the white noise. Crouch down behind the swing so they can’t really see you. Push the swing with your arm (the motor is off for now). If your baby is not calming or falling asleep, jiggle the back of the swing left and right WHILE you are swinging it back and forth. The goal here is to have your baby’s cheeks wiggling like a bowl of jello. (Here is a good video example of baby jiggling). You can also shoosh loudly (I know you are rocking the white noise already but for some reason the added shooshing seems to help). Keep it up for 2-3 minutes or until your baby starts to look tired. A great visual cue to look for is the sleepy blink – your baby starts to blink more slowly as though their eyelids are getting heavier. When you start to see sleepy cues turn on the swing motor.
- (Optional): Nurse baby to sleep while swaddled THEN put them in the swing. NOTE: This is fine to do for younger babies (<4 months) or if you’re struggling to get them to fall asleep any other way. My advice is to play around with other methods to help them fall asleep IN the swing but this is a valid fallback tactic to use in the short run.
Note: Your baby may be crying/complaining while you are swaddling her and strapping her into the swing. That’s OK. This probably means she’s a bit overtired – she may be short on sleep in general or maybe she was just kept awake a little longer than she could handle. Unless she is hungry this is a really good sign that she needs sleep so take a deep breath and continue to help her fall asleep in the swing.
Short-Term Sleep Swing Goals
I know some of you will feel like the swing is a detour because what you REALLY want is that peanut sleeping in his own crib. But the swing is going to solve two critical short-term issues:
Increase the Total Amount of Sleep
Babies sleep better and longer while moving. There is a reason most babies fall asleep seconds after you start the car. In general, babies will take slightly longer naps (+20-40 minutes) in a swing and newborns who are waking up a lot at night (4+ times) will often drop one of their night feedings after being put to bed in a swing.
Help Baby Learn to Fall Asleep.
Like potty training, getting the straw into the juicebox, and spitting, falling-asleep is a skill that you will need to help your child develop. Early on we help babies fall asleep primarily by rocking and nursing. However as your baby gets older these techniques will start to fail you (I’ll be writing a bunch about this later). If your goal is help your baby become a happy toddler who is capable of sleeping through the night then at some point you will have to help her learn to fall asleep. This can be a real challenge to do without any crying. Unless you use the swing in which case it’s really really easy.
Long-Term Sleep Swing Strategy
- As your baby gets closer to 6+ months of age you want to gradually wean off the swaddling, pacifier, and swinging. To wean off the swing, simply start turning the speed down. If naps & night sleep remains the same then continue. If she starts waking up more often, she’s not ready and the speed needs to stay up where it was. Wait a week or two, then try again. There is no rush.
- When you’re ready, move the swing next to the crib so that baby gets used to sleeping in that location.
- Eventually you’ll find yourself putting baby down for naps/bedtime in a non-moving swing. When you get to this point, the transition to the crib is relatively painless. The first time you put your baby in the crib there may be some “hey this is new?!?” complaining but it is generally mild and ends quickly.
- If your baby was happily sleeping in a non-moving swing, they SHOULD sleep just as happily in the crib. If, however, after a few “getting used to the new digs” nights you find that the crib-sleep is markedly worse than when they were in the non-moving swing then you may want to investigate the possibility that your child may have reflux. Swing sleepers who have mild reflux may sleep just great while held upright in the swing but terribly when placed on their backs. If you have concerns, definitely talk to your pediatrician.
Anybody else have any ideas on how to get those swing-hating babies to sleep in the swing?
{Photo credits: Bart Cicuto and Pat David}
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My daughter was born 11 weeks premature. Her adjusted age is now 7 weeks and she weighs just over 10lb. I found this website last week and now know te biggest midtake I made in her early days was not soothing her to sleep. I discovered a few weeks ago that she will only sleep during the day if she’s held. I bought a sling to make this easier for myself. She sleeps a really long time during the day in the sling 3-4 hours. Too long maybe? She always sleeps in her bed at nite from 1am – 10am with a feed at 6am.
I got a graco swing from a friend a few days ago and thought mh life had changed! She napped in it all day for the first 2 days for 2 hrs at a time. But day 3 (yesterday) she stopped. She falls asleep in it immediately but wakes after 20 mins crying a lot. I’ve tried swaddled and unswaddled, different volumes of white noise but she won’t stay asleep in it. I haven’t changed anything from the 1st 2 days.
I will admit I have turned down the swing to no. 1 a few times when she has fallen asleep because I am afraid all that fast swinging isn’t good for her or will make her tummy sick. Is it really ok to leave a baby swinging fast for hours?
I just wanted to clarify, she sleeps for 3-4 hours at a time during the day in the sling. Is this too much? Should I wake her after 2 hours? Also I was turning the swing to no. 1 on the first 2 days after she’d fallen asleep and it didn’t bother her..
Hey Mary,
For starters I would talk to your pediatrician about sling and swing because preemies often need extra careful sleeping conditions so make sure both are OK with the pediatrician who knows you and your baby, OK?
Do you want your preemie napping for 4 hours in a row? Again I would ask your pediatrician. He/she may want you to feed your baby more frequently during the day so may want to set a limit of how much time between feedings.
I would ALWAYS swaddle your preemie. There are so many benefits to swaddling and that goes DOUBLE for premature babies. Swaddle and loud white noise whenever she is sleeping. The graco swing speed is pretty much the same “speed” regardless of if it’s at 1 or 6 so if 1 feels better for you then go with it. No I’m not worried that her tummy will be sick.
Her body is going to take more time to regulate because she came a little early but she’ll GET there. Use all advice based on her ADJUSTED age. Do everything here:
http://www.troublesometots.com/newborn-baby-sleep-survival-guide/
Try not to let her get overtired. How long can she stay awake? Who knows – maybe no more than 45 minutes? If she naps for 20 minutes then that’s the nap. Some days that happens. Don’t panic and write off whatever you’re doing saying “I guess she hates that.” She’s a newborn – things are going to fluctuate.
The volume of white noise should be 50 dB which is roughly the volume of somebody taking a shower.
This isn’t a sprint – it’s a marathon. Don’t give up because 1 day it didn’t work. Talk to your pediatrician, formulate a plan, work with the plan. Sound cool?
Alexis recently posted..A Study in Sleep Training Part 2
Hello
My little guy is 2 and a half months. Since he was born he would only sleep for more than about 20min if he was in bed with me or in my arms for naps. Even co sleeping he wakes up about 5 times a night.
Last Week I bought a Fisher Price Cradle n’ Swing to see if it would help us sleep better.
