I'm very lucky that my 2 month old baby girl seems to naturally be a good sleeper. We had to work at it (stretching out feedings), but it was not that painful. For the past 2 weeks she sleeps a stretch of 7-9 hours at night. We try keeping her up for 2 hours before it is bedtime (was between 10-11 but we are trying to move it earlier) and then feed her and put her down. I usually have to hold/sway her to sleep, then set her down in her crib and go back a few times before she is out for the night.

I used to have to hold her to sleep before putting her down for naps and I would have to sometimes go back and soothe her. Then another mom suggested putting her down for naps at the first sign of tiredness - about 15 minutes earlier than I had been putting her down. Well, now that I put her down after 3 big yawns, she falls asleep in her crib by herself (after fussing for between 5-15 minutes) and STAYS ASLEEP. This is awesome because I was getting tired from holding/swaying her to sleep for all her naps and since she falls asleep on her own, she doesn't cry to be soothed back to sleep and gets good naps between 1-3 hours. If I wait too long and she's too tired, she cries and can't put herself to sleep and I have to hold/soothe her so I am kind of becoming neurotic about putting her down for a nap after 3 yawns

Well, now I'm wondering is there something I should do differently for bedtime so she can put herself to sleep for bed? Any tips? What bedtime routine works for you? I feel like if she can put herself to sleep for naps she should be able to do it for bedtime, but it doesn't seem to be working. Any suggestions will be very much appreciated!