"I have a 6-month-old daughter and I have always rocked her to sleep at night and still do. I get a lot of heat from others for this because "she will never learn to put herself to sleep". I love rocking her to sleep and I will continue to do so, its a quiet time for just us but I am wondering how she will eventually learn to go to sleep on her own with me rocking her. I know there will eventually come a time when I can't rock her anymore. Thank you for any advice you might have."
The majority of babies this age still need to be “parented” to sleep
(nursing, rocking, cuddling, etc.). Pretty much guaranteed, that at some point in the future, you
will tuck her into bed, give her a kiss, and say goodnight. Some babies learn to fall asleep very
easily, but many need to be taught. Our book, The Baby Sleep Book, is a wealth of information about
how to learn the temperament of your baby and how to pick a good strategy for teaching them how to get
to sleep. I’m glad that you enjoy the quiet snuggle-time with her, because that will not last forever.
You can take a more aggressive “training” approach (explained in the book) or you can take a more
relaxed approach… either way, if you do it right, you will have an older child that enjoys going to
sleep. My two children learned to fall asleep on their own sometime between their second and third
birthday. Just remember, a realistic long-term goal is to help your baby develop a healthy attitude
about sleep: that sleep is a pleasant state to enter and a secure state to remain in.
Click here for more information
about The Baby Sleep Book