Falling a sleep on their own

[BarbF]

My son is six months old and still does not fall asleep on his own.  He fights sleep.  How do I get him to start falling asleep on his own.  He is getting heavier and heavier to rock to sleep. 
When he falls asleep I put him in his bed.  Now he wakes up whenever I put him in his bed.  This has been going on for a couple of weeks now. When I put him down he wakes up and starts crying.  I do the pu/pd but it can go on for an hour (which I do not have time for) This is driving me crazy.  He will only sleep if I put him in my bed and nurse him.  This all seems to have started when he got sick.  He had a high fever for 2 days and has been fine now for one week. Does anyone have any suggestions?

[Missy Lou]

i know that my LO will wake if i rock her until she's completely asleep as opposed to putting her down when she's still half awake.

i can't remember if i asked this in the other post, is his routine good? 

how long have you been doing pu/pd?  what exactly do you do?  Have you looked at the FAQ section of the pu/pd board?  i had to get help with pu/pd to make sure i was doing it effectively.
melissa

[tamvello]

My first daughter had never fallen asleep on her own (nursed to sleep) until 5m old, when I started pu/pd. You say you don't have the time, but if possible, get someone to stay with you for at least 3 days (1 week is better)so that you can devote yourself to pu/pd because it works. The first few days pu/pd took up to an hour or more to get her to sleep. Night wakings took far less time. After those first few days pu/pd only took an average of 15 minutes and by 2 weeks I just had to put her in her bed and she'd fall asleep on her own after a bit. I am a sahm and had no help from anyone (even hubby, just his support), so the only real reason you need someone's help is if you've got other kids or have to get to work.

It is hard to make the time, especially if you have other kids to care for, but it is well-worth it. For me, two weeks of dedication to pu/pd, though exhausting then, translated into peaceful nights ever after... well until my second was born! Even through teething and colds she remains a great sleeper. 

Good luck!

[BarbF]

Thanks for the advise. I will try the pu/pd method.  Did your lo cry alot? Mine always cries if he is awake & tired and I put him in his crib.  He usually calms once picked up, except for once. The hour crying is what I am afraid I won't be able to handle.

[Missy Lou]

mine cries if she's overtired when i lay her down.  hopefully, we'll figure out a good routine to avoid overtired/undertired. 

[Wei]

Hi Barb,

About the crying... I understand.  I have a hard time listening to my LO cry too so I use earplugs.  Or if I run out of them, I stick my mp3 player on or a CD player and listen to something soothing so I can't hear her cry.

Just some suggestions to ease the shrieks and tears!  It's really hard doing sleep training, isn't it??  But you know what, you'll get the hang of it before long and I'm sure your LO will too!! 

Wei