His first sleep of the night is much longer about 3-4 hours, but after that he wakes up every hour or so (and eats) until I bring him into bed with me-then we might get a 2/3 hour stretch.
Today he napped in the swing for the first time for about an hour. I always put him into the swing when he is asleep.
I have the white noise, and the swing is on the fastest speed. I cant swaddle him and buckle him in safely. Also he does not take a paci.
Any advice for me?
Loove your blog
Last night I swaddled my bebe before putting him in the swing and it made a huge difference. He only woke up 2 times! With this style of swing there is a buckle that goes between his legs that isn’t adjustable, two buckles coming from the sides, and two shoulder straps that all attach to one one between his legs.
The PROBLEM is that to buckle him in while swaddled I have to stretch the between-the-legs one to one side of his body and buckle the strap from the other side into it. It is super tight across his waist and I prob won’t even be able to make it work in a few days because he is growing so fast.
How would you deal with this?
Easy – don’t swaddle his legs. Honestly the benefit of the swaddle comes from the arms being swaddled. Leave his legs free and then use the buckles as they should be.
This is super easy with a swaddle me velcro (keep his legs out of the “sack” part). But you can do the same thing with a swaddle blanket too.
Good luck – sounds like you’re really on to something there!
Alexis recently posted..A Study in Sleep Training Part 2
When I use the swaddleme without the feet (even with a muslin blanket swaddled underneath it) my son can wiggle out it because the feet/sack part isn’t keeping the swaddle down.
My swing (Graco Silhouette) has an activity tray with a plastic piece that goes between the legs. I use this to hold by son in the swing while swaddled. I understand that this might be seen as not safe enough for Alexis to recommend but it works well for us. (And my son is over 20lbs at 6 months old and a really wiggly boy but it keeps him safe)
I really loved this article. But I have been struggling with my 2 mo old. She seems to calm in the swing but I cannot get her to stay asleep. She is swaddled up and all. It is kind of nice that it will mostly soothe her down for me but it will not seem to keep her asleep. It’s like she fights the yawns back. I can see her yawning and closing her eyes but after being closed for like 5 minutes they open back up and shortly after she is squirming and then onto crying.
I’ve had such high hope for the swing because she seems to be a catnapper and 30-40 minutes just does seem to be enough for her to be calm and happy. So any extensions would be good. Any ideas how to keep her asleep? I’ve been trying to tinker with lower settings but to little avail.
Three small suggestions: 1) Track awake times to make sure they are not too long; 2) Try the swing for at least a week and use the varsity technique (maybe you have already done this?) to see if she settles in; and 3) Then maybe try the vibrating bouncy seat. We had both and our daughter preferred the bouncy seat. With the swing she would hang out happy for about 5-10 minutes then get twitchy/upset (didn’t get better over 2 weeks). And maybe she is just a short napper for now and you ride it out the best you can until she hits that sleep consolidation developmental milestone. Between about 2.5 and 5 months our little girl would rarely sleep more than 30 min at a time during the day. Looking back I wish I had just rolled with it and not worried so much: more of a “Well this is a bummer but we’re doing the best we can so it is what it is” approach. The good news is that your little miss will start to get more easily distractable with toys and play and so if she’s a little cranky from short naps it will be easier to manage
Good luck!
So, so happy to have found this website! My LO is 9 weeks old and has been having good days and bad days in regards to naps. Most days he would nap twice…one nap would usually be short (25-45 minutes) and the other would last anywhere from 1 to 3 hours (Once he’d reach the 3 hour point I’d wake him to feed him and to make sure that he didn’t confuse his days and nights). Other days he would fight every single nap that I tried to put him down for. For each nap I would place him in a sleep sac, turn on the white noise, and rock and sing to him to get him to fall alseep in my arms. Then I’d place him in his crib (where he’s been sleeping since the day we brought him home)and sometimes he would remain asleep while others he would wake up 5 minutes later or would immediately wake up screaming. The inconsistancy was beginning to drive me mad. I also knew that he wasn’t getting the daytime sleep that he needed. This website pushed me to try the swing for naps…and it worked!! He took three naps today
The first was 2.25 hours long, the second was 1.5 hours long, and the third was 1 hour long 
Here’s the problem though. He usually has no issue sleeping in his crib at night. After I feed him, he goes down from 7 to 10. We give him a “dreamfeed” at 10 and then I feed him again when he wakes around 3. Tonight he absolutely freaked out when we tried to put him in his crib at 7. After continued attempts by my husband and I to help him fall asleep in our arms, I reverted to putting him in the swing. He was out within 10 minutes. Though I’m thrilled about what happened during the day, I feel like I’ve destroyed what I had in place at night 
Thoughts or suggestions from anyone??
Hi Erica,
Thanks for your post. My daughter’s (11.5 weeks) napping was also driving me insane. She would only nap for 10-40 minutes unless I held her, in which case she would sleep up to 2.5 hours. After researching I came across this blog, bought a Fisher Price cradle swing, and today my daughter has napped in it 3 times for about 1-1.5 hours each time! She has gone in with minimal complaining and as long as she is swaddled and there is darkness and white noise, she will put herself to sleep .
I too am worried about whether her nighttime sleep will be negatively impacted by all this swing sleep. Right now she sleeps in a cosleeper in our room and we can put her down drowsy but awake 50 percent of the time and she will put herself to sleep and wake 2-3 times at night to eat.
The only thing I am wondering is whether your baby was less sleepy than he normally would be at 7 pm since he got better daytime sleep. Maybe that was why it was hard to put him down? But then again he fell asleep in the swing. What time did he finally fall asleep? Maybe it was the swing but maybe he also needed to be put down a bit later than usual?
Alexis, I know you said that swings for naps should not have a negative impact on babies who are already sleeping well at night in cribs/cosleepers/other nonmoving sleep places. Is this always true, or do you know of anyone who has experienced more difficulties with nighttime sleep after introducing the swing for naps? If so, what would you advise?
Thank you for such an informative site:)
Hey Erica,
I don’t know exactly what happened and the truth is – sometimes babies have rough bedtimes. This is the way of babies.
I DO know that you’re telling me that he normally takes 2 naps a day (1 short 1 long) – this tells me that for a newborn at some point this baby is up far longer than his little body can comfortably handle. So I’m guessing that by bedtime he’s probably a bit overtired.
Note: I’m not judging you here, this is THE MOST common mistake parents of newborns make so it’s not specific to you at all.
