Are there any bad habits that you started to get through a tough time with LO that you ultimately wish you had never started? Things like napping in the swing, nursing to sleep, paci, cosleeping... I don't know. I'm still in the "throw everything at the problem and hope to god something sticks and i'll worry about the consequences later" phase. I'll take anything that helps her sleep now and deal with breaking the habit later.
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Hahaha, I agree. I'm definitely still in the "throw everything at the problem" phase. Hey, we turned out alright, didn't we? I'm sure our parents had no clue what they were doing just like us now!
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Nursing to sleep. I knew not too, I knew I 'should' take the nipple out but, alas, here we are at ten months with a boob monster who can't go to sleep without it.
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Hmmmmmmmmm... I don't think so.... *thinking*
We co-bed & nurse to sleep, but I think those are good things, not necessarily "bad habits". She doesn't use a paci & we always slept together so didn't use a swing or anything else like that. lol
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I can't think of anything right now!
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Nursing to sleep and naps. Sigh. Once these teeth are gone we're going to work on it.
@travelgirl1: 17 months here if it makes you feel better!
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Every habit that I thought wouuld be hard to break hasn't been as bad as I imagined. Like the swing, he became dependent on that around 4 months okd when we got it but eventually we were able to wean him off it.... Wasnt as bad as i thought it would be. Still hard......I'm in the do what you need to survive camp.
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Nursing to sleep and napping on me. I don't think it could have been avoided in the beginning though. I figure we survived the first 3 months, we'll work through the habits we picked up in the next 6.
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@locavore_mama: Oh gosh! I keep thinking that one day, she won't want to curl up to me every night and will turn away rather than towards me. Secretly I love all the snuggles but I do wish my nips weren't the 'only' thing that got her to sleepyland.
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We've been able to break the "bad habits" relatively easily. We rocked to sleep at night, swing for naps, and paci. Now, at 7 months we are no longer using/doing any of it.
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I've given in to certain tricks that I never thought I would in those times of "anything, please, something - work!" Paci, co-sleeping, nursing to nap (and sleep, though I don't find this to be a problem yet). None of these have become bad habits yet though, I don't think. We can take them away. The one bad habit I don't know how and when to break yet is her thumb-sucking as a self-soothing technique. She doesn't always have to suck her thumb, but what am I supposed to do when she pops it in while she's sleeping?
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The damn swing....as I sit here listening to DD crying on our first night of attempting to get her to sleep in the crib.
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Napping being held. Now at 6 months it is the only way he will nap. While I love the sleepy snuggles I've got to get working on him napping alone.
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Nope. Everything we did worked at the time to get as through whatever hard phase we were facing.
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@heartonastring: haha your post prompted this. Only I read your post think... I would gladly break that habit later if the swing would put her to sleep now!
@runsyellowlites: I should have put "bad" in quotes. Like, things you are told not to do by people or books or whatever.
I'd love to not have to nurse her to sleep- Dh could definitely help with bed time a lot more- but I have no idea how not to. We can rock her to sleep in our arms eventually but she will not settle in her crib or rock and play no matter how much we sooth her. And nursing and rocking to sleep eventually gets her the sleep she needs, so we do it.
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@Foodnerd81: I think it's all just a matter of parenting style opinion. Lots of breastfeeding resources promote nursing to sleep & for those on the more ap side, co-bedding is also seen as more beneficial than the latter. *shrugs shoulders* lol
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Anytime I put LO to bed, he needs a boob, but DH can also put him to bed using his tricks. I thought we were doomed forever lol, but one night DH gave it a shot and it worked. He puts him to sleep now every night he's home (he works 2nd shift) so I get some breaks here and there
Maybe co-bedding. I would really like to sleep not touching anyone lol
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@Foodnerd81: for me nurse to sleep is a bad, no quotes necessary, habit. Pretty much she wants my book to sleep or nap. But she naps just fine at daycare.
The other night I went out with a friend for dinner and Dh put her to bed. It took 45 minutes. She basically cried herself to sleep!But I'm of the mind that any dependency is not great. Yet, here we are. Circumstances made it so I was always the one that put her to bed. I know with #2 this is something I will be very cognizant of.
