Crib transition & daytime naps... Suggestions?

whitney4126 · November 2014

LO is 9.5 weeks and I haven't attempted to put her in her crib yet for sleep. She goes in there sometimes to watch her mobile during the day because it mesmerizes her. Our bedtime routine is totally working for us right now, but I know it won't be forever, and I don't want to wait too long to make changes.

So, every night I usually nurse on and off from 7-9. I have honestly really enjoyed that part of the day, but I know it will be hard to maintain once I return to work in January. Once she falls asleep, one of two things happen. Either I put her to bed in her rock n play, and I sleep in a twin bed right beside her, or my DH allows me to sleep in our bed and he puts her in the swing (turned off) in the living room and sleeps on the couch until she wakes up and he comes and gets me for her MOTN feeding. The last few weeks, we've been getting 1 stretch of 5-7 hours. Then I feed her and she always falls right back to sleep and I put her in her rock n play for the rest of the night.

I haven't attempted the crib because honestly I'm afraid that I'll wake her up putting her in. It just seems like a far drop and I doubt she'll stay asleep. Also I worry that she'll have trouble sleeping without having the "sides" that the rock n play and swing have.

I've read suggestions on here to start putting the baby in the crib during daytime naps. We have a real problem with daytime naps. Basically I can't get LO to sleep during the day without either driving somewhere or wearing her. She will fall asleep in my arms sometimes (usually after a ton of time and work), but almost always wakes immediately when I put her in her rock n play. So basically, I may get 1 nap a week where I'm able to put her down and we aren't in the car, so I haven't really been wiling to jeopardize that by trying to put her in the crib for the first time. LO is only getting about 12-13 hours total a day (and I feel like we work super hard for those). I just talked to the doctor about it this week and he said to just keep trying and as long as she doesn't seem to irritable, it's okay. He didn't really have any suggestions. I've tried everything I know to try - routine, watching sleepy cues, dark room, swaddling, white noise, rocking/bouncing/walking, etc.

Any suggestions for increasing daytime sleeping and/or transitioning her to the crib?

ashaw512 · November 2014

Before I transitioned DD to her crib. I put her in there for playtime, so she would know that "that place" was also hers. Once she was able to be in her crib during the day for several times a day I started letting her nap in her crib. At first it started as like 5 minute naps at a time and eventually got longer it took several weeks for her to take a nap for more than an hour. After that there was no more napping in the bouncer/swing that was playtime only. After she was able to go at least a week with naps over an hour I had he sleeping in there at night. And It started as a five minute nap, I stood there so so so many times rubbing her belly and patting her butt to get her to sleep. It took a while for that too bc she needed to be comfortable. It will get better you just have to stick with it. It's easier to transition now than later.

bf43005 · November 2014

I have been having similar thoughts and issues. I feel like part of the issue for DS is the very flat crib compared to what he's used to. Yesterday I got him down for a nap in his crib with a nursing pillow I know it's taboo but I wasn't sleeping and was in the room. He slept about 45 minutes. We aren't ready for nights in the crib yet though. Good luck!

lmimms87 · November 2014

I have the same issue. LO will only sleep while I'm wearing her. She will sleep briefly in the RnP or swing if I rock her to sleep first (and by briefly, anywhere from 1-45 minutes). She has reflux issues so I haven't used the crib yet for naps because it is flat and on a different floor. Has anyone used a crib wedge?

RedBaramid · November 2014

I'm trying to use the crib/swing to keep days and nights separate. I've just recently started the crib war and if she gets through it for the first half of the night, I don't care where she spends the second(but I still attempt to get her there for the second). I am just trying every night. I have stopped letting her sleep at night in the swing though so if she won't crib we end up co sleeping, and I have started doing that on the floor in her room with her sound machine on so she is use to the space and the sound machine. I've also let her sleep in my arms in the recliner. I am going to let her continue to nap in the swing during the days and reserve the crib for after all napping/sleeping after 7pm.

Minmcgar · November 2014

We started the transition around week 4. It was once or twice a week and we gradually did more. Now my LO sleeps in his crib every night. We transitioned from the rock n play. I think the earlier the transition the easier it is!