Then you put him in the swing and he napped for 5 hours during the day (vs. 2-4 norm) which is at least a 50% bump in day sleep.
I also know that for most newborns a 7:00 PM bedtime is really early. A typical newborn bedtime might be closer to 9:00.
So while I’ll never be able to tell you what really happened my guess is that your baby has been a tiny bit sleep deprived. In the swing he got WAY more sleep than he was previously getting. And thus when you went to put him down for bedtime he wasn’t ready yet. (This is actually a good thing – the early bedtime WAS working because he was overtired – follow me there?)
But when you put him in the swing the soothing of the swing was enough to push him over the hump and thus he fell asleep.
My guess is that you are trying to early and now that he’s getting more day sleep his bedtime needs to be adjusted back for a while. If you get push bedtime back a bit he’ll be tired enough and will go back to crib sleeping for you.
Alexis recently posted..A Study in Sleep Training Part 2
Thank you Sonal and Alexis for your thoughts. Alexis, I think what you initially said about babies sometimes having rough bedtimes must have been the case for my little guy the other night. As for being awake longer than he should be, I honestly have tried not to make that happen since the very beginning. I’ve tried to follow the EASY plan that I’ve read about…where the baby eats, has some activity time, and then goes to sleep. Therefore he is normally awake for 1-1.5 hours. I do sometimes have trouble with keeping this established as night time rolls around though. And looking back, I think the evening in which he was a terror he had been up for close to three hours prior to falling asleep…definitely too long for him. I’m happy to report that yesterday went much more smoothly. He again took three really good naps (all in the swing). I actually had to wake him from each of them so that he didn’t end up sleeping too long. He then went down at about 7:15 much more easily then the day before…and in his crib too! Then…the best part…when we gave him his dreamfeed at 10 we decided to try swaddling him. We had done this earlier but on a visit from my mother-in-law she felt that we were placing him in a “straight jacket” and that he couldn’t explore with his hands like he should be able to. At that point we stopped swaddling him. When we ended up going back to it last night he slept from 10 pm until 7 am! I was floored! I know that this is not likely to be the norm for him yet but I was still happily surprised
On another note, he had his two month appointment today. He weighed 12 lbs 8 oz and was 24 7/8 inches long. He also had his shots so we may be in for a challenging afternoon/evening. At least I know why today!
Thanks again!!
Hi Again,
I just wanted report on our experience with the swing (Fisher Price Snugabunny) so far, which we’ve tried using to improve my daughter’s napping and to extend her sleep a bit in the morning.
During the day, it is hard for her to stay up for more than an hour at a time. Before we got the swing, I would try to get her to nap in her cosleeper, swaddled with white noise, which would result in “short crappy naps” as you would say, Alexis. She would need 4-5 short crappy naps to get through the day. Slowly she stopped sleeping at all in the cosleeper for naps and I was stuck with holding her (sometimes she would even resist the carrier and I would literally just hold her). She can sleep for longer naps in my arms but of course I don’t want this to be the only way she naps.
We tried the Snugabunny swing starting Thursday. Thursday it worked beautifully and she took long (1-2 hours naps) in it, going down awake with minimal (<5 minutes) of fussing/crying. She was swaddled, it was dark, and there was continuous loud white noise going.
Friday, she still went down for her naps, but they were shorter (45 minutes). By the evening she was kind of over the swing I if I remember correctly (the days are blending together) we resorted to holding her for the last nap.
Saturday was rough. She woke up at 4:30 am pretty awake. After 45 minutes of trying to get her to sleep in co-sleeper, we gave up and put her in the swing where she slept from 5:30-9:15 am:) After that we had no success with the swing. She would fuss/cry. We would try shushing her while she was in it on top of the white noise. We would also try just walking out and shutting the door. The longest we waited to see if she would settle herself was 7-8 minutes. It seems like once her crying gets to a certain level, it's very hard for her to calm herself back down. So for each of her naps, after trying the swing, we would resort to holding her. At the end of the night she even fought us holding her and was awake from 3:30-8 with only one 20 minute nap around 5. This morning, she awoke at 7, nursed, and since she seemed pretty awake we put her in the swing and after talking to herself for a while, she fell asleep with no crying/fussing.
So, I guess my questions are:
1) Any guess as to why the swing works well sometimes (it often works better earlier in the day) and not others? Is this typical when baby is first getting used to the swing? Should we just keep trying for every single nap? Is it possible she is overtired already and that's why it isn't working? I would find this hard to believe since she is rarely up for more than an hour (sometimes less) before we start putting her down for the next one.
2) Are certain swing motions more effective for most babies? For example, the snugabunny goes side to side as well as forward and back. We've only done the side to side motion. Is it worth trying the forward/back motion to see if she likes that better?
3) Any advice on what to do if she is crying pretty hard for 5-7 minutes after being in the swing? I know you have said CIO for naps is not very effective.
4) The only aspect of the Varsity technique we have not tried is the jiggling of the swing from the back… it didn't seem necessary at first, but maybe it is worth trying since she sometimes resists?
Thank you so much for any advice you have. I really appreciate it!
Hi Sonal,
Though I can’t really give you advice, I can tell you what I’ve experienced with my little guy. In regards to your second and fourth questions…We have the same swing and we had only been using it with the side to side motion. It had been working perfectly…even to the extent that we could put him down awake and he would fall alseep within 10 minutes each time. If he ever fussed, the motion of the swing would soothe him to sleep relatively quickly as well. Then yesterday, he was quite upset after being placed in the swing and it wasn’t just fussing. I knew that he somehow needed to nap so I turned the swing so that it would swing back and forth. I got behind the swing and attempted the jiggling of the swing while pushing it myself. It worked within a few minutes. He was out and took a great nap
So I would suggest trying both the back and forth motion and the jiggling. Maybe it will help! I hope it does!
Thank you Erica! I just tried the jiggling/pushing it myself when she woke up early from a nap and it put her back to sleep, at least for now. I am going to try the jiggling when I put her in and it’s more than just fussing. I think the side to side motion once she is sleeping is better for her too:)
PS After only jiggling for a few naps, the darn swing is making a creaking noise! Argh. Hope I am not damaging it in any way. Is yours holding up ok?
I’m glad that the jiggling is helping a bit. Like you, I’ve also had to do it when he woke up early from a nap…and it worked! He slept for another hour! As for the creaking noise, I haven’t heard anything yet. I guess I better be sure to only jiggle lightly and to keep my ears open for any creaking. Oh, the things we do for our little ones!
