How to Get Your Baby to Sleep Without Crying

“I wish we didn’t have to do this.” 

That was a common phrase in my house around naptime and bedtime.

As soon as my husband or I would put our son, John, into his crib he would cry and cry. At bedtime, he would eventually cry himself to sleep. At naptime, we weren’t always so lucky. We knew he was overtired and desperately needing a nap. He would rub his eyes, become super clingy, and cry no matter what we did with him.  

It’s beyond frustrating to listen to your baby cry themselves to sleep, only to have them sleep for maybe 30 minutes.  It’s even more frustrating to listen to your baby cry and have them never fall asleep. 

My husband and I would listen to the incessant cries and say, “I wish we didn’t have to do this.” 

Crying It Out Didn’t Work

John was mainly struggling with naps. On his “good days” John would take a 30-minute morning nap and MAYBE a 30-minute afternoon nap, after A LOT of crying.

He would typically take his early morning nap without too much fuss. The afternoon nap was a totally different story.  But there were always good and bad days. 

But those “good days” were few and far between. Most days the afternoon nap never happened. John would cry and cry and refuse to sleep at all. 

I had always heard of the “cry it out” method, so I would allow him the time to cry in the afternoons, no matter how hard it was for me to listen to it every day. But despite my attempts at allowing him to cry it out, he refused to sleep. 

John was getting at most a 30-45 minute nap early in the morning and that was it for the entire day. 

I was beginning to feel helpless. I had ZERO time to myself during the day and I felt like my baby wasn’t getting the proper rest he needed. 

Having a baby that only sleeps for a half-hour a day is beyond disheartening.  

To add to the stress of daily naptime failures, he was waking up most nights shortly after bedtime. I was so confused by this. Wasn’t he exhausted after a day of no rest? So, why was he waking so often during the night? 

I found the answer to this question in the Little One’s Baby Sleep Program. Finding this program was a glimmer of hope for this exhausted mama.  

Does A Sleep Program Actually Work?  

I’ll be honest, I was a little skeptical that I was going to find an answer to my everyday question of “why doesn’t he want to sleep” and find a solution to get him back on a sleep schedule, let alone an easy-to-implement-solution. 

I was so wrong to be skeptical. 

Johns’s sleep has literally been transformed. John used to fall asleep only after crying and crying, but now he falls asleep smiling. Yes, smiling. What once was a loud and heartbreaking session of cries at naptime and bedtime, is now full of silence. Except when he lays in his crib and cheerfully babbles until he falls asleep.

I could not be happier with the progress we have made since starting the Little One’s Baby Sleep Program a little over one month ago.

 What I really love about the sleep program is that it encourages your baby to learn how to self-settle, rather than the “cry it out” method, which always breaks my heart (and doesn’t always work).  

No longer does the phrase “I wish we didn’t have to do this” echo throughout our home. Instead, we are holding onto our sleep program saying, “I am so glad we did this.”

My Baby’s Sleep Has Been Transformed  

John has learned how to self-settle. I can place him into his crib and confidently leave him, knowing he will fall asleep on his own without crying. 

The Little One’s Sleep Program has helped readjust John’s sleep schedule. A schedule that was messy and unpredictable is now certain every day. 

With helpful advice on creating the best sleeping environment, ideal eating and waking times to follow, and self-settling tips, we began to see an incredible difference only after one week of implementing the program. 

In that first week of implementing the sleep program, his daytime naps improved but I found that he was still waking up at night. The program didn’t only give you tips on combating this type of sleep regressions but explained why night regressions happen as naptime routines improve. 

After one week of implementing the sleep program, John was taking one long (2.5 hours) daytime restorative nap, and sleeping 12-13 hours every night. After one month, we are still going strong with this schedule. 

No more crying and no more nighttime wake-ups.   

Self-Settling Sleep

My favorite takeaway from the program is the introduction of a sleep association for John. In this case, we use a cuddly lamb. Having a cuddly has helped encourage self-settling for John. 

With a sleep association, John is going to bed awake, but ready for sleep. 

He now associates his stuffed lamb, or “Lamby” as we call it, with sleep. In fact, he laughs with a big smile when we ask “where’s Lamby?” or when we suggest “let’s go get Lamby” (aka, let’s go to sleep)!

So now, instead of crying himself to sleep he lays his smiling face right next to Lamby. We can hear him happily babbling away in his crib until he falls asleep. We like to say he’s telling Lamby all about his day. 

The sleep program has allowed John to nap and fall asleep at bedtime at the best times for him. Instead of two short (sometimes nonexistent) naps, we now have one long restorative nap every day and a full night’s sleep. 

His daily schedule looks a lot like this:

7 AM: WAKE

(I leave John in his crib for a little while as long as he isn’t upset — if he wakes up crying I get him out right away)

7:30 AM Breakfast: milk and solids. 

9:00 AM Morning snack

10:30 AM NAP

1 PM WAKE

1:30 PM Afternoon milk 

2 PM Afternoon snack

4:00 PM Dinner solids

5:00 PM Bath time

5:30 PM Wind-down and milk

6:30 PM Bedtime

With this new schedule, I feel like I have so much more time in my days. I have a solid 2.5 hours during the day and 12-13 hours each night of uninterrupted time to myself. Time where I can confidently do what I need to do without having to worry about John waking up.  

With the Little One’s Sleep Program, I understand what I need to do to help guide John to create an ideal schedule. John now understands how to fall asleep and stay asleep by himself. 

In one month’s time, our days and nights have completely transformed for the best. John cries less and sleeps more sound. In turn, I cry less and sleep more soundly. 

We are all benefiting greatly from Little One’s Sleep Program.  

Interested in trying the Little Ones Sleep Program? Use code JULIE for 15% off!

**This blog post was sponsored by Little One’s. All opinions are 100% my own.