Rough time transitioning to crib- help!

Kimosabie

So I am having one heck of a time transitioning DS (6 months) to his crib from the rock n play.  He's always been a tougher baby, he's always needed to be rocked/bounced to sleep, even as an infant.  He was very colicky/had reflux so he spent a lot of time in our arms.  We can get him asleep in our arms no problem, but as soon as I start lowering him into the crib, his eyes shoot open.  I've tried laying him down and shushing him and walking out but the second he's on the mattress, he rolls over to his stomach and starts crying.  He can't always get back to his back, so I think that's part of the problem, he can't fully roll yet. He doesn't' take a paci.  I put his lovie in with him.
 How did you guys make your transition easier?  I was thinking of getting one of those sound machines that projects images on the ceiling, but wasn't sure it that would be too stimulating.  I was hoping it would help soothe/relax him.  Any thoughts/tips? Thank you!! 

TwizBeans

Both of my kids have always had white noise in their rooms. Sound machine for DD, fan for DS.

The transition was somewhat "easy" for my kids because I put them in their cribs when they were still swaddled. I was able to roll up blankets and put them under the sheet so they felt more snuggled but for you, you sort of just have to go for it. Put him in his bed and if he rolls to his stomach and starts crying, rub his back, shush him and walk out. Give him a few minutes to calm down then go back in if you need to. Right now might be the time to start a little sleep training. Whatever you do, stay consistent.

irohspupil

One trick that helped our transition was wrapping her in a thin, breathable blanket while I holding her. That way she still felt that warmth once I put her down, and the cold mattress wouldn't startle her. Good luck, Mama. It took me two weeks of sleeping in her room, then a few more weeks of going into her room several times a night.

christina4436

Yes we had a couple weeks on and off of this. We started the white noise machine not sure if it helps or not but she's been better and sleeping through night since around 5 months. She's been in crib for a few weeks, we also use the nightlight that projected shapes but I keep it on the red light at night instead of changing as that color helps with sleepiness. Blue is not good at night and disrupts sleep. I try to do one nap a day in crib now for her to get used to it. Sometimes it doesn't work. I usually feed her then sit in chair for a few minutes and try to put down when she's very tired. She now sleeps on side and stomach so I put her on her side. Of they can roll on to tummy they are fine to sleep on it FYI doctor told me. If she starts flailing after a couple times I do let her fall asleep in my arms and slowly put into crib. I keep arm around her and underneath her for a few minutes to ease transition. We have even dubbed it the SARM technique. Slow arm removal method haha. She does take a paci but sometimes when it falls out she cries and I have to put back in. Good luck !

alianne84

We used the rock 'n' play as well and it was pretty rough at first. The first thing we did was move the rocker into his room. This was before he could roll so we weren't concerned with him getting out of it. After that we stopped the rocking and just let him sleep in the rocker without it moving. He fussed a little but did sleep. Finally when it was time to move him to crib, we tried doing naps and that was horrible. He would cry and cry and then sleep for maybe 15 min and wake up and not sleep again.

Finally we were at our wits end and just decided to just stick him in the crib permanently. It was a really bad for about 3 nights and then he was fine. He now sleeps in his crib perfectly.

We kinda did an improvisation of the Ferber cry it out method those 3 nights. We would go in and comfort him and then leave, increasing the time between going in.

Oh and our guy doesn't use a pacifier either. We did use the Love to Dream Swaddle which let his arms stay up. That way he could still get his hand in his mouth and self soothe!