Hey, I need a little advanced advice even beyond the varsity swing technique. My 4 1/2 mo daughter is a tough nut to crack on the sleep front, both naps and bedtime are an emotional screaming nightmare.
I’m trying the jiggle method until she is calm and drowsy but as soon as I stop jiggling and start the motor she starts screaming again. Tried waiting a few minutes but the screaming got worse not better, went back in, jiggled again, more screaming. The swing is basically the only place she will sleep but only if we bounce her completely to sleep first. With the varsity method should I just keep going in and jiggling every 5 or 10 minutes until she conks out or do I employ CIO in the swing?
Also, she wakes every 1-2 hrs at night. sometimes bouncing will put her back to sleep. Usually she wants to nurse indefinitely in the rocking chair where she will just play with my nipple while she sleeps without actually eating much, but if I put her back in the swing or crib she’s back up immediately screaming.
We’ve tried so many different ideas from books and blogs and friends but we haven’t s slept more than 3 hrs straight since October and we’re starting to truly unravel around here.
During the day she is mostly a happy smiling baby (except at nap time) she usually has about four 30-45 min naps with no more than 2 hrs waking at a time and bedtime routine starts at 7 w bath. We can get her to nap longer sometimes if we go in and bounce her back down after the initial wake up, other times she screams until I nurse her and then falls asleep on my boob for up to 2 hours sometimes.
Please give us some guidance, anyone!
Hey Adrien,
I’m wondering about the screaming thing. Sometimes when you have a baby who seems to need “more than average” amount of soothing my spidey sense starts to tingle. Why does she need SO much soothing? The general answer is, “Some babies are just super sensitive.” Thus she can sleep on your boob (human pacifier) or if you bounce her (uber motion). OK great. But not for you. And frankly being a human pacifier just leads to cryitoutsville.
First – what happens if you go dairy free for 1-2 weeks? Seriously, maybe she has a mild milk protein thing that makes it hard for her to settle without lots of extra soothing.
Second – are you using a swaddle plus LOUD white noise?
Third – what happens if when she wakes hourly at night you DON’T go to her? What happens if you wait 20 minutes?
Alexis recently posted..5 Things I Learned from Doing Sleep Consults
Hi Alexis,
She does seem to be a bit of a sensitive Sally,but she has taken to falling asleep on her own with the swing both for naps and bedtime. Yay!
To answer your questions
1) I have been off dairy entirely for months…and beans and broccoli and egg whites.
2) we always swaddle with the Loud white noise…we were using a sub woofer when she was really little but we’ve pulled back in the last few months to shower volume. It used to be jet engine loud
3) at night if she wakes before 11 we have started letting her cry and she will almost always go back to bed. Unfortunately it doesn’t work the rest of the night. If she wakes between nursings at 130 and 3 we let her cry and she will fall back asleep after about 10min but she will wake up again in 5 min. She can’t seem to get back in the zone without a feeding. The bouncing doesn’t work anymore either, she does the same fall asleep wake up 5 min later thing.
Overall things are much better just having a comfortable routine for falling asleep without the hysterics. I think we are ready to tackle putting her on a more limited night feeding schedule. I think its best to do this while she is still in the swing to make it less stressful for her. Does that seem like a good idea to you?
On a normal night she gets fed at 11, 1:30, 3:30, 4:30, 5:30, and 6:30. Last night she ate at 1130 and 3 which was lovely but then she was up at 3:45, 4:15, 5, 5:30, 6…basically from 3 on it was up and down with Boobie and bouncing. I know you said it’s less effective to let them cry in the early morning hours because they aren’t tired enough together back to bed. What do you suggest we try next for the crazy 3-7 am hours?
And again, I can’t say enough how great the simple suggestions you made for falling asleep awake are. So easy for mom and baby. Her swing screaming only lasted 2 naps and since then we’ve only heard consenting grumbles from the babe
thank you!
Hi Alexis,
I know you get a lot of comments/questions, but I hope you are able to respond to this one. Here is the short version: My 11.5 wk old (7.5 wks adjusted b/c he was a preemie) doesn’t mind the swing and will sometimes sleep there, but it seems to make him throw up more than normal. Do you think this is just a matter of waiting until his digestive track matures a bit (as in hopefully by the time he’s in that 3-6 mo window)? Any advice for other ways to teach him to fall asleep on his own? He’s a motion junkie (loves walking, rocking, etc) so the swing is a brilliant idea if he didn’t throw up so much. We’d really love to use your advice to help him sleep on his own and avoid CIO…
Here is the long story: sleep has been rough, as it probably is with most preemies. At some point, he started doing 4-5 hours for his first stretch of the night (bedtime is 7 or 8pm). Then after that, he woke anywhere from every 30 minutes to 2 hours to eat. At some point about 2 weeks ago (I suspect related to the 6-wk growth spurt) he started sleeping no more than 3 hours at a time. Then the last couple of nights it’s been worse than normal–he wants to nurse all of the time, doesn’t want to sleep when he’s not being held, extra fussing during the day, etc. Do you think this is the 8-wk sleep regression? He almost always falls asleep nursing, being rocked, or being worn in the ergo (and has all along), so I know we are going to have to break these sleep associations at some point. Naps are OK–not on any type of schedule but I do my best to put him to sleep (nursing, wearing, etc) once he’s been awake for 90-120 minutes. I just feel like I’m running out of steam and whatever has been making the sleep worse these last couple of weeks is wearing me thin. Any ideas for getting him to sleep longer now or start transitioning to falling asleep on his own without the swing? Is it just too soon for him to do that?
Thank you so much!
Hey there,
Preemies are a ton of extra work so I’m not at all surprised you’re struggling. I would swaddle and use white noise WHENEVER he sleeps. Great for all babies, extra important for preemies. I would also treat him like his adjusted age vs. birth age at least until he is 1. Which technically means he’ll be a “newborn” longer and newborns are a GRIND. Fussy, short naps, need tons of soothing. Sorry about that
He also probably has mild reflux. SUPER common for preemies. I’m guessing that the reason he throws up more in the swing vs. ergo is that he’s more reclined in the swing (so gravity is less good at keeping his stomach contents in). You may want to talk to your pediatrician bout the possibility of mild reflux.
But personally in the long run I would keep working with the swing. If he’s spitting up in the swing I’m guessing it would be way worse in the crib. But it’s a great option to help get him off your body so YOU can get a break, shower, eat, nap, etc. And as long as the spitup doesn’t bother him, it doesn’t bother me. And if it DOES bother him, then it’s time to look at managing the reflux
Good luck!
