How to wean rocking my baby to get him drowsy

[mirakim715]

Hello. I have a 5 month old boy.
And everytime daytime nap I have to hold him and rock him until he is drowsy. I am able to put him down when he is drowsy but if I don't rock him til his drowsy and put him in his crib he won't sleep...
He will cry or he will play... I have been doing check in 5 min 10 min 12 min... and did verbal reassurance. And it worked at night time but its not working in daytime.
My back is hurting and I don't know how long I can rock him til his drowsy
Any suggestions? 😭😭😭

[lolsyb1982]

Hi there

Firstly I just need to ask when you mention doing check in at night at certain intervals is he crying for that time? Just to clarify that we cannot support controlled crying on this site as Tracy believed it breaks the trust between the parent and child.

I remember that aching back feeling from my first daughter and rocking her to sleep constantly and totally understand why you want to wean it.

The best method to use instead would be shh pat and I have attached the link for you to have a read of to see how to do it. You would use this for all naps and BT.

If he's always been rocked it will take a while for him to get used to the new way of falling asleep so you will need to be persistent with it.

Shush-pat - How to

If you have any questions or want some hand holding please do come back 

[Scottishmummy]

Welcome to BW!

At 5mo you could also try PU/PD - it's a good approach if sh-pat doesn't work and is based on responding to their cries/needs rather than just checking according to the clock:

Pick Up/Put Down (PU/PD) - Everything you ever needed to know!

[mirakim715]

Thank you so much! I tried PU PD it worked!!!!! Right away for me!!
He is using pecifier though... I read it pecifier might not work with the method but it worked for us! I think because he only uses it to fallasleep... he spits it out and it doesn't wake him up !!! Thank you!!!

[Scottishmummy]

Hooray! Very pleased for you! Enjoy the "you" time and the rest for your back and arms