daddy can't soothe 7 mo. old!

[courtneyandmiles]

 
The other night, I went on a walk after Dd was in bed.  Dad was home.  She wasn't asleep yet.  Dh had the monitor, but he "didn't know" it wasn't working.  (later told me he heard only static - well, fix it, duh!)  Anyway, he went to check on her, and she was already frenzied-crying.  He held her arms down like I do, but he shushed her, which she's too old for.  Then he tried pu/pd, but he doesn't know the correct technique - he's only heard me talk about it.  I came home, and he was bouncing her on his shoulder, and she was screaming.  I took her, lay her down, held her arms, and she was fine.  The only other person who can put Baby down is Dh's mom (not even my mom can)!  You know how Tracy says to have a routine for bed, and of course Dd expects it to be followed consistently.

So I want to "teach" Dh to put Baby to sleep on his own in case I"m not around.  Anyone have any advice on this?  Trying to think like Tracy, I came up with:
Nights 1 and 2: I put Baby to sleep and soothe her if she needs it while Dh stands in the door
Nights 3 and 4: Dh puts Baby to sleep etc. while I stand in the door
Nights 5 and 6: Dh puts Baby to bed

Whaddya think?

[Mia & Scarlett's Mummy]

Oh, my toes were curling as I read your post, I came home once to find dh jiggling a red, screaming baby round waving all sorts of toes in her face and singing at the top of his voice to try and calm her down ("Are you thick or what?" was I think my reaction  )

Your plan sounds pretty fab to me.

I had the same problem with naps and I got dh, my mom and mil to watch how I settled dd off to sleep for a couple of times then I watched them do it and tweaked them a bit (MIL was mainly insistent on rocking dd to sleep in her arms but that's another story!)

You might also want to highlight certain section of Traceys books if you have them which is what I also did.  Not huge chunks but where she is specifically explaining the sleep techniques.  That way they've got the theory and the practical!

HTH