Transition to crib for a tantrum-throwing toddler

iris2717 · September 2013

Long story short, my husband travels a lot for work and a few months ago, my 18mo was sick/Dad was away so I put him in bed with me & he's been there ever since.

DH has put his foot down & says our son needs to be put back in his crib. We tried this once a couple weeks ago & it was a nightmare but I know this is something that I gotta do. I am not into crying it out, but any other advice on how to get my toddler to sleep in his crib again? Thx!

zbeesma86 · September 2013

rock LO to sleep then lay him down?

I did this with DD when transitioning from her bassinet to her crib. Now I will rock her for 10 mins then lay her down. She falls asleep on her own just fine.

stgn01 · September 2013

I know you're not into CIO but at this point in the game, I think your DS will probably cry. He's old enough to know what he wants and know that he's not getting it. I agree with what pp said about you being in the room with him. Would that help you, at least?

It's a really hard position to be and and I wish you a ton of luck!

PseudoMama · September 2013

When DS is having a rough night (sick, tooth), we bring him into bed with us. It's an easy habit to get into but not as easy to break. I think you just need to pick a day where you don't have to be up early, and put him back in his crib.

You could add a favorite stuffed animal, play some lullaby's, and tell him it's "baby's name" bed" and act excited about it. At 18 months he'll probably grasp the concept if you point to your bed and say "Mommy's bed" and then go to his crib and say "your bed", and maybe repeat this demonstration a couple of times.

I kiss DS goodnight and then I give his stuffed animal a kiss, which he thinks is hilarious. So, add some humor, keep it light and exciting and try not to make it a big deal.

If he cries, give him one minute then go check on him, console him, give him a quick hug and then leave again. Then wait 2 minutes. Go back in, repeat. Then wait 3 minutes, etc. This reassures him you will come back for him but he might just decide to go to sleep after one or two times of this.

For his sake, be consistent or he'll be confused.

singingirl96 · September 2013

CIO. you'll eventually give in to do it anyway... it is amazing how well it works...

vrj0522 · September 2013

Sadly, I think that at his age, there is very little you can do other than CIO. I know that if it was my son and I was in the room with him, he would never go to sleep as long as I was in there. Sometimes my son cries for 30 seconds to a minute when we put him to bed and then he goes right down. I know it's a bit different for your son since his routine is changing and he is not okay with it but I agree with PP that maybe leaving him in there and checking on him at longer and longer intervals could help.

bullybutt · September 2013

If you husband is adamant about it, have him put him to sleep. See how that goes. Do you have another bed or mattress on the floor that you can put LO to sleep in (with you next to him) and then transistion him into his crib (or let sleep on the floor mattress)?

JayandEmm · September 2013

Keep in my mind, I did this when ds was 10 months old, so not a toddler. We did sleep lady shuffle and it worked amazing. He cried for about 20 minutes off and on the first night with my laying on a mattress next to his bed, then over the course of about a week and a half, I moved closer to the door and eventually out of the room. When he woke up, I got into the same spot. The first night was the roughest, but it got easier.

We couldn't do CIO. Ds is/was persistent and would puke.

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