Alexis recently posted..5 Things I Learned from Doing Sleep Consults
What type of baby swing do you recommend? I was reading through all the comments (just trying to get further insight into why my daughter was still waking up every 45 mins even in the swing (it was the speed).
However, while I was reading I noticed you said “No Bucket swings” when someone asked about the Fisher-Price Luv U Zoo swing. Our swing is the FP Ocean Dreams space-saver seat and swing. It was a hand me down from friends. She does kind of slump over to the side, but because she was so tiny I would put her in it at an angle so she wouldn’t slump.
Should I get a new swing? I’ve been looking at the new Graco glider swings. Would that particular one be better than what we are currently using.
Here’s my “which swing is right for you” post:” http://www.troublesometots.com/what-everybody-ought-to-know-about-baby-swings/
Small travel swings generally aren’t awesome unless you have a 400 square foot apartment and it’s the ONLY option. The gliders aren’t usually as effective either because their range of motion is limited. So if you can swing it (ha ha see what I did there?) I do like full-sized swings even though they’re bigger and run ~$100.
Alexis recently posted..5 Things I Learned from Doing Sleep Consults
Haha, yes, I see what you did there
Well we ended up getting the new Petite Graco glider and so far it has worked great for her. We still the occasional sucky short nap, but it’s not all day, like it was before we got the glider. On days like that I just have to remind myself that, babies aren’t linear.
Is it to late to start my 5 month old on a swing? She was sleeping well and in her crib in her own room from 2-3 months, but was never a good napper during the day. When i went back to work at 3 months, everything sleep related turned chaotic. After about a month, she adjusted to our new routine, and we had one good week of sleep… then hit 4 month sleep regression, and a series of other set backs (introduction of rice cereal = constipation for a week, skin infection = cranky baby, antibiotics that made her poop 24/7 = awaking baby in the middle of the night), which all made sleep very, very difficult… Now my 5 month old is healthy and happy, but now in the habit of being either nursed/held to sleep or put in an Ergo carrier (and i walk on the treadmill for 10 minutes) to get to sleep. She fights sleeping and has no clue how to fall asleep on her own. She wakes up at least 2 times a night – most nights lately it’s around 5 times. I’ve tried letting her cry up to 40 minutes a couple times, but she doesn’t settle down and just gets more an more amp’ed up. And i’m just holding out until she turns 6 months old to really try the CIO method. But in the time being, i’m wondering it I should try the swing or just wait until 6 months to fully try the CIO method. Thoughts? PS, my husband disagrees with trying the CIO method any sooner than 6 months; so i’d rather not try it any earlier than that. Thanks in advance!!
It’s definitely worth a try. Can you borrow one from a friend? She is on the old side so I would hate for you to spend $100 and then find it’s not going to work. But given how much she digs the motion I think it’s worth working with to avoid cryitoutsville. Commit to working with it a few days (ie don’t try once and give up) and let me know what happens – OK?
Alexis recently posted..5 Things I Learned from Doing Sleep Consults
Hello,
Thanks so much for this blog! I have found it extremely helpful!
My son is almost 5 months and having a really hard time at night. He used to sleep a 5.5-8 hour chunk at night, wake up to feed, and then sleep another good-sized chunk. Now, he’s sleeping a 3-4.5 hour chunk,feeding, and then waking every hour or two from there. He usually seems hungry when he wakes, so I feed him most times. I’m EBF and he sleeps in his pack n play next to the bed until after the first or second waking and then I bring him to our bed so I don’t have to get up as much. At first I thought it was a regression, but after a couple weeks I realized it wasn’t. It has been about a month now since the issues started. His sleep changes coincided with a trip to another state (and first airplane ride). I hoped they would resolve once we got home, but instead they are worsening or staying about the same.
After reading your posts, I have been using the swing for naps, just for a few days so far. Today I swaddled him and did the jiggle and white noise and he slept for four hours (noon-4)! VERY unusual. I think maybe he was really overtired after several weeks of poor sleep.
I am working on getting him to fall asleep on his own at night, as opposed to nursing to sleep. Up until the last few weeks, he has pretty much always nursed to sleep. Also, he has started to break from the swaddle and either wake himself up after freeing himself, or wake up because he couldn’t get out. So at night we are using the merlin which has not been a miracle tool, but does muffle the startle. Only problem is that he tries to get his hand to his mouth and can’t and sometimes wakes up as a result.
So far, some nights have been better than others. Tonight, however, went really well (as far as falling asleep goes, we’ll see about the rest). I bathed him, fed him, read a story (which he cried through), and then put him in the merlin’s suit with one arm out and into his pack n play with white noise. I also left a breastpad I’d been wearing in the corner and jiggled the pack n play from behind. He started to nod off and I quietly left the room and I haven’t heard from him since! It’s been about 15 minutes.
So, I am wondering if you have any other advice to give, especially if he doesn’t start sleeping longer soon! My husband and I are both getting pretty tired!
Thanks,
Kat
Oh! And I forgot to mention that for him the legs need muffling almost more than the arms. If his legs aren’t in the suit, forget about sleeping! He wiggles them constantly and eventually wakes himself up.
Not much – you seem to have identified the issue (more soothing, more sleep) and he’s napping a TON. I agree with your idea that he’s catching up. Overtired babies sleep poorly so just having him napping better will probably help a ton. Getting him falling asleep on his own at night will also help.
So I think you’re headed in the right direction on all fronts!
Alexis recently posted..5 Things I Learned from Doing Sleep Consults
I am starting to think my 5 month old baby is broken, when it comes to sleep. Admittedly, we have only been attempting the ‘swing technique’ since last night (and for 2 naps so far today). After some crying, and soothing by me, she fell asleep in the swing last night after only about 20-30 minutes (dark room, white noise, swaddled, pacifier). However, as she always does, she woke up just 40 minutes later, and was unable to put herself back to sleep. Again I went in (because she was crying, not just fussing) to comfort her, and after another ~20 minutes, she fell asleep for only about 5-10 minutes before awakening again. Again, inconsolable. At this point, she did not want to be comforted by me (or my husband) and refused the pacifier (as is typical when she is upset). I went to bed because I was exhausted due to her extremely poor sleeping habits the past week (well really, the past 5 months) and my husband took over. It took another ~1 hour of him trying to comfort her (both in and outside of the swing) when finally he strapped her in her swing, turned off the white noise and de-swaddled her arms. After about 10 minutes, she went to sleep.
