Monday, July 11, 2011

How should I wean my 14 month old from being rocked and bottle fed to sleep? Should I just let him outgrow it?

Yes, definitely wean him from that, because he will do so much better when he can go to sleep by himself without you having to be there to help him. The fact that he sleeps through the night is a good sign - kids almost always awaken at some point in the night, and the fact that he is not fussing then means he is putting himself back to sleep. So he CAN do it. You can wean in bits - it doesn't have to be all or nothing. I think it would be cruel and unusual to just plop him into the crib and let him CIO, although I really believe that CIO is necessary and useful in certain situations. You can do it in stages though - first reduce the amount of time, then have his dad do it, then give him a bottle with just water in it, then no bottle, then no rocking. Or however you want to stage it. At each change, be matter of fact, and do it for a few days so that it becomes a new normal, then move to the next phase. And make sure that the rest of your night routine, before the rocking/bottle segment, is absolutely consistent and soothing. It will be so liberating for you to be able to wish him good night and put him down without going through a big production to get him to sleep. Good luck.

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