Rocking my Baby to Sleep

Rocking your baby to sleep is a sleep prop and if it works for your family and your not too worried about then it’s okay to continue. However, I bet there will come a time when it’s not feasible to do anymore.

A sleep prop is a thing you use that does get your baby to go to sleep but keeps them from learning independent sleeping skills to fall back to sleep on their own. A sleep prop can be rocking your baby, feeding them to sleep, bouncing them on a yoga ball, etc. These things help your baby fall to sleep but become a hinderance to independent sleep.

The issue becomes when you are exhausted and you want to make some changes, that’s when parents reach out to sleep consultants.

A common problem I hear is this: “I rocked my baby to sleep and that took 30 minutes and then they only took a 30 minute nap, I am exhausted!” Your baby is probably exhausted too! When you only get a few minutes to rest, maybe grab a bite to eat and your baby is awake, it can get frustrating.

Here’s my tip– Sleep props contribute to short naps!

When you stop rocking to go lay your baby down and they are instantly awake it is because their sleep environment (your cozy arms) changed. Some babies are really dependent on sleep props and this creates night waking when they go into light sleep. All of us cycle into light sleep and we turn over and go back to sleep. If a baby can’t get themselves back to sleep then it creates a baby looking for their sleep prop in the middle of the night.

You may want to look at your sleep props and get rid of them. This is how a sleep consultant can assist your family, by supporting you with a plan so you can lay your baby down and they can learn to sleep using their own sleep skills.

The goal is to get your baby to start linking the sleep cycles together so they can go back to sleep on their own. (Yes, Mom that means you get sleep too!)

Will taking away a sleep prop make your baby protest?

Yes, it probably will because change takes time but with consistency and support it will be worth it! It can help if you set up a plan ahead of time to know how you will respond to their protesting. This can be as little or as much reassuring as you’d like. Some ideas of this would be allowing them to hear your voice, feel your touch and get a hug while gently sleep training your baby. You can use a sleep method approach that incorporates how you would like to reassure them while still removing sleep props. This will allow baby and you to be more comfortable and confident as they learn a new skill– developing independent sleep!