Crib Transition...so hard!

alliecat1234 · October 2012

This is mostly a vent, but if anyone has any advice, I'm all ears.

Our baby has been taking naps in his swing from the beginning. He just loved the motion and would give us such good naps (2-3 hours/nap). Now his 4 months old and 18 pounds and is clearly about to outgrow the swing. I also used a swaddle strap for his arms, and the last week he has been fighting the swaddle and being strapped into the swing.

At night he starts the night in his swing and I get about 3-5 hours from him. At his first wake up he comes into bed with me. Lately his flailing around in the bed has been waking me up, and then I move and it wakes him up. We go through this cycle pretty much the rest of the night. I also get pain behind my pubic bone when I side-lie to nurse (which is something I need to have looked at, but haven't had any time). I feel like a total zombie these days and am going back to work in a few months and can't even imagine.

Needless to say, I feel like all signs are pointing to crib right now. We can't swaddle him in the crib because he can roll over. When we put him in the crib in just a onesie or a sleep sack, he rolls over on his belly and then screams. I've been using the Magic Sleepsuit the past two days but he seems to hate that, too, but will eventually go to sleep.

We've only been at it for 2 days but it's been so hard for me. He cries and cries and I hate it. I don't leave him in there to cry alone but I still feel like an awful parent trying to comfort him while he wails. I realize he is just protesting change and will get used to it eventually, but it's still really hard for me.

Anyone have any success with transitioning from their bed and/or swing into a crib? Any advice? Like I said, I know it's a lot of transition for him, but I feel like it's better to do it now than wait until I am actually back at work. At least now I can be a zombie at home rather than at work.

JoJoH23 · October 2012

No advice, as I am in the same boat! We are having trouble transitioning from RnP to crib or PnP. My son begins the night in his RnP and sleeps a good stretch there too, he loves it. Then once he wakes he comes to bed with me as well. Except all of sudden now it's like he is so restless in bed next to me! He can't sleep, wiggles, kicks his legs, grunts and flails around like he can't get comfortable. I know this means he's needing his own space, but every time I try to get him down in the PnP he protests like we are torturing him by making him sleep there. It's so hard, and like you, I really can't bear to hear him crying and mad at me. Part of me just wants to let him sleep where he is most comfortable (in his RnP) but he's getting too big for it and I want him to be comfy in his own space. I'm thinking the next step for us is to side-car the crib. Have you tried that? Hope things get better for you!

alliecat1234 · October 2012

Glad to hear I'm not alone. We have not tried side-caring the crib - we are trying to get him to sleep in the crib in his room right now. I guess if that fails we may try our room. Good luck to you!

alimaried · October 2012

Sorry, no personal experience here because we haven't done the transition to the crib yet...we're at 6 weeks and starting with bottles which has been interesting. I did read in a WonderWeeks blog about the '4th month sleep regression' that sometimes happens with babes. Maybe that's where the extra restlessness in LO is coming from? Bummer that it's hitting right around when the swing isnt an option ;( Good Luck to you!

alliecat1234 · October 2012

Well just an update. Baby W had his 4 month shots yesterday, so I thought the crib would be even more awful. I tried to put him in his swing last night for bed but he really resisted and I could not even get him strapped in. So it was back to the crib. He was not happy but eventually went to sleep after about 15 minutes of crying/screaming (with me in there trying to comfort him). I've been reading different books and decided to be consistent all night long and put him back in the crib after every wake up. He woke up 4 times and I nursed him and he went right back down and spent the WHOLE night in his crib. Wow. He also slept in until 6:45 a.m., which is late for him these days. I think it's because he's not next to me and I'm not waking him up. I watched him on the video monitor this morning and he laid in his crib awake for about 15 minutes just playing with his hands and looking around before summoning me.

He also took an hour and twenty minute nap in there this morning with minimal fussing and is back in there now for his afternoon nap.

So I guess the point of this is...it is possible! I think I get panicked/frustrated too quickly with him. Of course he's going to protest the crib, and of course it's going to take time for him to adjust. But I think the consistency is important - keep putting him back in there. I think I was sending mixed signals by taking him out in the middle of the night and bringing him back to my bed.

We are about to go out of town for 5 days, so I am expecting the worst. Maybe he will surprise us

CasIgg0506 · October 2012

When we first brought our LO home, she was split evenly between sleeping in the swing and in her crib (although she slept better in the swing). I read somewhere that if you start to be consistent early, they will finally get it. I started putting her back in her crib after every middle-of-the-night feeding and now at 4-m/o, she doesn't sleep anywhere else at night. It was hard though, she was super fussy and didn't like her crib at first. Sounds like you are on the right track now if he's starting to sleep longer in the crib :-)

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