However, during her two naps today, she has again become inconsolable and I have been unable to comfort her, despite my trying several different ways to comfort her (including with/without white noise, with/without pacifier, with/without swaddle). Eventually (because I don’t want my baby to cry inconsolably in the swing for more than 5 minutes if I am unable to comfort her in the swing) I end up taking my baby out of the swing and rocking (or jiggling her) to sleep. What gives? I am tired, and I was hoping that this would work – I know it is a process, but it doesn’t seem to be going any better than her typical 20-30 minutes of yelling at me while I rock her to sleep every night (and 10 minutes of yelling at me as I rock her to sleep at naptime). For naps, I only wait 2 hours inbetween naps, so I don’t believe the cause is that she is overtired. I’m really confused and don’t quite know what to do. It also doesn’t seem to matter whether she is upright or in cradle hold when I rock her, so I don’t think it could be a reflux issue based on that (unless she just fears sleep because of that alone?). Eventually she did go to sleep in the swing last night and slept 7 hours in one stretch (amazing for her, really incredible!). However, I am worried that now she is going to have a bad association with the swing since I can’t get her to calm down in the swing at all and have to resort to rocking again (which she also hates, but at least she will eventually calm down enough to fall asleep in. Any advice?
Hi, obviously I’m not Alexis, but I wanted to share my experience with you. I have an almost 5 month old and her naps were tanking even after the dreaded 4 month sleep regression, and she was still waking up 3 or 4 times a night. Because she has terrible reflux I switched to having her nap in the swing since an upright position is best, and I figured if she was well rested during the day, she wouldn’t be so overtired at night. It wasn’t easy transitioning her to the swing. She fought me. The first time I put her in the swing it was for a mid morning nap. I had to rock her to almost sleepiness and then place her in the swing. She woke up 3 times every 20 minutes and each time I was there behind the swing shushing with the paci. My favorite was when I would be trying to rock her before putting her in the swing, she would arch her back, and turn her face away, therefore putting all her weight on my arm. I switched to placing her over my shoulder and patting her back. She still complained a bit, but at least she wasn’t arching her back.
The swing does take work and consistancy. Try not to get too discouraged if things aren’t improving quickly. On day 5 of swing napping her naps started tanking further and were only lasting 30 mins each. On top of that, I realized that I was keeping her awake too long in between these 30 min naps. Sure the charts all say a 4-5 month old can stay awake for up to 2 hours, but if they are already overtired, like my daughter, putting them down for the next nap was only going to get harder and harder.
On day 6 the 30 min naps were continuing and because it was a Saturday and we had no plans, I made it my mission to not have her be awake more than an hour between naps. She had 5 30 min naps that day. We also bought a new swing (the one we were using was handed down to us by a friend and was a Fisher Price Portable swing n’ seat – bucket style – a no, no). I’m not saying go and buy a new swing, but for us we felt this type of swing was not helping her sleep.
Today is Day 13 of swing napping and day 7 of napping in new swing: My daughter loves the new swing but still fusses a bit before putting herself to sleep in it (this is what you want). Her range of fussing can be anywhere from 3 min to 20mins, which is normal and not bad at all, it just depends on if I’ve put her down at the right window of tiredness (which is still only 1hr 15 -30 mins). She isn’t crying hard in the swing anymore, which is nice. I can even put her down in the pack n’ play awake at night and she falls asleep (so far I’m 4-2).
I know you are probably wanting to give up on the swing, but try to stick it out for at least a week. Maybe only do naps in it, that is what we are doing. Keep the LOUD white noise going AND swaddle, swaddle, swaddle!
Something I have to constantly remind myself is that there are going to be setbacks. You will get the occasional 45 min nap in the early afternoon at a time when you need her to sleep longer. That is okay, just don’t keep her awake for too long.
Hang in there.
Yes – ditto to everything that Jonelle said. DIT. TO.
Also you DO need to commit to a plan. It sounds like you’re trying every possible combination under the sun. Listen she’s not a newborn anymore so you’re going to have to TEACH her how to sleep. This means doing the same thing ALL the time for a few days, maybe even a week.
Also I would ditch the paci. It’s probably not helping you and is probably leading to the “freaks out when wakes up” thing. Sorry – sad but true
And lastly – if she’s yelling at you for 20-30 minutes while you rock her, why not let her yell for 20-30 minutes in the swing? I mean I would definitely try a few times because as you say, it’s happening anyway right?
Alexis recently posted..5 Things I Learned from Doing Sleep Consults
We have been afraid to let our son sleep in the swing due to the supposed SIDS risk. Do you know anything about this? Are there some swings that are safer than others?
The AAP official safe sleep statement says babies should only be in cribs. But there is no real evidence that modern swings (not the old bucket swings) pose any sleep risks. I would definitely talk to your pediatrician about it. Most are really supportive. Dr. Karp (Happiest Baby) talks about babies in swings in his excellent sleep book Happiest Baby Guide to Great Sleep.
I like the Graco swings best:http://www.amazon.com/Fisher-Price-Cradle-Swing-Little/dp/B0018Z6910/?tag=troubtots-20
Good recumbent feature so babies aren’t slumping over (slumping is really the issue when babies sleep) and the motors are reliable.
Alexis recently posted..5 Things I Learned from Doing Sleep Consults
Hi! I have a 5 month old baby girl exclusively breastfed. I have a couple of questions since it is my first baby and guinea pig . We do our bedtime routine which includes dark room white noise and the swing. I have tried just putting her in the bassinet but she can’t get herself to sleep so I have been puting her in the swing awake and pushing it manualy until she is drowsy and slowing it down to a full stop right before she fall asleep. Then I wait until her next feeding and mover her to the bassinet located in the same room that the swing is.
Questions:
Should I put her back in the swing after the feeding eventhough it is not moving when she falls asleep?
Is it ok to use the swing to just get her to learn to fall asleep on her own they way I am doing it or am I making a mistake using it this way and not keeping it on the entire time?
Any thoughts would be appreciate it.
I am not an expert but just read the object permanence post and it seems as though you want everything to stay the same the whole time your baby is sleeping. IE if your baby falls asleep with the swing going, she should wake up to it moving or she’ll freak out-maybe not yet, but when that developmental piece kicks in. Did you see the post on weaning from swing sleeping? That sounds like the approach alexis recommends for ditching the swing sleeping.
Thanks Amanda!
