What do you do when they don't sleep?

Up until 3 months I rocked Micha to sleep.
Now I just put her in her cot (wich is still in our room) and leave her to fall asleep on her own. She usually talks and plays for a while then she'll go quiet - I then get up and tuck her in and finally some sleep for mommy!! If she is a bit nigly and doesn't want to fall asleep on her own, we put her in bed with us. We'll hold her close to us and lightly pat her on her back untill she is asleep. Mommy then gets up and puts her back in her cot On the odd occassion I still have to rock her, but they grow up so quick that I don't mind!

I wake up and then assess the sort of cry - if it is a non-urgent-I-am-awake-and-need-company cry, then I fake sleep until sleep a tually comes.

It if is a oh-my-goodness-I-think-I-am-dying cry, then I rush in and check how dying are we talking. I opt not to pick baby/child/children up, but tend to lie them down and pull duvet up and say something soothing like "please be quiet so mom can go back to sleep ... mom needs a lot of beauty sleep..."

Normally I find I then leave the room and close the door, and then either they go to sleep or I go do sleep first.

If it is a I-am-really-am-sick-and-I-have-thrown-up-in-my-bed-or-pooped-so-much-it-has-shot-up-my-babygrower, then I assess that situation and it usually requires a bath/or a change and maybe medicine and some soothing words of comfort.

As a rule I try not to pick up and start rocking as that can set in a chain of events that might mean I am rocking baby for several nights - who would not want to go to sleep being rocked rather than lie alone in a cot?

I definitely support to the leave-them-to-sort-it-out, followed narrowly by the in-and-out-as-quickly-as-you-can-before-the-warm-spot-gets-cold school of child rearing.

But on nights where baby is really sick, I try to be less Gestapo ....

Marijke I do the same! LG been sleeping thru since 2 months ols but has her nights(teething/sick). Also just poke hubby in the ribs and go back to sleep!! He gets up MUCH later than me!! LOL!

Marijke I love your approach

I will try to get him back to sleep, but if I fail after 60min I will wake hubby and they will go and watch tv or just sit in the lounge.

ROFL @ Marijke! Thats what DH does to me!!!

I put B back in her cot, climb in bed, wait 5 sec then poke hubby in the ribs and tell him she just woke up, then fall asleep

We have a dimmer in Jensen's room, put it on very low (just so that I dont crash into anything and wake him up more) and then I pick him up and rock him in my arms while making a sshh sshh noise - been doing that from day 1 and it seems to calm him.

Also try not to make eye contact because he breaks into this smile that you cant not return - so its best not to look at him

If that fails I sit down in the rocking chair in his room with him until he goes off to dream land again!