I was wondering if anyone can offer some advice on how to get the kids to sleep without rocking them. I have 16 month old BGG. My husband and I give them a bottle and then rock them to sleep every night. They're really tired at that point and falling asleep. We would love to just put them down, but they spring right back up and cry if they haven't been rocked long enough. Naps are the same.

Some people have done cry it out. I could never stand to have my kids cry that much but the ones that have gotten to work love it. I laid down with my kids at nap and bedtime. Now that they are 2 1/2 I have them lay on the couch and loveseat for nap and I sit in the chair. Night time I still lay down with them but we co-sleep.

Put them in their cribs, kiss them goodnight, turn off the light, then leave and don't go back in. They will cry, then they will go to sleep. Get it done now before they can crawl out of their cribs or you'll be laying with them until they are in kindergarten. Hear me now and believe me later.

What Celesta said. I never routinely rocked my kids to sleep. Also, I can't tell in your post if you are doing bottles and rocking back to back to get them sleepy. Make sure you brush their teeth after bottles. At 16 months I think my kids had actually started to go up the stairs themselves (with supervision) after brushing teeth. Then hugs and kisses, in the crib and goodnight.

Lori

http://yesidohavemyhandsfull.blogspot.com/

Thanks...I'll give it another shot. I tried letting them cry once before and one of my girls cried so hard she threw up. Maybe she's ready now.
The kids are 3 months premature.

I COMPLETELY agree with this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Julie
Single mom to

Tristan Declan 4lbs 3oz
Cassandra Madison 4lbs 7oz
Ryland Markus 4lbs 2oz
Born on 9/5/06 at 32 weeks 4 days

www.our3.blogspot.com

I had really good luck with the book "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child." They do advocate cry it out (although not as the only option), but most importantly discuss creating a soothing bedtime ritual. It was amazing to us how little they even cried as long as we did the same routine every night. One had some issues at naptime (and yes, threw up from crying) but overall it was amazing how much a few simple changes helped us.

Lara
Mom to GGG born at 25+4 on 12/25/09

Cry it out. Period. We did this and my kids were sleeping through the night at 6 months.

FYI you should try to avoid giving 16 month olds bottles right before bed. It's not the same as bottle rot since you aren't letting them fall asleep with a bottle in their mouth, but they do have teeth at this age and it's definitely an issue to consider.

Julie
Single mom to

Tristan Declan 4lbs 3oz
Cassandra Madison 4lbs 7oz
Ryland Markus 4lbs 2oz
Born on 9/5/06 at 32 weeks 4 days

www.our3.blogspot.com