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May 2011 Moms
tokenhoser
member
Anyone successfully transitioned to the crib?
tokenhoser
member
I'm starting to wish Owen would just sleep in his crib. Co-sleeping was fine when he was sleeping, but now he spends more time wiggling and kicking in addition to his grunting, and it's no longer winning me more sleep. He sleeps well with me, and he sleeps well in his vibrating bouncy chair. He does not sleep well in his crib.
So far what we've done:
-all naps when we're home are now in his room, with the blind drawn and the white noise cranked
-when I'm feeling brave, I attempt nap time in the crib. It seems to work if he takes a soother (he never takes one in his chair or in bed) and I swaddle just his arms. I usually put him so his feet touch the edge of the crib, as he seems to like that. Unfortunately, he usually wakes up the instant his soother falls out.
- night time I'm still doing whatever works, as he seems to have a harder time falling asleep as it gets later in the day.
Anyone got any tips or secrets? It still feels too early to let him cry, so I usually go in and pick him up if I hear him getting worked up. I'll let him fuss or whimper a bit, but I know once he gets MAD, he can't calm himself down.
Oh, and please, if your dear little angel has slept 10 hours a night for the past week in the crib and you didn't do anything... I don't want to hear about it. Go pat yourself on the back in private.
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Re: Anyone successfully transitioned to the crib?
I'm by no means experienced with getting a babe into a crib as DD#1 never slept in one, but here's what we tried, and we'll try again with this one.
We side-cared (sp?) our crib and I held my hand on her as she slept. I would also nurse her back to sleep before she woke completely by lying half way in the crib as to not move/wake her.
It didn't work well for us because until 9 months she never slept for more than 5-10 minutes if she wasn't in my arms. It could work with a more easy going babe, and so we will try it again this time.
ETA: so the point of this plan is to bet babe comfortable in the crib in my room and then move it back to the babe's room.
I started putting my little boy in his crib about a week ago and so far so good. In the beginning I was letting him fall asleep in my arms and then would put him in the crib, the only problem was within a couple minutes he would wake up, so I experimented and put the boppy pillow in the crib and place him on/in the pillow. He seemed to do better with that since it felt like he was still being held. It seemed to help him get used to the space (crib) now I dont use the boppy at all. He's gotten used to his bed and now I am able to put him down semi-awake. (Different story for naps during the day but we're working on it)
I also found that he has a "sweet spot" meaning that if I put him to bed between 8pm and 9pm, he goes down much easier than if were to put him down at 10pm. We have also started a bedtime routine (bath, feed, bed) Although the other night he got hungry before his bath and didnt end up falling asleep til 1030pm... I wont do that again. So if it means I have to bump his bath sooner then so be it. Last night we had to bathe him earlier and he was in bed sleeping by 830pm. Bonus! he is by no means STTN or even close, I still wake up to feed him 2 sometimes 3 times during the night.
And to add, I also found that the musical mobile does not work for us, it keeps him awake longer.
HTH
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We are in the process of trying to transition DD to her crib by the time I go back to work in 5 weeks. Currently, she sleeps in a PnP in our room.
Right now, all naps during the day are in her crib. At first, she'd wake up within a few minutes and we'd let her stay in the crib until she'd start a full-on cry. If she was wimpering, I'd give her a soothie and walk away. It's taken about 2 weeks and finally, this past weekend, she took a 2-hr nap in her crib!! DH and I were thrilled and totally loved the "us" time.
Hang in there and hopefully our LO's will transition soon! DD thrashes about and makes a lot of noise sleeping. She keeps us awake so we are ready to have our room to ourselves again.
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DD actually likes her crib and does her best sleep in there. I really don't think it has anything to do with what I did, but just her nature.
Still here is what we do:
I swaddle her arms tight! I have two other blankets rolled up like logs. When I lay her down I lean one shoulder blade against one blanket, and then I tuck the other one around her belly/knees. I think it makes her feel more secure. She's not really on her side, but not flat on her back either. (DH will accidently but her too much on her side and she's ended up on her belly, swaddled, and then I freak out!!)
