Stopping Co Sleeping...

ling79 · August 2009

Any suggestions?

Thanks!!

ncbelle · August 2009

I don't really have a great suggestion since we aren't there yet but what we've started to do is to let him start the night in his co-sleeper - he comes to bed when he wakes up to nurse. Eventually we'll start him out in his crib.

I'm also not quite sure which will/should end first - co-sleeping or night nursing? Right now though I'm just sort of seeing what he does on his own for the next few months.

winterwonderland64 · August 2009

My son and daughter both slept with us till they were a year. After there birthday we brought in there crib and letthem sleep in the same room with us. I think it helped transition them a bit into there own room. By two they were in there own room and had big kid toddler beds. They were excited. They still come in some night at 8 and 5 and sleep on the floor in our room. It always make me smile when I see them there. Hope that helps.

karin&ben · August 2009

For us, we let them go to sleep in our bed and then move them into theirs while they are asleep so they get used to waking up in their own bed. But we use a toddler bed, not a crib so that they can get out on their own if they wake up and want to come into our room. We just keep moving him back. Now he falls asleep wherever and we put him in his bed. Sometimes he even falls asleep in there on his own, because we also do try to say it's bedtime, and he knows it's time for his bed, so he walks in there. We may sometimes hang out in his room/bed until he falls asleep there depending on the vibe we are getting. He is about 20 months old, and we have been doing this since he was 15 months old.

Dobie_Mama · August 2009

No real life suggestions because we're still co-sleeping, but I know The No Cry Sleep Solution has some information on transitioning.

Sally J · August 2009

Here is what we did to transition:

At 8 months old I decided I was ready to transition. I had to want it in order for the transition to happen. We moved the crib into our room added a standard size pillow (he is obsessed with a pillow and became a pillow hog in our bed) and blankets. I slept with one of the blankets to get my scent on it.

We dressed him warmer and added sleep sack since he was used to being cozy warm in our bed. We gave him a crib soother and lovey, plus began playing white noise and kept the lights dim while putting him to bed and used black out curtains to prevent early waking.

We started with naps and after they went well by 9 months old we started a stricter bedtime routine. We implemented a very strict hour long bedtime routine which included play time, bath time, story time, nursing, singing, rocking and into the crib.

After putting him to bed in the crib at 7 pm, I would nurse him back to sleep as many times as he needed before I went to bed at 10 pm. After I went to bed if he woke up to nurse then I would pull him to bed with me. Then when I got up for work I would nurse him and move him back to his crib. This usually meant co-sleeping happened anywhere from 11 pm to 5 am, but most of the time 1-5 am.

At 10 months old he was waking up to nurse every hour and the co-sleeping seemed to be making it worse. I read No Cry Sleep Solution and realized that he had a suck to sleep association. We corrected that using tips in the book (unlatch when sucking slows, relatch if he roots, repeat until he doesn't root). We also had my DH soothe him between 7 pm and 10 pm instead of me nursing him. (I should mention that up to 10 months old he was reverse cycling so he needed to nurse at night...but then stopped reverse cycling and didn't need it as much anymore.)

By 12 months old he was STTN in his own crib from 7 pm until 5 am, nurse once, and go back in his crib. At 14 months old we transitioned the crib into his own room when we moved to a bigger place. He started waking 2x per night at 12 months old due to teething molars and we have just finished up with the teething but now he's in a crazy growth spurt (how on earth can my baby eat so much food?!?!). He usually wakes once or less at night and my DH puts him back to sleep, but he still nurses at 5 am before I get ready for work and goes right back to sleep until 7-8 am.

(My DH is a SAHD so that's why I can just put him back in his crib after nursing at 5 am).

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