Micavanaugh · November 2014

I am also trying to transition to the crib now. Having her nap in the crib has helped although she does not stay asleep as long yet. I put a pack of diapers under the crib mattress to elevate it a little bit. I know they are not supposed to have blankets, but I give her one for comfort at first then take it once she's asleep. My LO doesn't like to be swaddled. This all usually works until the mid nite hour then she's over the crib! I've only had one nite where she slept in the crib without a fight all nite. Last nite I tried soothing her in the crib until 3 am when I figured this just isn't gonna work tonight and neither of us are sleeping more than 5 minutes at a time. I wish I would've went straight from bassinette to crib I know I've created this little crib monster!

it's just so easy to cuddle her while she naps! Good luck!

purplestarz · November 2014

I don't have much else to add. I also started with 1 nap a day in her crib at about 5-6 weeks old. Sometimes these naps lasted a minute, sometimes an hour. I wouldn't fight it though. If she woke up after a couple minutes I just brought her back downstairs with me. Last week we transitioned to the crib at night and it's been going surprisingly well. I make sure I feed her upstairs in her room, change her, rock her a couple minutes, and then set her down in her crib whether she's awake or not. I have the same white noise going that we had in our room when she used to sleep in the basinette. If she's asleep, she usually wakes up when I set her down. This stressed me out at first but I discovered most of the time if I walk away she will fuss for a few minutes then pass out. If she doesn't pass out I giver her a pacifier and that seems to do the trick. We consistently get her to sleep for 6 hours. She will wake to eat, then go back to sleep for another 3. Honestly she's sleeping better in her crib than she was in the basinette. Go figure.

Good luck and stick with it. I feel like it will be easier now to transition than later, even if it's hard at first.

pshaortao · November 2014

We started the RnP to crib transition two weeks ago (at 8 weeks). The hardest part was staying consistent since I was so used to her sleeping 5+ hours the first stretch in the RnP. I'm happy to say she slept 6 hours last night! I even had to wake her up to nurse because my boobs aren't used to the long stretches anymore, and she went back down easily after! What we did to make it easier was set up her bed at an incline to reduce spit ups. And to keep her from sliding down, we created an u-shaped thing out of hand towels and put it under the sheet. The U around her body probably also makes her feel a little secure too.

I don't put her in the crib for nap times. During the daytime, she's either on me, in her RnP or on her playmat. She is a horrible napper, I'm lucky to get more than two for close to an hour if she will sleep that long. The only way I can get her to is to keep her arms down with a blanket tucked tightly in the RnP. She doesn't really get cranky if she doesn't nap though.

Good luck with the transition, you'll make it work!!

Bella2425 · November 2014

We've had a few days of really good naps in the crib so I'm gonna try tonight. We shall see. I'm nervous!

Bella2425 · November 2014

Bella2425 said:
We've had a few days of really good naps in the crib so I'm gonna try tonight. We shall see. I'm nervous!

Well he only slept 3 hours instead of his normal 5.

probably going to put him back in the crib tho. We'll just have to muscle through....

pshaortao · November 2014

@Bella2425‌ Mine did the same thing, she went from 6 down to 3 for the first stretch for a few days then 4 then 5 again.

Bella2425 · November 2014

pshaortao said:
@Bella2425‌ Mine did the same thing, she went from 6 down to 3 for the first stretch for a few days then 4 then 5 again.

Oh I hope this is the case! We were up every 2 hours last nigh. That hasn't hsppened since he was a week old!

whitney4126 · November 2014

Thanks guys. I guess I'm just going to have to bite the bullet and try, even if that means jeopardizing the few priceless naps I have and eventually the long stretch of sleep at night.

MelanieCSU · November 2014

I recently transitioned my DS from his basket to his crib. I still have a hard time getting DS to map in his crib but at least he does sleep in his crib at night. I started our by placing DS in his crib while I would put his clothes away in his room. We would also go into his room during the day and play in it for a little while. Finally I do swaddle DS at night. I love my Halo swaddle sleep sacks, they are a life saver.

stacy082 · November 2014

Wow that's what my boyfriend And I do. Rock n play and swing couch I'm also worried about my baby going in his crib

ElectricEmma · November 2014

What I do is put LO in her bouncy chair for napping during the day, and then put her in the crib at night. At first it was hard - she'd cry and be a bit unhappy for a while but after a bit of perseverance it worked! Just go for it.

lmimms87 · December 2014

LO is 10 weeks old and is struggling with getting decent daytime naps. She had one good day this week with napping. The other days she cat naps throughout the day, and because she is overtired she hardly eats. Does anyone else have this issue? I'm hoping my MIL (daycare) can establish a routine quickly so DD will nap and eat well throughout the day. How long did it take your LOs to get on a good schedule after other mommies returned to work?

kristine618 · December 2014

I'm jealous of you all trying out the crib. My 23 month old DD is in LO's crib-to-be. We have a twin bed in her room now for her to transition into so we can use her crib for LO but haven't been successful yet. I'm going to try to get her to nap in there this weekend and go from there. So far she has no interest in it!

seamonkey0814 · December 2014

We just transitioned DS into his crib at night and you're right, it's almost impossible to put him down in there without him waking up. Because of that, I'd really recommend practicing putting her down "sleepy but not asleep" so she can learn to soothe herself back to sleep. Maybe not at naps because those are problematic already but you could work on it at bedtime and at night. DS does wake up much more in the crib than he did when he was swaddled in his bassinet. The transition went really smoothly for us and I think it was in large part to how hard we worked to teach him to self soothe in the weeks before. Good luck!