Hi everyone!
My son is now almost 5 months old, but was born 5 weeks early. My question is about self soothing and sleep. He has never been a great sleeper, it was always a battle to get him to sleep, and he would mostly only sleep for 30 minutes at a time during the day, but slept pretty well at night, with only 2 feeds overnight. We would rock/hold/pat him till drowsy or asleep and then put him down, which would take forever. He has started to wake more often overnight in the last few weeks as well, which is very draining!
Recently though I put him in his cot for a nap without any rocking or patting, awake, while I did some housework. Within 15 minutes he was asleep. He didn't cry as such, but there was a lot of grunting, moaning and calling out, almost like he was talking or shouting, but no tears. He also sucks his hands and rubs his eyes so I know he is sleepy. I have done the same thing for the last few days and he has been sleeping for over an hour each nap. Is it ok to leave him while he does this, or am I doing a form of 'cry it out'? Or is this him self soothing? Of course I go and comfort him if he escalates into crying. I feel like I might have been overstimulating him before sleep by rocking him etc, is this possible? Your opinions would be greatly appreciated!
