How do you effectively get your baby to fall asleep in her adorable little crib at naptime and bedtime? Two words for you: sleep associations. First, there's the location, location, location association — in other words, wherever your little snoozer falls asleep, that's the location she comes to associate with sleep. In her case currently, that location may be in your arms — cozy for her, true, but not exactly the most comfortable for you or the perfect, most convenient place for a nice long nap or a good night's sleep.
Then there's the process association — how she's accustomed to falling asleep. Instead of drifting off to dreamland on her own, your little one has come to expect a free ride — being rocked to sleep. Soothing, yes, but not exactly practical — particularly when she wakes up during the night, expecting that same mommy rocking service, delivered crib-side.
So, now that you know what your little one's sleep associations are, it's time to break them, and replace them with new ones that will allow her to fall asleep on her own initially and fall back to sleep on her own when she wakes up during the night.
Start by unwinding her each evening with a relaxing, soothing, consistent bedtime routine. It isn't easy to be on the go all day and then screech to a stop at night. So apply the brakes gradually, with a warm bath, sleepy-time snack, quiet cuddle, story time, dim lighting, relaxing music and your own little goodnight ritual.
Then put her to bed, and if you’d like, sit with her while she falls asleep (especially at first), but don’t pick her up. Reassure her, offer quiet comfort. Or leave and come back periodically, letting her cry for short periods of time and returning to give her a loving pat or two and softly whisper the same boring phrase (like “Nighty-night, sleep tight, see you in the morning light”).
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Gradually move your chair farther away from the crib if you're in the room or extend the time between visits if you're not. Just be obsessively consistent. Eventually, and this could take anywhere from a few days to a week or more, she will learn to succumb to sleep — and retrain her little body with healthy new sleep associations so you can both have sweet dreams.
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