The trick to get him to sleep

Today I figured out the trick to get him to sleep.  The pediatrician recommended the book below, "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child," by Dr. Marc Weissbluth.  My wife read it but I have yet to; so far all that we're trying to implement is a consistent nap and bedtime schedule.



For the first month or two of baby's life, I was almost completely unable to get him to go to sleep.  I would have to use the Moby wrap or take him for a walk in his bassinet to get him to sleep for me, and then I have very little freedom to get anything done myself.  I was jealous of my wife, because she could hold him and pat him on the bottom and rock him to sleep without a problem.  It took up to an hour or more to do, but if he goes to sleep for her why shouldn't he for me?

What bothered me the most was his crying, as usual.  His mother definitely has a higher tolerance for his cries than I do.  It was so sad and frustrating to be holding him and trying to comfort him while he screams and cries to the point where he gags himself.  Then one day I decided I just had to buck up and fight through it, and eventually he started to sleep for me.

We'll hold him horizontally in the regular cradle position with his head to the left.  With the right hand we gently tap his diapered bottom and say "SSSSHHHH" (henceforth to be known as "shushes") over and over again while bouncing him up and down in our arms.  The shushes and the bouncing have the same rhythm.

The trick that I've observed isn't something that I've read or heard from anyone, but something I've noticed myself doing that I am just now aware of.  First, the taps on the bottom are at about twice the rate of the shushes.  Next, while he's crying and I'm shushing, his breathing will eventually match the pace of my shushes.  Doing the rapid-fire shushes forces me to inhale quickly then exhale quickly, and he'll cry while I'm shushing then inhale when I do.  Once I notice that his breathing matches mine, I start to draw out the shushes and slow down my breathing until it's at a pace more conducive to falling asleep.  He slows his breathing along with me and falls asleep pretty shortly afterwards.

I becomes hard to put him down without waking him, but I slow the patting of his bum along with the shushes and put him down very slowly and gently.  Sometimes he'll stir a little once he's down, and I'll hold his legs in place and pat his bum until he settles again.

The trick really is slowing down his breathing when he's worked up (crying or wailing) and getting him down without jostling him to the point where he wakes up.  First you need to develop the patience and strength of will to listen to the screaming up close, then use this breathing technique and your baby will be asleep in no time.  Of course, this might not work at all for your baby, in which case you're on your own.