Baby sleep

[jackyc]

I have an 11 month old daughter, who will not sleep in her own room. She has been breast fed since birth but now i am weaning her off so she generally just has bottles. I can not get her to settle in her cot, in fact she hasn't slept in there once. I have tried the "letting her cry it out" method and the "popping in to reassure" her method but after hours of cryng and standing in her cot sobbing  "mamamama" i give up. Does anyone know of anything i can do to make her cot more inviting for her...??

[loopey]

have a before bed routine i.e bath, story, feed then place her in her cot and give her a good night kiss and say its bedtime, then whenever she cries go straight in dont let her get really upset but say absolutely nothing and dont give any eye contact then when she quietens down lay her back down,still no noise or eye contact and keep doing this, eventually the gaps will get longer between cries as she'll be reassured but not really getting any reinforcement for crying it will mean a long time sat on the top stair but will pay off in the long term.Hope i've explained this ok, good luck! keep strong!

[DannyK]

I'd agree with the above. I would also set a date to start doing this, a week when it's best for you to have the broken sleep. I had exactly the same as you with our daughter, and I was advised to set a dtae in my mind when i would start the new strict routine, and I was prepared for the tiredness. I'd say it took us 4 days - but we haven't looked back since. I really think that mentally preparing myself made all the difference.

Good luck with it