One of the hardest tasks in the first year of a baby's life is getting him to sleep through the night. When my husband and I brought our daughter, Cassi, home from the hospital, we expected sleepless nights. Well, we lucked out. All she seemed to want to do was sleep. In fact, I couldn't keep her awake long enough to finish nursing her. But I 'm sure you don't want to hear about how lucky we were. Cassi slept on my chest every night for the first month. I wouldn't have had it any other way. She was part of me for 9 months and I was not about to tell her to go sleep by herself.

The tough part was when it was time to move her to her own bed. As she became more comfortable with her new home and surroundings we tried to get her to sleep in her crib. Well, she didn't want anything to do with that! She was hurt. She felt abandoned. For all she knew, we had just fallen off the earth. Babies do not understand that the world is a big place. When Mommy and Daddy are not in sight, they do not realize that they are coming right back. It took a couple of days for her to accept this new arrangement. During that time, Scott and I read everything we could about getting a baby to sleep on her own. Here's what we found:

Give your baby a routine. Babies learn best though routine. Every night, right before bed, we would conduct this little "going to bed" ritual. Scott gave Cassi a bath, I dressed her in jammies, we read her a story, and then I nursed her until she went to sleep. I would then place her in the crib. At first she cried, so I continued nursing her until she was better and tried to put her down again. As the months went by, I would end the nursing earlier and earlier until she was comfortable being put in her crib, even before she was completely asleep. Cassi is now almost 1 year old. We continue this ritual every night, except she now tells me when she's ready to be put down.

Put your baby to sleep in the same place every time. This one is difficult for women who work and put their babies in daycare. It is best to have your baby go to sleep in the same place – even for naps. This way when he is put down in his crib or bassinet he will understand that it it time to go to sleep. If he is sleeping in a variety of different places, he could get confused.

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