How Did You Move Your CoSleeper to the Crib?

[Anonymous]

I am not sleeping at all and it is starting to take its toll. Any tips to transition an 8 month old to the crib. When I put him in the crib he SCREAMS and will do so for hours. Baby started waking up and playing with my hair or blowing raspberries... he'll probably do the same thing in the crib (wake up) but I may be able to get a little more sleep. Do your cosleepers this age actually make it through the night w/out waking up? Please only helpful answers.

[Anonymous]

If the waking up wanting to play is relatively new, he may just need less nighttime sleep than he used to. If you pushed bedtime a bit later, he might sleep through better, and then the cosleeping would be less annoying? Ferber, unlike a lot of other experts, says the average 9 month old only needs about 9.25 hours of sleep at night (plus about 2 naps of 1.5 hours, though different kids distribute their sleep differently). Lots of parents are trying to get their babes to do 11-12 hours at night which might not be realistic for them. This is the theory anyway and I am in the process of nudging bedtime later for my own 10 month old to see if it works.

Hmmm...other ideas. Does your lil cosleeper nap with you also, or his he cool in his crib for those? Might inform how quickly he'll make the transition. I've heard many folks sleep in the nursery on the floor until baby adjusts. Some start with moving baby to the floor of their own room as a tiny separation step before getting the tot into a whole different room.

[Anonymous]

OP here, he DEPISES the crib. When I try to put him down in the crib for naps he SCREAMS. He will scream for 30 minutes, tears, red cheeks, hysterical... I have no idea what to do. He was fine in the bassinet when he was smaller. The crib just sends him into a fit. He basically naps with me or in my lap. YES FOR THE LAST 8 MONTHS. I feel like I am losing my mind.

[Anonymous]

We are cosleepers and went thru that also, at that age if I remember correctly. We ignored our DS and DD no matter how cute or annoying the behavior was. It lasted a very short time once they realized we were not paying attention. We would not even open our eyes. Just pretend to be asleep. If it doesn't work, maybe put the crib right next to your bed, take one side off, or lower it all the way and push the crib all the way up to the bed, You can still touch your baby, but you have your space. good luck

[Anonymous]

hi - i have a 9 mo old dd. she has been cosleeping with us since birth, first from necessity (reflux) and then b/c we all liked it. she has been waking up many many times a night, to nurse or just get comfort to fall asleep again, and woudl also scream in a crib. she would wake like 5 times a night.
i am on a 2 week long biz trip. second night after i left, she started sleeping thru the night. and has been since (a week already). she sleeps still with dad but sleeps thru. i think it is b/c i am not there. she sleeps better.
maybe try having dc sleep wtih dad, you sleeping in a guest room or something...

[Anonymous]

Ok, we are co-sleeping with our one-year old and slowly in fits and starts moving to the crib. He's slept in there for up to three and four hours at bedtime a few times. Here's what we did:

(1) Make the crib a happy place. Go in there during the day and let him play in it with you in the room, get lots of positive associations.

(2) Forget about naps - my guy sleeps on me for naps about 50% of the time if I can't transition him to crib. It is SO not ideal, but if he doesn't nap then he won't sleep at night. I'd solve the night time problems first and then resolve naps.

(3) Routine and bedtime window - I am sure you know all about this but it's important.

What we did was just pick a night ans start - I nursed him to sleep in his room and then put him in his bed. If he stirred I patted his back, if he cried I picked him right back up and did it again. If he woke up five or ten minutes later, daddy went in and rocked, patted, etc.

The first three nights we did this from 730-10 pm and gave up and all went to bed. The fourth night he slept two 45 minutes chunks, the fifth he slept 4 hours!

My babe was, is and ever shall be a poor sleeper. We haven't done CIO b/c he is a babe who just gets more and more worked up rather than winding down, moreover he is super sensitive and I need to be able to leave the room w/o him freaking out, which I am sure would happen if we CIO'd. As it is he actually laughs when we set him in the crib and walk away as he thinks we're playing peekaboo!

[Anonymous]

Our 10 mo old sleeps in the crib from about 7pm to anywhere from 9:30 tp 1am, then he sleeps next to me for the rest of the night.
He used to be in a cosleeper sidecar when he was tiny, but when he outgrew that we tried to move him to the crib.OMG, he hated the crib! At the beggining he would cry if he was even put in the crib asleep.It was like he could smell that he was there and would wake up screaming!
We basically just took it slow, allowed him to spend time playing with us during the day in his room and crib so that he associated it with positve feelings,etc. Then we started putting him down in his crib after nursing, and picking him up and soothing him if he woke crying(which he did often) I would then bring him to sleep with me by a pre-decided time , I think it was 1am at that time. It took months, but now he sleep there for his first stretch, sometimes without waking at all for 5 hours. This is HUGE given that he has always been restless sleeper unless he sleeps next to me.
When I think back to when he was like the OP's baby I realize that it's taken awhile, but he has definitely made great strides. Be patient, it's hard but doable!

[Anonymous]

We started by putting a lovey (a teddy bear- her all around best friend now at 27 months) next to her when she slept after falling asleep next to me for naps- she started liking the bear.. we then put her in the crib next to us in same room w/bear for naps only- night timwe with bear always, then crib wento to her room- same thing- then finally she slept on her own- sounds long but it wasn't- it took 1-2 months ad was pretty smooth..

[Anonymous]

OP, try Elizabeth Pantley's "The No-Cry Sleep Solution." Lots of great and gentle suggestions for helping transition a co-sleeper to his or her own bed. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

you have to ease the baby into the crib. get him used to it. stay with him there, rub his head and back. i wouldn't recommend going cold turkey. i do commiserate with your situation though, as i went through the same thing with my baby. it is exhausting to be up all night. have a ritual/routine for going to sleep. keep it the same ie: bath, feed, music, etc... so baby will start to know the cues for when it is time to go to sleep. leave the light on low. good luck.