Gallery: Tips to Help You Overcome 6 C...

Nap-time is a Problem

One of the biggest problems with co-sleeping, for my family anyhow, was that my son was so used to sleeping with a parent that he had a hard time sleeping alone, for example at nap-time or when we were away from home. Be aware that this is a natural human response, not just a baby issue. Think about yourself. When you're used to sleeping with a partner, doesn't it sometimes suck when they're gone? Still, there are times your baby will need sleep without you around. It's hit or miss, but following are some tricks that worked for me when my son was a baby...

• Normally I don't advocate playing jokes on babies, but to get my own son to sleep alone, sometimes pretending to sleep worked. I'd lay down with him, close my eyes and then his little eyes would close too. Babies do mimic adults! The only downside of this was that sometimes I'd really fall asleep when I had planned to use nap-time for laundry. That's okay though, new parents need sleep.

• Schedule nap-time right after feeding. Babies often fall asleep naturally during or right after feeding time, so plan naps to correlate.

• Let your baby sleep wherever. My son wasn't good at falling asleep in bed alone, but he would pass out in his baby swing or car seat just fine. On days I couldn't trick my kid into sleep, I'd place him in a safe bouncy seat, car seat or swing and let him sleep there.

• Give your baby something new to love. My son used to play with my hair as he fell asleep. I think the constant rubbing motion soothed him. After we was old enough to sleep with a blanket, he'd rub the corner of the blanket tag instead of my hair, thus soothing himself to sleep. Finding the right baby lovie can help your child fall asleep alone.

• If you're not against them, a pacifier can help your baby to fall asleep without you there.

• We always slept with music on when my son was little. In this way, I think he associated both us, his parents, and music with sleep-time. Luckily this meant that once in a while a record was enough to get him to sleep, even without a parent in the room.

What co-sleeping hurdles have you run into and how did you solve them. Share in the comments.

Lead Image © Flickr User karindalziel