My daughter just turned 3 months old and is still pretty much unable to put herself to sleep in any capacity. Her sleep has gone downhill (although it was never that great to begin with) since she turned 2 months old and became more aware of the world. I feel like we now have to put her in the swing or rock/bounce her in order to get her to go to sleep (day or night) and if we don't hit that magic window (usually after 90 minutes of being awake), then she is an overtired, screaming mess.

I will be the first to admit that we probably have not done a great job with the drowsy but awake strategy. My problem is that I don't really understand how to do it. when you put them down drowsy but eyes still open, what do you do when they cry? pick them up and start over or let them fuss? Letting her cry seems like sleep training to me (which I am not necessarily opposed to) which I keep hearing is not effective until babies are four months. So I am not entirely sure I understand what I should have been doing/what I should do now.... Is gradual extinction our only hope at this point?

I know we are getting to the point where sleep associations are much more likely and I am worried that if we don't address this soon we will have an even harder time . Also, I am going back to work in another month and I am worried that our caregiver (we are doing a nanny share with another family) won't have time to spend soothing her to sleep for every nap and I don't want her to be totally traumatized by my not being at home!

Help!!