I remember that now. I was probably half asleep when I read that. I will put my baby girl back on the swing after feeding her in the middle of the night. I just started using the swing on Monday since I have been nursing her to sleep and wanted to teach her to fall asleep on her own. I just use the swing to soothe her and turne it off right before she falls asleep . That way I don’t have to wean her from the swing as well. So far it seems to be working. This is our 5th night and she was asleep 5 min after I put her on the swing and I didn’t even had to turn it on. I am hopping that after a few nights of a routine and her falling asleep on her own I can just put her down in her bed without her fighting because she can’t get herself to sleep.
Question:
When baby wakes up in the middle of the night to eat is it ok to feed them until they fall back to sleep or do you have to wake them back up and put them down? She is pretty sleepy during the night.
I am not Alex either, but I did read on this site somewhere, that it is OK to feed baby until they fall back asleep in the middle of the night. When you begin to night wean, then reduce the amount of time you are feeding baby by one minute each night until feedings are eliminated altogether. But to answer your question, I think you want to avoid CIO in the middle of the night.
Cool that’s what i thought but i was not sure. It’s like i get to all the info by clicking around and then i dont remember where i saw it.Thank you Joanne
Hi.
I am so happy to have found your site (if nothing else than for a midnight chuckle). My daughter is 4 months next week and we have been doing the swing thing for 2 weeks. I am still having to do the full Varsity slather on the soothing method and am wondering if you have any advice for transitioning from Varsity to being able to walk away with her awake. Actually, maybe we are Junior Varsity as on occasion I can leave her drowsy and on others once I leave her those eyes pop back open then she goes down again. She does not like being put in her swing – starts crying when I take her over to it and when I put her in the swaddle. If I just leave her in the swing she usually escalates into full out trembling upset crying. I then pick her up, soothe her, give her a quick nurse then put her in awake and return to Varsity. She’s pretty much self-weaned off the paci, so what she really responds to is my super shushing behind her. The whole process generally takes about 10 minutes, though like I said, it varies. Evenings generally worse as she still hasn’t gotten completely over the whole “4th trimester” thing.
Based on the advice here I have been carefully watching awake time. Going for 1 1/2 hrs awake time now as 2 hrs was tough to settle her down. Truth be told, she’s not much better at 1 1/2 hrs so maybe I should try an hour. Her naps are generally only 30-35 minutes after which she wakes up unhappy and clearly not fully rested, but I haven’t had luck soothing her back to sleep in her swing. Every couple days she’s conk out for 3+ hrs for one nap (could be at anytime of the day). Her bedtime is between 7-9 (though at 7 or 8 she could just do a 30 minute nap) and she’ll usually have a 5-7+ hr stretch after which she’ll nurse and then go back to sleep happily in her swing for another couple hours (this is the only time she doesn’t cry going into the swing). I’m not complaining about that at all, as this is phenomenal compared to my 3 yr old who never slept more than 2 hrs at a time until he was over 18 mos. And while I’d love longer naps, I’m ok with their length too, what I’d really like is to progress on the getting herself to sleep bit. Especially as we are traveling end of April when she is 5 1/2 months and I’d like to have her in her crib before then and definitely before 6 months!
Any advice from anyone appreciated!
Well the 4 month sleep regression is probably working against you. And I’m guessing that 1 hour 15 min or 1 hour 30 min is where she is (2 hours is more something you see at ~6 months).
I would maybe add a bit more of a routine. Like maybe you go into her room, swaddle her, read a few books, sing a few songs, and THEN put her in the swing. Some babies need more of a transition than “swaddle, swing, sleep.”
I would really try to gradually dial back on the varsity method. Maybe instead of jiggling you shoosh. The varsity method is GREAT long term but can actually cause object permanent issues for you (baby wakes up all night and you have to run in and jiggle). I wasn’t aware of that possibility until it turned up in comments (it’s rare) so just a heads up?
Also using loud white noise? Not running in when she wakes up? Giving her a little time to see what happens? I’m also wondering if nursing right prior is the issue – what happens if you don’t nurse JUST prior to naps?
It’s a tricky age. THey’re not quite newborns, they’re generally having a huge sleep regression, so the answer may simply be, “Wait 2 weeks, try again.”
Good luck!
Your blog makes me chuckle. It is great to find someone who admits that maybe the baby sleep books dontwork for all babies.
I have a question and am hoping Alexis you or yourwise fans can help.
4.5 month old cannot be swaddled (just call him Flipper) and needs rocking and holding to sleep (bad nipple addiction which we are in the midst of breaking…) If he is held for long enough and we try enough times and the wind blows in the right direction and no spiders pass gas near him he can sleep in his crib at night and for naps. The battle is getting him in there. Itried the swing (yes just a few times) and he screamed and screamed.
If he naps in the swing or bouncy seat it can be short but in the crib it can be for Upto 3 hours. *cue happy dance *
Do we aim for the crib or the swing given both involve screaming.
2) if the swing then do we swaddled again or give him his hands to suck on.
3) is this the stop for cryitoutsville ( we’re trying at night and it is breaking my heart).
Our typical day involves several nap attempts that are not on me, maybe one short one will be achieved if down asleep. I have one chronically overtired baby.
Thoughts?
So if the wind blows from the north and the blue jay is sitting on the tree branch outside your window and you quietly hum Ava Maria you can get him to take a 3 hour nap in the crib. And the problem is???
So if I understand, you rock and hold and nurse to sleep and getting him to FALL asleep takes a long time, but once you GET him asleep he’s taking mammoth naps (yes 3 hours is mammoth at 4 months). And he’s taking 3 hour naps unswaddled.
I love swaddles so almost unanimously my advice is – put him back in a swaddle. However if he’s taking these mammoth naps unswaddled then probably it’s not a big deal.
I think you have 2 potential exits before the road dead-ends at cryitoutsville.
1) What happens if you do the huge rocking, cuddle to sleep thing, put him IN the crib, then wake him up a little bit. I think I might go down that route. More on this technique as soon as I get my Karp videos posted but you can watch up on it here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMtKXVOLiI4
2) If you want to try the swing you keep on with your huge rocking to sleep bit and THEN put him into the swing (asleep). Get him USED to sleeping in there before you move on to putting him AWAKE in the swing. If you go the swing route I would probably go back to swaddling because it never hurts. This would be a nap strategy – usually at this age most kids are happy in the crib at night.
So I would start at option #1, see what happens and if you’re feeling frustrated, consider #2.
ps. I don’t allow farting spiders at my house. Sure we live in the country with many MANY spiders. But farting spiders are quickly shown the door.
Alexis recently posted..5 Things I Learned from Doing Sleep Consults
The blue Jay….. THAT’S what I am missing!!!!!
