From family bed to crib

chelsearuthe · March 2012

I never planned to co-sleep. My son (now 6 months old) slept in a cradle beside our bed mostly, and I'd slide him into our bed to nurse, then slide him back. As he got bigger and could roll over, I was no longer afraid of him getting swallowed in our pillow-top mattress so I'd slide him into our bed, but never slide him back.
Eventually, we ended up intentionally co-sleeping, after trying different things (him in the crib, me on a mattress on the floor; him in the crib until first night waking, then to our bed, etc).
To me, having him in bed with me is the easiest solution, and the one that gets me the most sleep. DH is not happy about it though, and thinking ahead, I imagine it's easier to get him to sleep in his crib now then when he is a toddler. He's nursing less at night now (sometimes not at all), but when I try keeping him in the crib, he wakes every 1 -2 hours (this was from about 8pm to 12am before I'd go to bed and take him with me).
Looking for a gentle way to transition him to his crib...

kellydw · March 2012

I am in the same boat as you, actual sleeping isn't the problem it is where she is sleeping. I do think she would sleep better in her own space but getting her there is the problem.

chelsearuthe · March 2012

bump

LaComtesse · March 2012

We're very much in the same boat. Our son is also 6 months and we are also unintentional co-sleepers. (I'm happy to have been "wrong" on co-sleeping--it's been a lifesaver.) I have recently come to the conclusion that, in our case, he's very much ready now to sleep on his own (indeed, he seems to get a better night's sleep these days when he's in his crib): having him in bed is just more convenient for me for breastfeeding. So as we're transitioning I'm taking my cues from him. Last night we put him in his crib (as usual) and at his first wake up (2:50), rather than bring him in bed, nurse him, and have him fall right back asleep, I nursed him in his room and put him back in his crib. No problems. When he woke up again (5:45) I nursed him, tried to put him back in his crib... and he just didn't want to be there, so I brought him into bed. So for us, I'm letting him show me how the transition needs to happen and just moving from there.

Obviously this may not be your situation and may not be what's right for you guys, but just letting you know what we're doing in case that helps! Good luck!

chelsearuthe · March 2012

Thanks, I'll give that a try. :-)

EmilyStL · March 2012

My DD is 13 months now. She started off in a co-sleeper but, like you, once I felt safe having her in our actual bed, that's where she stayed. Around 8 or so months, she began refusing to sleep in her crib altogether. When she was around 11 months, I really started to think that she would sleep better if she had her own space; my husband and I were ready for her to be out of our bed, too. Our solution ended up being to take the crib out of her room and put a full size mattress on the floor instead. That way I can still nurse her down comfortably, and co-sleep if I so choose. We did this transition about 2 weeks ago, and it's working great overall. She still has a wakeup on most nights, but twice she slept 10hrs straight, and once 11hrs, which is unprecedented for her. I actually really miss having her in our room, but it was the right move--she's sleeping better, and we finally have a little privacy again. Good luck, I know what a stressful transition this can be. It really helped for me to go with my gut instinct about what was right for her.

chelsearuthe · March 2012

That's a great idea and I've read about others doing a floor bed. That really is the problem - if I could fit in his crib and snuggle/nurse him until he sleeps, I think he would do great. It's the transfer from rocking chair to crib that ruins the milk-drunkenness. Big bed on the floor would be the logical solution, but we don't have an extra mattress (only twin, which won't work). :-(

AprilDrew04 · March 2012

I used one of those back sleepers with the two bumpers, or two rolled up blankets on either side of DD. The back sleeper things have been recalled, so use your own discretion. This helped her to still feel snuggled, she didn't like the crib otherwise. After a few weeks with her "bumpers" she got used to sleeping alone in her crib. Within a few months she preferred sleeping by herself,

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