How to get baby to lie down in the cot when standing...

Hi Everyone,

My little monkey is very impressed with his ability to stand up and does it over and over again. Even when i lie him down, he's up almost straight away, and knawing on his cot eadges- which makes me crazy!

How can I help him? Should I let him stand, so he'll eventually lie down? Or should I intervene over and over and lie him down?

He's learnt to bend over and pick things up now, so that is another form of entertainment, pick up his toys and throw them out!

I'm going to get cot protectors, but didn't like the adhesive ones I saw the other day - probably too late now anyway :rolleyes:

Love to hear how you coped with your little ones.

Carole

It is an exciting time when they start to stand up but it certainly comes with its challenges!

I don't know if what we did would work on every baby, but it worked for ours. We just did the same thing with our kids when they started standing as we did with the control comforting. We would do our bedtime routine (nappy change, milk, story, quiet cuddle and bed) and we would tuck them in and say 'sleep time'. We waited 2 mins the first time and without making eye contact would go back in and simply say 'It's time to go to sleep' (making sure that the tone of our voice went down as if we were simply stating a fact - if it goes up it sounds like a question) and we would lie them back down and tuck them in again. The second time we waited 4 mins, the third time 6 mins and we would just keep going at increasing intervals. Eventually, they would go to sleep.

If they were really hyped up, after we got to the 10 min interval, I would lay my baby on their stomach with one hand firmly on their bottom and use the other one to pat them off to sleep. Usually, they were so tired by that stage it didn't take long for them to be fully out to it. I only laid them on their tummies at this point because they could roll over themselves and that was the position they slept in usually.

As I said, this worked well for us and our babies, not sure if it would be the same for everyone.

Good luck with your little man and getting him to sleep.

Thanks, I have been trying the controlled crying type time, whenever I go in he's standing up and he smiles when he sees me. I put him down, either back or stomach, and he fights me back up very quickly!

Will keep trying, seems to be worst when he's ready for sleep but doesn't quite know it - you know, rubbing ees, but then gets hyper very quickly....

the complete novelty of standing up in the cot will pass, but it is something they will do when they don't want to go to bed...... but for the novelty phase, i just tried to show her i wanted her to lie down then left her to her own devices....

once they are a bit older and standing in the cot i would just say "night night" and try to ignore the fact that she was standing when i wanted her sleeping..... it can become a game to keep lie-ing them down over and over..... you have just got to kind of do the best you can do and rest assured the phase will pass in a fairly short amount of time, then it will be on to something else to drive you nutty!

I would only lay my babies down once everytime I went in and would leave even if they stood up again. Not making eye contact and saying very little is really important because it takes the fun out of it for them. I was very clinical about it but it was the only way to send them sleep messages rather than letting them think it was playtime.

As Emma said, it is a phase and it will pass. Both my older kids (DS is still in the cot) lay down when put to bed and don't stand up again.

I agree with the other ladies. Lie him down then leave the room, leaving longer each time. They do get tired of it eventually. Don't smile back, you don't even have to say anything, just lie him down again each time.
Once they are a bit bigger and doing it for attention just leave them. Unless they are distressed or climbing out then they will get bored and go to sleep.

I didn't have as much trouble with DS1 standing up as I did with him climbing out of his cot and walking out to show us how clever he was. The same thing worked though...just keep putting him back until he can't be bothered doing it anymore. I thought I was going to go crazy a few times :wall: but he stopped doing it eventually.