Thanks for the reply. You are right. Three hours unswaddled. (Of which i spend three hours doinga play by play recollection to figure out what worked). I weaned him once he could roll both directions which he does all the time (and clunks his head in the process).
He seems to have a mom radar which beeps as noone as my grip is releasing on him. Its like he KNOWS. :/ We have tried holding for 10, 20, 45, 90 minutes to ensure asleep… and then he goes miraculously to being as limp as the vegetables in my salad drawer to surprisingly active. And mad. Getting him in the swing or crib can be successful but only after trying and trying and trying and then throwing some begging in there. I have just tried today’s nap and each attempt at laying him down was an epic fail met with a pouty face and tears (you decide whose). So I have sat here for over two hours just holding him… and not making dinner. -hence sad limp vegetables.
So option one of waking him is kind of done for us often. And hr is having none of it. I even tried daytime cosleeping for naps and that darn mom-dar went off to alert him I was contemplating moving…. I also tried then calming him with stroking his hair while he flailed his arms, turned beet red, and wailed with those big fat guilt inducing tears….
We endured wonder week 19 (he is now 21 weeks according to during date)… I’m beginning to think that I will still be sat in this chair holding him when he is 7…
Hi there – Alexis, I love your site. It makes me feel a little human and I am soooo tired (as many are) I don’t feel too human most days. I have a 4 month old, to the day. For the past few weeks I’ve been working to get him to nap anywhere but on me, using your site, and especially using the 2-hour interval thing. We managed some decent naps in the swing (always nursing to sleep.) And at night…well….he mainly sleeps in the little rock-a-bye cot thingy. And the most he’s ever gone is 5 hours. And that has happened twice. I’ve tried him in the swing, and it is the same. We had a few decent nights (ie, waking 2-3 times to nurse to sleep) and then are spiraling down into the abyss again…waking almost every hour at night, and napping is not happening any more. Like, I cannot get him to sleep for more than 10 minutes in the swing. Could this be the 4-month regression? We were never doing so great, so not sure how much we can actually regress…But anywho. I was feeling like I would survive this, but now it seems we are headed back to even worse sleep. My husband wants to let him CIO, but I am not on board for that. Yet. Any advice would be soooooooooooooo appreciated. Thanks for all you do!
Oh – and forgot to mention that I always swaddle him (he spends the day swaddled practically since all I am doing is trying to get him to nap!!) and always at night too. Using white noise also. The little bugger can wake up through anything!!
Hi Alexis,
I actually DO live near you, so I’m very tempted to invite you for tea, crumpets, and swing-goddess advice, but then I remember that you have a life now that your babies sleep!
I love your site and it has given me so much hope in the past couple of months, but at this point I feel like I need to fulfill my fantasy of 2+ months of legitimately asking you for help, as opposed to just trying to do everything your posts recommend. Literally, everything (I think… unless I missed a post or maybe am not realizing I’m screwing up). Long story short: 4.5 month movement junkie who might just be a swing hating baby (I refuse to believe this and am hoping you will second that). 30-45 min naps, up every 45min-1.5 hrs at night but feedings only at 11:30p, 3a, and sometimes 6a, wake time between 45 min-1.25hr during the day and we’re up to nap/bed as soon as he looks glazed, yawns or sucks his thumb. Bedtime routine: boob, diaper/pjs, massage with song, swaddle, loud white noise, black out blinds (with night light), swing, SCREAM, despite the jiggling, singing, shushing, varsity techniques. Nap routine is the same, except optional feed and diaper (feeding and nap schedules don’t gel because of the screwy napping, but I make sure he hasn’t gone more than 2 hours without feeding before I put him down for a nap since he usually eats at 3+ hr intervals), and shorter massage and different song than bedtime. I feel like I’m slathering on the soothing, I cut out the paci (my left pinky) cold turkey DURING the 4mo regression (that came at 3.5mo, so I figured it was the no-paci that he hated, but it was the regression in hindsight, because suddenly he was fine with no paci) and I’ve been using the swing for naps and night for 9 days. The first few days I rocked him to sleep, then put him in the swing and was able to then put him in awake with success for a day where he caught up on sleep (naps of 2hr, 1.5hr, 1hr, then 45min, before a relatively calm night of sleep), but since then it’s gone to hell again with the exceptional long nap to catch up for all the crappy ones. I’ve jiggled etc for 45 minutes a few times and he continues to scream with a few moments of respite mixed in, so I’ve eventually broken down, taken him out and he will immediately calm down, even fall asleep on me like it was before when I was stuck bouncing for hours on end. Yesterday was the worst because he not only screamed for 45 minutes for a “nap” and when I took him out was fully awake and calm (so we skipped that nap, really long wake time, ugh) and he did the same thing at bedtime too, getting 2 hours less sleep that usual. HELP! This almost feels like CIO but without the progress
Hi Alexis,
A friend just pointed me to your site because we are having difficulty with our 7 month old (6 months adjusted age) waking every 45-90 minutes overnight. We have not taught him how to fall asleep on his own, so we are probably “headed to cry-it-outsville”, as you put it. But we thought we would give the swing a try as a last ditch effort. Unfortunately, he screams when we put him in the swing as well.
We haven’t swaddled since mid-January, which I realize now was probably too soon to stop. But since he has been without it so long, and he is rolling over, I figure it wouldn’t make sense to go back to that. He gets very upset at the final stages of his bedtime routine (pjs, white noise, etc.) So I know he has anticipatory anxiety about bedtime.
I could go on with more details and questions, but my main concern – if the screaming continues in the swing – is whether we should just move directly to the crib?
Hi
My 6 month swaddled and pacifier loving non sleeper wakes every hour or more at night
He is happier cosleeping but still wakes just as often and I can’t get comfortable. He naps very well durig the day in his pushchair (not pram). It is reclined but not completely flat. He has reflux and I’m wondering if this along with the snug feeling (he’s not swaddled in the pushchair) helps him to sleep….and he is pushed (rocked) to sleep. Do you think it would be ok to see if he will sleep overnight in the pushchair? Or would that be bad for his back or something. And also be just another bad habit to break! Any advice much appreciated!
I am a new parent to a beautiful baby boy who is 10 days old. So far, he is a very good sleeper and will only wake up when he is hungry – usually between 2-4 hours. However, we have him sleeping in a few different places. He naps in his swing during the day or in his crib. I use white noise when he is in his crib and a white noise that is built into the swing. He tends to sleep better during the day and is seemingly harder to get put down at night. Should I be putting him down in the same place (either specifically only the swing or only the crib)so that his daytime naps and his nighttime naps are the same?