If she's on her belly I cradle her head as I lay her down(has to be alseep to be laid down on her belly) and then I cover her up to her armpits with a blanket.
I put Emma in her crib starting a couple weeks ago. Oddly enough, I still don't put her in there for daytime naps, she sleeps in her swing or PnP downstairs. Maybe its helped her differentiate between night and day? No idea.
Anywho - first off, definately make the transition. I get much better sleep than when she was sleeping in the bouncy seat in our room, because she sleeps so loudly and I like the TV while I sleep which I think distracted her.
To put her down I always do bath, feed, story. She dozes off during story time. I swaddle her tightly as all heck in a swaddleme, wrap a receiving blanket around that, and put her head in one of those head positioner things that are meant for the car seat. You know, shaped like a U. Im sure the SIDS police want to arrest me, but it keeps her head upright, so I can put the paci in her mouth and she doesn't immediately drop it.
I have a video monitor, that i love more than anything, and she fusses for a bit at first but never a full out cry, and eventually she goes to sleep. Usually takes about 15 minutes. I keep an eye on the monitor to make sure she isn't thrashing or getting too upset. At that point, she usually sleeps a solid 4 hours. Its dark and quiet. When she gets up in the night (usually twice), we eat, change and go right back in the crib. She's still awake, but she's learned to fall asleep herself in about 15 minutes.
I think part of it was luck that she has taken to her crib, but getting her all nice and sleepy first and sticking to it I think is the biggest thing. Like I said, its been awesome since we put her in there!
We started having her sleep in her crib about 2 weeks ago. Most successful when she's already ready to pass out...not much success when she's still awake.
For us, swaddling helps a lot. She also is the type that really likes to be held...so I try to trick her by placing her in the crib and putting my hand on her chest for a little while until she's completely asleep (or close to it). Other times I put my hands on the sides of her, like I am the wedge.
Finally, we throw on some white noise through the giraffe thing.
~*~*May 2013 Moms Website*~*~
DD is in a bassinet in our bedroom until we move next month, but it took a lot of work to get her to sleep there rather than with/on me. We started doing a bedtime routine and putting her to sleep no later than 8 P.M., before she gets exhausted and can't soothe herself. Here's what our routine looks like:
7:15 P.M. - infant massage, change diaper, change to pajamas, swaddle (all done in a dark room with little interaction)
7:30 P.M. - nurse and rock, burp on shoulder (she usually sleeps through this)
7:55 P.M. - move her to her bassinet, usually already asleep
Lately, when she wakes up (right after being put down), she'll usually take a pacifier and fall back asleep without me having to pick her up. And occasionally I can put her down "drowsy but awake" and she'll fall asleep on her own (especially with a pacifier).
I'm not sure if you're already doing a routine, or if this will help you at all, but it worked for us! I think that putting her to bed early has been really key.
ETA: White noise really helps as well.
BFP #1 9/7/10, EDD 5/14/11, Violet born 5/27/11.
BFP #2 4/9/12, EDD 12/16/12, M/C Rory 4/24/12.
BFP #3 10/6/12, EDD 6/16/12., Matilda born 6/17/13.
Same exact situation here. DH thinks it might be time to try letting her cry (all of his friends at work who are parents tell him it's time for that), but I just can't bear it yet. So I continue to sleep with her on my chest on the couch.
She is getting better during the day - she'll doze off in her bouncy or on the boppy (I am always right by her when she sleeps there), but that's it. She will sleep nowhere else. I try putting her down in her bassinet when she's drowsy, when she's just dozed off, and when she's in a deep sleep. It doesn't seem to matter - none of it works. Each time we're lucky to get 10 minutes before she cries.
Early on when she had these issues, everyone said she would grow out of it in a few weeks. Well... I feel like those few weeks have come and gone!
So...sorry, I don't have advice, but I feel your pain and hope someone else DOES have advice!
Good luck!!
D sleeps in his crib for most of the night. I think I sleep better with him there. I bring him into my bed around 6 am or so until I feel like getting out of bed.
