Is pat shush a prop?

[bellmaine]

Hello,

I have been trying to get my daughter to fall asleep on her own.  she is 15 weeks and I put her down to bed at about 7:30 or 8:00pm if I put her to bed earlier I dreamfeed her.  But she always seems to be waking up between 1 and 2 am.  Could this be she is use to me feeding her at that time.

Also when I put her down to sleep I give her a bottle and then I put her in her crib when she is drowsy.  I pat shush her on her bottom and she seems to settle.  Then she will wake up a few times and I listen and wait but she never seems to be able to settle herself.  So I then pat shush and she goes to sleep.  Could the pat shush become a prop?  Am I doing something wrong?  I have been doing this for about a week.

If someone has any suggestions I would love to hear.

Thank You...  By the way these boards have been wonderful I never would have survived without them.

[Katet]

My thought is it isn't the sh/pat but the bottle that may be the problem if she is pretty drowsy from that she might need that "full, I've just sucked milk" feeling to settle.

Can you try just putting her down drowsy from the milk without the sh/pat...does that work?

Also babies under 4-5months don't always know how to self sooth, so do need help.

If you can try & get her down into bed as awake as possible & only sh/pat when she is upset. If she is calm then let her work out if she can get to sleep, then you will probably have less wakings & if she does wake then maybe she is genuinely hungry.

HTH