LG doesnt sleep want to sleep in cot

My LG loves loves loves her cot... and she refuses to sleep with us.

The first thing that came to my mind when I read your post is, is your LG warm enough?? It really has started getting very cold at night.

We leave a bottle of milk in the one corners of her cot... if she wakes up she knows where it is. Most mornings the bottle is empty. We also leave the cot full of dummies.

She has a mobile above her cot that she can switch on herself. We never put it on for her. At night we put her in bed with a bottle and switch off the light. Some nights she falls asleep quickly, other nights she will put on the mobile, play around abit and eventually fall asleep.

Just to add... she slept in our bed from birth till about 5 months, then in her cot next to our bed till 6 months and then in her own room.

Nikki, get the book, there is so much more to it, she offers solutions / tips to just about every sleep issue there is and the way I explained it is very simplistic and based on a formula fed baby sleeping in their own room - she has other chapters for co-sleeping, breast fed babies, ect.

She also recommends you do a sleep diary, the format is in the book, before you even attempt to start sleep training,so that you can get an idea of how many times baby really wakes up and how it changes throughout the "training".

It is easy to read, not too much jargon and best of all she writes from practical experience with her own children and case studies which she personally conducted.

Thanks, Claire sounds similiar to what I have been trying to do, I guess time and consistency are key, will have a look for the book

MrsDD, I agree on dropping the night feed, but do not be surprised if your LO spits out the water - kinda like expecting a nice glass of sweet cooldrink and being fed sour homemade lemon juice - there is a chance she will reject it. If she does, go the gentle route of rather watering down the milk in stages or gradually offering less & less milk each night.

Okay the No Cry Sleep Solution basically works on substituting a comfort item for mom. So be it dummy, taglet, blanky, teddy.

Carry on putting LO down as you always have, but get her to hold the comfort item, so when she sees it, she knows it is time to sleep.
I used to sing the same 2 songs over & over & over every night. Liam also had a little teddy and his taglet
For the first week or 2 carry on holding LO tight as you always have, then once she is happy with that, loosen your hold, then move to her cot and put her down, maintaining physical comfort (if you have a cot whose side opens right up you can even almost lie on the cot with her, you then slowly start distancing yourself, so stop holding her and just pat her side / bum / back.
Then just stand in the room, then start moving further & further out the room, until you are at the door - just so your physical presence can be felt. Once you have done this a few times you should be able to just put her down and leave the room while she is still awake.

The actual stages are more involved - I did it almost 2 years ago, so I don't remember it all that clearly.

I do remember that I had to back track a stage or 2 a few times, and that it took about 3 months to get Liam to the stage where he is now - I read the boys their story in Brandon's room, tuck Brandon in, give him a kiss and a few books and leave. Take Liam to his room, tuck him in, give him a kiss and a few books and leave.
Go in about 30 minutes later and turn off lights.

Liam still (at almost 3) wakes up most nights, sometimes just for a kiss, sometimes to come climb into bed with me, but Brandon sleeps well.

The book was just over R150.00, but I can assure you that with all the baby stuff we bought, it was my best buy

Lol Niki, I can relate! I think we have every right to be lazy at 2 a.m. I've tried the no cry thing, too (in different variations), but Lilly would get into a RAGE within minutes and would continue to be upset and screaming the whole night, plus be completely mis the next day. Since I have accepted that I can't force her to sleep on her own but have to wait till she's ready we both feel a lot better

Yaz, I know how you feel, I know I need to try get her to sleep through and with some effort it will work, but Paige is also so stubborn, I have tried a few times, with no cry techniques but she can carry on fussying and refusing to sleep for close on an hour , when she wants her way, thats it.

I just feel lik eif I pick her up and rock her for 10 minutes or give her a dummy its quicker... that sounds so lazy

Thank you for the replies.

First thing i will do is change milk to water.
Then will see how that goes.