Going from Co-sleeping to crib to help with sleep?

littledaisies · March 2014

Hey I'm a lurker on here but I was wondering if I could get any advice on sleeping. I know this is such a common problem so I apologize for a repeat post.

My 10 month old has never been a great sleeper. In order for everyone to get more sleep, we have been co-sleeping. That worked for awhile but it doesn't seem to be anymore. He wakes now every time one of us moves in bed or if he moves in bed. Sometimes he would grab my hand at night to comfort himself but that doesn't work anymore. It seems like he's getting very restless in our bed and it's causing frequent wakeups (1-2 hours). The only way to get him back to sleep is nursing. He's nursing so much now that he's leaking through his diaper at night. I've tried different diapers but we still end up with that problem. Changing him in the middle of the night makes him so upset that it wakes him up more.

As much as I love co-sleeping I'm starting to think the arrangement isn't helping. The lack of sleep is really starting to disrupt our entire household. My work is suffering because of it.

Has anyone else been in the same situation? Any tips on making the change? I'm thinking of placing a mattress in his room and sleeping in there until he get used to being in there all night and minimize the night feedings. He starts off his night in his crib and comes into our bed at 11pm so it's not a completely foreign place to him.

Aisak · March 2014

No advice, but I'm curious to see the responses. We are in a similar situation, except DD 10 months won't sleep in the crib at all. I like co-sleeping but it would be nice to have her sleep in her own space some of the time.

CageyMack · March 2014

Moving to his own bed was the only thing that helped our baby. Its hard to think that what is best is not with us, but when he is with us he is all over the place, hitting us in the face with his head, kicking us, falling off the bed. I often end up holding on to his ankle as he squirms and whimpers. No amount of cuddling will help; it just makes him mad.

When we finally decided that him in his crib was the best idea, we did have to do some crying time. I, personally, don't think that attachment parenting is opposed to some crying, but everyone has different views on this.

We have a good bed routine (eat, bath, new diaper, jammies, bottle, singing) and then PLOP, in he goes and he is out. We have watched him on the monitor and he really is everywhere--legs through the bars, pushing his head into the bars, rolling like crazy.

It made a big difference for us. It is a work in progress, and we go to more "scoop him into bed with us" when he is sick, or we are, but overall putting him in his crib helped.

I am unable to nurse, so we didn't have the night nursing issue, but I'd imagine that will take some effort to break, but you may be surprised that she sleeps longer (and therefore nurses less) once she is in her own space.

Good luck! Sleep is a precious thing.

Emeraldeyed315 · March 2014

CageyMack said:

Moving to his own bed was the only thing that helped our baby. Its hard to think that what is best is not with us, but when he is with us he is all over the place, hitting us in the face with his head, kicking us, falling off the bed. I often end up holding on to his ankle as he squirms and whimpers. No amount of cuddling will help; it just makes him mad.

When we finally decided that him in his crib was the best idea, we did have to do some crying time. I, personally, don't think that attachment parenting is opposed to some crying, but everyone has different views on this.

We have a good bed routine (eat, bath, new diaper, jammies, bottle, singing) and then PLOP, in he goes and he is out. We have watched him on the monitor and he really is everywhere--legs through the bars, pushing his head into the bars, rolling like crazy.

It made a big difference for us. It is a work in progress, and we go to more "scoop him into bed with us" when he is sick, or we are, but overall putting him in his crib helped.

I am unable to nurse, so we didn't have the night nursing issue, but I'd imagine that will take some effort to break, but you may be surprised that she sleeps longer (and therefore nurses less) once she is in her own space.

Good luck! Sleep is a precious thing.

When you say some crying what do you mean? We have been trying this and stay in her room patting her back and sushing, etc...but she gets SO upset so we end up picking her back up.

opheliainwaders · March 2014

Emeraldeyed315 said:

CageyMack said:

Moving to his own bed was the only thing that helped our baby. Its hard to think that what is best is not with us, but when he is with us he is all over the place, hitting us in the face with his head, kicking us, falling off the bed. I often end up holding on to his ankle as he squirms and whimpers. No amount of cuddling will help; it just makes him mad.

When we finally decided that him in his crib was the best idea, we did have to do some crying time. I, personally, don't think that attachment parenting is opposed to some crying, but everyone has different views on this.

We have a good bed routine (eat, bath, new diaper, jammies, bottle, singing) and then PLOP, in he goes and he is out. We have watched him on the monitor and he really is everywhere--legs through the bars, pushing his head into the bars, rolling like crazy.

It made a big difference for us. It is a work in progress, and we go to more "scoop him into bed with us" when he is sick, or we are, but overall putting him in his crib helped.

I am unable to nurse, so we didn't have the night nursing issue, but I'd imagine that will take some effort to break, but you may be surprised that she sleeps longer (and therefore nurses less) once she is in her own space.

Good luck! Sleep is a precious thing.

When you say some crying what do you mean? We have been trying this and stay in her room patting her back and sushing, etc...but she gets SO upset so we end up picking her back up.

Not sure about PP, but for us it means that she's asleep in her crib, and she does make a little noise periodically - generally, she'll wake up halfway a few times in the night, at which point, she whimpers and makes little "meep" noises - but if I peek in to check on her, her eyes are closed. This usually lasts 3-5 minutes, and then she goes back to sleep. I'm trying to get better at not immediately getting up, because I think I was actually waking her up when I would check on her.

When she is actually hungry, the meeping escalates much more quickly into a cry, at which point I go in and nurse her, and she goes back to sleep in her crib.

We've used NCSS techniques, and she now falls asleep on her own in the crib at bedtime, but she does *not* do that the rest of the night - she nurses back to sleep pretty exclusively. We average 2-3 wakeups at this point, though the 3rd one is thanks to Daylight Saving Time (womp).

=Lee=B · March 2014

My daughter's sleep greatly improved when we recently had her spend the whole night in the crib, rather then spending much of it in bed with me.

There are some tears but we are able to calm her quickly and keep her in the crib. She will wake, cry then flop down and pass out. She doesn't sit and cry herself to sleep more that she wakes, tired or squashed in corner etc., and readjusts herself while half asleep.

It is very easy to tell the cries apart. she lets us know if we need to come in and help her.

=Lee=B · March 2014

Sorry posted too soon. She went from waking every 2hrs to now doing 4-5hr stretches. She only nurses before bed and usually once before morning now. Versus the every 2hrs she did while bedsharing. Some nights I nurse more, she lets us know if she needs to nurse and I don't prevent her from nursing.

WanderingA · March 2014

I'm following this post also. My 8-month old started in a co-sleeper but has recently been spending pretty much all night in bed with us. I was having a horrible time sleeping because she would constantly kick my belly or my thighs. The past 2 nights I have been making more of an effort to put her back into her co-sleeper after she nurses (I was often falling asleep) and also making sure that she nurses on both sides so that she is up less often. She has gone from waking up 5+ times a night to only 3 (2:00, 5:00 and 7:00 - sleeping until 9:00). If I can keep up with this routine I think I will be transitioning her to her crib this weekend.

TxKelle · May 2014

Following. We have bed co-sleeping since day 1 and now at 6 months old are trying to transition to his crib. It's going over like a pregnant pole vaulter.

flcl · May 2014

@littledaisies: thanks for posting this. My LO is still really young but the info from other moms and dads will be helpful as DH and I try to figure out what we want to do with our sleeping situation. Sorry I don't have any advice for you... just wanted to thank you.

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