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@locavore_mama: it takes me 45 minutes WITH the boob. Can you tell I'm exhausted?
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@Foodnerd81: It takes us 45 too!!!!
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@Foodnerd81: yeah, I don't actually regret it that much! You do what you need to do to get sleep and it helped her get good sleeps too. Breaking habits sucks, but in the grand scheme of things it doesn't take that long......I hope.........
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@Foodnerd81: it gets better! It use to take me over an hour.
now an average night is 20ish.
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@locavore_mama: @junebugmama: just so we are clear- that's 45 minutes after she's actually fed. So comfort sucking and bouncing and rocking, not actually eating. And right now she is back awake and crying as my mom tries to settle her again. It sounds like its not working. I can't really take it anymore.
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@Foodnerd81: It's really the same here lol. He will full nurse (takes about 5 minutes now) and then needs to keep sucking, rubbing, listening to his mobile etc. Total pain in the butt. DH put him down tonight in about 20 minutes smh
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We started nursing to sleep and part-time bedsharing at six months when we hit a major sleep regression, only time will tell if they become habits we have to work on!
Interestingly enough the last two times that Miss A has put herself to sleep she's gone on to wake every two hours whereas when I nurse to sleep she often only wakes once...
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@locavore_mama: but what are babies if not completely dependent on their parents?
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@Kemma: P wakes up a couple hours after she falls asleep if she puts herself to sleep, then I go in nurse her back to sleep & she's good for most of the night... if I nurse her to sleep to begin with she usually wakes less.
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Eh, DS sleeps like crap but I figure he won't sleep like crap when he's 20. So we do whatever works. I can't get on board with CIO or sleep training.
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Needing a pacifier to sleep...ugh, awful.
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I nursed to sleep and used the swing for naps and it turned out fine. I wish we did put her down drowsy more though.
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@grizz: Yea. I know she won't always need me like this so I'm soaking it up while I can!
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My hands are LO's lovey/obsession. I love to be loved by her, but some nights it's really hard when she has to rub and massage and hold my hands for like 40 minutes before she will fall asleep. I've tried to "wean" her onto other loveys but no bueno - it's my hands or meltdown.
We also still co-sleep at 15 months, but we all still like it so that's not really a bad habit, I guess. I am scared for the day when we move her to her own bed full time though! (she almost always starts the night on her floorbed, and then joins us when we go to bed).
We also still rock to sleep. LO has no ability or desire to put herself to sleep
Oh well, I'm a big fan of doing what works, and letting my future self deal with the repercussions!!
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@yoursilverlining: Omgosh P loves DH's hands! lol
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@runsyellowlites: when E was in the womb she would only respond to my touching my belly, everyone else she "froze" haha. She would also press back against my hands and we spent a lot of time touching each other's fingers before she was born. To this day, if I take her hands and hold them, she instantly calms down...which I wouldn't trade for the world!!
It's just hard when I'm tired and it's been like 45 minutes and she is rubbing my fingers raw trying to fall asleep!!
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@yoursilverlining: That is SO sweet!
Yea I spend alot of time reminding myself she won't always want me like she does... G is 9 & he's a pretty sweet boy compared to many but I miss all the cuddles!
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@runsyellowlites: exactly! Soon she'll be like "whatever mom" and I'll miss these days!!
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@yoursilverlining: That is sooooo sweet! DS rubs his hand back and forth over my collarbone like 887 times before he can fall asleep, but I think it's adorable and I love it.
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So far nothing too bad. I think the biggest battle is letting her walk around with snacks rather than sitting down.
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@yoursilverlining: that is so sweet!
LO wouldn't take a paci; we rocked to sleep and took a gradual, long process to helping him fall asleep on his own. I feel really good about where we've been and where we're at now, and how we got here. I would've done ANYTHING to get him to sleep better in the early days and he turned out just fine so far
I'm in the do what works camp!
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@yoursilverlining: awwww..
melts
now an average night is 20ish.
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