I don't feel like I am qualified to answer this because I don't have any tricks. My biggest success was figuring out what was actual crying and what was just sleep noises. I was waking him up by responding to every sound he was making. I put him in his crib when he's already sleeping and I only go back in the room if he's actually crying. If he's just whimpering he will usually just fall back asleep.
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I told your kind to stay out of this post.
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Well in my defense I never said that he sleeps 10 hours straight.
Plus I think I did give suggestions. Put him in sleeping and don't go in for every little sound, just actual crying. Which you said you do (reading comprehension fail)... I am no help.
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It sucks, but I stand in her room for about 10-15 minutes after I put her down to pop the paci back into her mouth to keep her from getting mad. She also usually wakes up when it falls out. I try to do it right away. If I don't feel like standing there I take the video monitor and try to run back to her room while she's just kicking before she starts fussing and crying. I definitely think they are too young to cry themselves to sleep right now!
The good news is, in the past week, she has started wanting the paci less and less & will go to sleep without it about half the time so maybe we won't have to stand at the crib forever.
I also try to put her in there at just the right time. If she's too awake she gets fired up and starts crying, if she's fully asleep she wakes up the second I let go of her and we have to start all over. It's a fine balance and I don't always hit it. If she kicks around when I put her down, I put a hand on her tummy and slowly kind of rock her and "ssshhhh" and she'll usually quiet down and fall asleep within a minute or so.
Good luck.
I do this too if he doesn't stay sleeping when I put him down. Sometimes I pick him back up and rock him with the pacifier in his mouth until he dozes off again and I try putting him back down. If he still wakes back up, rinse and repeat.
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Yep, me too. I am finally learning that magic second when I can put her down and she will fall right asleep. I hit it about half the time, hopefully I'll get better at it! The paci watch during the night time feeding is exhausting and seems to take forever.
Lol! I totally feel you on this. DD is finally sleeping in her crib after co-sleeping. She's only sleeping from 9-1, 1:30-4, and 4:30-6 or so, but at least it's in her crib
I am only putting her down fully asleep, swaddled, with white noise. I'm hoping the first stretch of sleep will eventually be longer. I also think the drowsy but awake doesn't happen until 4 months or so.
I feel like I could have written most of this. We are having some serious trouble trying to get him to take naps in his crib that I haven't even thought about trying to get him to sleep in it at night. But he sleeps great right near me. I guess I will take some of these suggestions from everyone and see how he does in his crib at night. I was going to wait a little longer but it sounds like something I shouldn't wait on anymore. Bummer - because I actually really like sleeping with the little guy.
If you're happy, go on being happy. I'm starting the crib because it's what I need to get more sleep. I started bedsharing because it's what I needed to get more sleep. I think you should do what YOU are comfortable with that makes your family the happiest.
He's had most of his naps today in his crib, but they've all been shorter than they should be. I haven't quite decided what we'll do tonight... probably whatever makes him sleep so I can sleep.
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DS slept in his PnP for the first 2 1/2 weeks in the living room and i slept on the couch (this was due to my c-section). We have a high bed and i couldn't get in and out of it.
We then put him in his crib and i slept on an air mattress on the floor next to the crib. He seemed to like me to be near him as he slept. I did that for about 3-4 days. Once he fell asleep i would leave his room and go back to my room. As the time past, I then put a body pillow on the air mattress with a blanket over it. It took about a week to get him used to being alone!
We don't really have a routine established yet but we do try to feed him his last bottle between 8:00 & 9:00. We then change his diaper, swaddle him, rock him and put him in his crib. Usually around 10:00 oe 10:30. We have a cool mist humidifer and we keep his room cool and a night light. He seems t0 be used to this and so far, so good!
I would do what makes us happy, but listening to what everyone is saying about how hard the transition can be makes me think that we should start transitioning him sooner than later just in case. I don't want to try and deal with lack of sleep while going back to work so it might be a better idea to start now. We did try last night, and it went well. He slept for about 4.5 hours then we brought him back into our room for the rest of the night. I am glad we tried it and am hoping tonight goes just as well.