DS will ONLY sleep in the swing-STILL!

cs1007 · December 2012

Ds is 7 months an will not sleep anywhere but the swing. Problem is, the swing won't swing anymore because he is so big (19lbs). I have tried the crib, pack and play, my bed, different sleep positions-he will NOT sleep anywhere else-WDYD???Help!

unaveragejane · December 2012

Go buy SleepEasy, a video monitor, and a big bottle of wine (or the guilty pleasure of your choice). I think that sleep training is in your near future. It may be a tough few days, but he will learn to sleep in his crib and you will both feel better for it! Plus it will be a lot safer to have him in his crib. As he gets more mobile, the swing will become a fall hazard.

Also, something that helped DS learn to sleep on his own was introducing a lovey. I found one that I felt was not going to be a suffocation risk. (Even wadded as tightly as I could get it and stuffed over my mouth and nose, I could still breathe easily.) As long as he can chew on it or cuddle it to his head, his fussing doesn't last nearly as long. It made it possible for me to finally stop replacing the paci in the middle of the night.

martacaroline · December 2012

I agree with the previous poster!! I did sleep training on my swing lover 3 months ago and within 34 days, he was falling asleep in the crib within a few minutes of being put down completely awake.
He has loud white noise, an Adan and Anais Lovie and paci in the crib. The last few days, he hasn't wanted paci as he sucks on and cuddles lovie and it's 100 breathable. They definitely need something to help soothe them since the swinging motion does that for them.

Cheerio B · December 2012

When DD was in the infant room, another little girl a few months older wouldn't nap anywhere other than the swing either. Any and all attempts to get her to nap in the crib were awful. She didn't leave the infant room until she was 13+ months old and up until the day she left, she napped in the swing. Her teacher would say, "Nap time. Get in your swing" and she'd toddle over and wait to be put in. She did finally make the transition but I guess I'm saying, you're not alone and eventually he will grow out of it.

E3A7AGGIE · December 2012

I agree with the others. We had to sleep train Graham to not sleep in the nap-nanny because he was out-growing it and becoming mobile. Surprisingly, it didn't take TOO terribly long. I forget now, but it was a few days. I HATE letting him cry, but there's really no other choice in my instance. It was either him crying, or him sleeping in the nap nanny forever (which isn't an option obviously). He never cried for more than hour, and that was only twice. We started during the day for naps. The first few naps were the times he cried for an hour. I would go in, tell him he's okay, and i loved him, and walk back out. He had a white noise machine on, a puppy lovey blankey, a stuff monkey, and paci in his bed. He actually NEVER took the paci before, but when he was in there, he'd find it and use it. Normally it'd only last 3-5 minutes, but I felt like he was testing to see what helped sooth him.

Now, weeks later, he still sleeps with all of that, but he definitely LOVES his puppy blankey lovey. It's a small 10x10 blanket with a puppy head on it. He nuzzles his face into it, but then kind of pushes it away when he falls asleep. Also, now that he rolls both ways, he is a side or tummy sleeper. I think being able to 'choose' his sleep position has helped a lot. When we started sleep training, he couldn't roll back to stomach yet, and I think he hates being flat on his back; so it made falling to sleep a little difficult I think.

I once read a good way to start introducing a lovey is to incorporate it everywhere he may fall asleep. When you're rocking him, when he's in his swing, etc. Maybe even during nursing/bottle feeding. He will then maybe see it more as a comfort thing.

The sooner you start sleep training, the better. Once he can start pulling himself up, he will do this in the crib when you put him in there, which will pro-long the process of trying to put himself to sleep. ((THats my opinion, anyways)).

Good luck!!!!!!!!

addam&tara · December 2012

Our LO slept in her swing until she was 9 months old. Ours stopped swinging at 6 months. She just recently stopped sleeping well in it. You could tell she wanted more room.

We transitioned to her crib on her 9 month birthday. You'll know when LO is ready for the crib!

We did Ferber/CIO. It worked well for us. Some nights she still wakes up around 3am to eat and we feed her, but for the most part she sleeps through the night.

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DS will ONLY sleep in the swing-STILL!

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