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Many infants need help making the transition from being awake to falling asleep, which is really a prolongation of the bedtime ritual that conditions baby that sleep is expected to soon follow. Here are some of useful techniques that you can follow .
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 Nursing down
| Nestle next to your baby and breastfeed or bottlefeed him off to sleep. The smooth continuum from warm bath, to warm arms, to warm breast, to warm bed is a recipe for sleep to soon follow. |
Fathering down
| Place baby in the neck nestle position (nestle baby's head against the front of your neck with your chin against the top of baby's head. The vibration of the deeper male voice lulls baby to sleep) and rock your baby to sleep. If baby doesn't drift off to sleep while rocking, lie down with your baby, still in the neck nestle position, and let baby temporarily fall asleep draped over your chest. Once baby is asleep, ease the sleeping baby into his bed and sneak away. |
Rocking or walking down
| Try rocking baby to sleep in a bedside rocking chair, or walk with baby, patting her back and singing or praying. |
Nestling down
| For some babies, the standard fall-to-sleep techniques are not enough. Baby just doesn't want to be put down to sleep alone. After rocking or feeding baby to sleep in your arms, lie down with your sleeping baby next to you and nestle close to her until she is sound asleep. We call this the "teddy- bear snuggle." |
Wearing down
| Place your baby in a baby sling and wear him around the house for a half-hour or so before the designated bedtime. When he is fully asleep (see limp-limb sign) in the sling, ease him out of the sling onto his bed. |
Swinging down
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Tired parents will pay anything for a good night's sleep. Once in a while a moving plastic seat may be more sleep inducing than a familiar pair of arms. Sometimes high-need babies associate a parent's body with play and stimulation and will not drift off to sleep in a human swing. For them the mechanical one is less stimulating and will usually protest anything less than the real mom.
Before you actually spend money on a swing, you might want to borrow one for a week or two to see if the spell of the swing will last. You may discover that you are uncomfortable with mechanical mothering and decide to get more creative. Still, swings have their moments.
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Driving down
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If you've tried all the above transitioning techniques and baby still resists falling asleep, place baby in a carseat and drive around until he falls asleep. When you return home and baby is in a deep sleep, carry the carseat (with the sleeping baby) into your bedroom and let baby remain in the carseat until the first nightwaking.
If he is in a deep sleep (witness the limp-limb sign – hands unclenched, arms dangling loosely at his side, facial muscles still), you may be able to ease him out of the carseat into her own bed.
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