Getting started teaching independent sleep at 8 weeks

[beckyy]

Hi,

I'm just getting started introducing the easy routine for my 8 week old boy. It's going OK at the moment. He's generally on a 3 hour cycle through the day and we have the eat, activity, sleep pattern.

My concern is that I'm not sure of the best way to get him to sleep. He gets overtired quickly but I can soothe him with pats/rubs/shushing whilst holding him over my shoulder. However I don't want to use this as a method to get him to sleep, and want to encourage him to learn to sleep independently. I've been reading up on the pat-shush method, but he sleeps on his back so I can't do this in his cot! I don't want to put him to sleep on his side if i can avoid it. Not really sure where to go from here - can anybody help?

Thanks

[lily_layne]

Some LO's will settle with a firm hand on the tummy or something similar. Jiggling the mattress near my DD's head worked well for her. What if you got him fairly drowsy on your shoulder and then laid him down and put a hand on or by him if he needs it?

[beckyy]

Hi,

Thanks for your reply. I've tried the firm hand and putting him down drowsy and he still screams.

I've just this time put him down on his side so I could pat his back and it seemed to work. What can I do to make sure he's safe in that position? I'm scared he'll roll to his front and suffocate if his face is in the mattress or blanket! I've put a rolled up blanket in front of him - is that enough?

[lily_layne]

I'm glad you found something that worked.

How is his head control? I had 2 strong LOs who could move their head well from birth so I was fairly comfortable putting them down on their side or stomach (both slept better that way). You can buy a crib wedge to help support him or a sleep positioner. You can also tuck the rolled blanket under the fitted sheet so that it's not loose and at risk of unrolling/moving. You could also move him onto his back once he's asleep.