Michelle ~

This sounds exactly like my son, Owen (now 21 months). At about 6
months we set a bedtime routine - bath, pj's, book, nursing, bed. You
can use whatever routine works for you. The one thing that I found,
was that if I nursed him to sleep and then put him down, he'd wake up.
That still holds true today. He has to be sleepy, but not asleep.

In the end, against my heart, we let him cry it out. He was about 8-9
months at the time. It was so hard for about the first week or so.
Then he'd cry 5-10 minutes and sleep for 6+ hours. I was thankful
that we tried it.

The key is to not ignore them. Go in and check on the baby
periodically, pat him, rub him, shhhh him, but do not pick him up.
Let the intervals go a bit longer each night and it will work.

We tried this with bedtime first, then with naps.

Now, most nights, he goes to bed without complaint and is asleep
within a few minutes.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

-Deena


--- In midwifecenternewparentsgroup@yahoogroups.com,
"michellebug1161975" <michellebug@...> wrote:
>
> Hello,
> I wonder if anyone had any advice or suggestions on how to get a baby
> to sleep *not in my or my husbands arms*. Maybe this is impossible, we
> have been trying everything, EXCEPT letting him cry it out. He is used
> to being nursed to sleep or bounced by my husband. if we leave the bed
> or put him down, he wakes up almost immediately. He sleeps really well
> when we are holding him or sleeping with him. As he gets older (he is
> 6.5 months now) it is getting harder because he doesn't just fall
> asleep when he is tired anymore and I have been napping with him and
> going to bed at like 9pm.
>
> thanks,
> Michelle
>