[I*Love*Christmas]

I think it works for some babies and not others.

My DS would not go to sleep on his own if you put him in the cot awake. He would scream and scream and scream. I would wrap, pat, ssshhh and all the rest and nothing worked. I rocked him to sleep in my arms till he was well over 12 months.

My DD on the other hand did learn to go to sleep in the cot by herself from about 6 weeks. I would just wrap her and pop her in and off she would go. I thought it was a miracle.

[jenooo]

My little boy is just over 5 months and he has always needed to either be rocked or fed to sleep. However in the last week or two I have been able to put him in bed drowsy (we still feed before bedtime) but not asleep, and he shuffles and fidgets for a few minutes before drifting off.

I have recently stopped going in to resettle him mid-nap as it only seems to wake him up more now, and I've discovered he will go back to sleep himself if I leave him to it for 10 min or so (he doesn't wake crying, just cooing), so I think this newfound skill has made its way to the beginning of the nap as well. It may all change again next week, so I'm not counting any chickens just yet, but it's nice to see him relaxed enough to do this now.

I honestly thought we'd be rocking to sleep at 1yo but it seems to me he just figures out these new skills and makes his own changes when he's ready. As PP have said though, all babies are so different and some need the reassurance of having you there to help them sleep.

[hyperkitty]

Put my 3 week old to bed awake for the first time last night (Nature called lol) and she grizzled for about 30-45 seconds before she settled and went to sleep. By the time I got back upstairs from the bathroom she was almost out like a light. no shushing or patting so I left her.

She was drowsy when I put her down though so not 100% awake.