How do I get my 1 year old daughter to sleep in her crib?

Question

My daughter up until 1 month ago has slept in her own crib all night long. For the past month she screems everytime I try to put her in it. Last night I tried for over 2 hours to calm her even letting her "cry it out". I can't stand the screem she does. Its like she is scared. So I pick her up and bring her to bed with us and she sleeps all night without a peep. But this could strain our marrage really quick plus I don't sleep as well. But I don't want to let her "cry it out" HELP! OH! I should add that she is getting 3 or 4 top teeth, but she isn't fussy all day so I don't know why they would only bother her at night?

Answer 1

Iam having the same problem right now what I found to work so far is I give her Motrin then I have been rocking her(but do not let her in to your bed because she will never want to go back to her bed) to she half way a sleep then slip her into bed still a little bit awake so she knows she have to sleep in her bed and usually she goes to bed or I keep at it for a while depends on her moods and divainess. Good luck and let me know if you find a better and easier trick.

Answer 2

My daughter NEVER slept in her crib. It was a colossal waste of money. She slept in a swing or with us until recently when we started to have her nap in a toddler bed (14 months). I think that she felt caged. I mean, that's what a crib is, right? Anyway, my opinion...if it works, continue. When it stops working, try something new. For my daughter, it was reflux pain too. And teething always gets worse at night. Try a really strong bedtime routine. Bath, oatmeal with some chamomile and prunes, stories and nursing, then bedtime. My daughter at 8 months, went from waking every two hours to sleeping through the night every night with this routine. Good luck!

Answer 3

It really seems like kids get the parents figured out way before parents get there kids figured out! Unfortunately the only thing that worked for my now 2 year old daughter was to let her cry it out. And she never even slept in bed with us at all. But she definately went thru this stage where she did not want to be in her crib. I would turn the tv off about an half an hour to 45 minutes before bed and turn the lights down and then we would sit in the rocking chair and read a book and sing songs and she would be calm and relaxed. I would then make my way to her room and at first she would get tense and start to cry when I laid her down. Then of course it would go into the screams, but there is light at the end of the tunnel. After just a few nights of this we were in our routine and bedtime from then on out was seriously a breeze. Even now we say it is nite nite time and head for our rocking chair and then to bed with no whinning or crying at all.
But the real key to all of this is to stick to your guns, once you lay her down you can absolutely not go back in there. It is horrible and my husband and I would pace. I would keep saying,"if she cry for 5 more minutes I am going to get her....thats it....."

BUT DON'T DO IT!

You know your daughter is in a safe place and as long as she is not crying so hard as to throw up or anything she will be fine.

I hopes this helps a little. I promise it will get better! Good Luck!

Answer 4

The solution will require some nights without a lot of sleep, but it will be worth it. You want to start out the first night lay her down in her crib, then have a chair beside her crib. You stay the first night UNTIL she goes to sleep. You can touch her while she is going to sleep, ler her know you are there. Then the next night lay her down, and stay in the room until she goes to sleep, but move your chair back about 3 feet. Do NOT comfort her with touch, comfort her with voice, but only a few times. Continue to move back and each night if she is crying for you, you can comfort her with your voice if you choose, but not as much as each night before. The last night, sit in the room at the door, do NOT comfort her with your voice. Then the next night go to sleep in your room. She will probably cry, its the first night you aren't in the room. Most babies cry when they realize they are alone anyway. It's okay.

You don't want her crying for more than 2 hours. That's too much stress, but see below for exceptions. This process should take 5-7 days. But remember, everytime that you comfort her, your putting yourself back 3 nights. Don't do it. You have to be strong. I know it's really hard not to comfort your baby. This may sound mean, but get you some headphones and listen to music. Just besure you are watching her, you'll know if she's okay. The problem with this,
"Last night I tried for over 2 hours to calm her even letting her "cry it out". " You aren't consistent. Leave her alone for 2 hours in her crib after the week process, and she probably won't do it you may even go 3, but not more than a few times. This is because you have conditioned her that if she will cry long enough someone will come and get her. You have to find her breaking point. She will go to sleep and give up. You should of course always comfort her when she is crying during the day, but start conditioning her that you aren't coming at night.

Answer 5

Good idea mountain_laurel1183.

Could be night terrors, bad dreams. She doesn't feel safe in her bed. I finally had to spend half the night with my little one but it worked. I set up a chair next to the crib, and held her, letting her know that I would protect her, and if I wasn't here Jesus would protect her. I would say a little prayer about God protecting her, then read sweet happy stories until or my arms, hurt too much. Then I dropped the crib side, she was a bit sleepy, so didn't fuss much when I made her lay down so I could protect her. I never drew away, I hovered over her with my arm and shoulder against her and continued to read happy stories (kept books handy). My back started to hurt, so I let her know why I was backing off, but would be there for her, letting her have my arm. It took a few hours before I was able to escape, but the scented shirt idea by mountain_laurel1183 was a good one. I may have escaped sooner if I had replaced my arm with the shirt. Shirts tend to hold the fragrance used in our deodorant as well as laundry product fragrances. It took awhile before her prayer life was strong enough that she could pray away the scary dreams herself. So there were a few nights where I had to spend an hour - 10 min. to calm her down. Happy bedtime stories helped hold down the bad dreams, and at first it took longer to settle her down but eventually all it took was call out and we'd both go back to sleep.

Love is the strongest shield against fear and loneliness.

Answer 6

Well that was rude darling bee. 'Use a condom' ? Really? He is taking care of his child, so that was uncalled for. Some people smdh. I'm a single parent so sleeping with the baby is more convienent for me. My son slept with me until he was two, I regretted it after because it was extremely hard to get him to sleep in his own bed. I actually went out and bought him one of those awesome car beds and set it up right next to mine and everyday I would move it a little bit further away and about a week after I told him he needed to sleep in his own room like a big boy, I also bribbed him with a new bedding set too. That worked. Haha try doing that with her crib. Good luck :)

Answer 7

The teething thing can bother them more when they are at rest try some pain reliever an hour or so before bedtime. try a night light and some soft music at bed time and when you put her down don't stay in there for very long you say good night and you leave. If the crying starts go sit outside. she has figured out that her screaming makes you come running in after her. You have got to be strong, we've all been there and we know how must it hurts. I found sitting in the other room and crying with her helps. it never hurts to have a good cry.

Answer 8

Laying down mighht cause pressure to her ears and mouth because of teething. My son got more picky about going down. More likely it's a seperation issue. Try waiting until she's tired and getting her mostly out then staying with her pat or rub her back until she sleeps. Worked for me but does take a while. But I think it helps them realize you aren't just abandoning them. Hopefully she'll start to feel relaxed in her crib again. At 13 1/2 months or so my son was back to going down easy and staying asleep (15 mos. now) Good luck

Answer 9

there are several things you can try...but you have to find what's best for you. I had to do the "cry it out" method because it was the ONLY thing that worked. It would break my heart every time he cried, but I knew that he was in his crib and would be just fine. There's the Ferber method where after 5 min of crying you go in and comfort (without picking up) for 5 minutes. leave, wait 10 minutes, go back in for 5 more minutes of comforting, leave, another 15 minutes, 5 minute comfort, and 20 minutes wait...and stick with the 20 min waits each time. It shows your child that you are still there and always come back but also that she needs to stay in bed. (Ferber didn't work for me.) You can put her in bed and sit in a chair by her bed so she knows you aren't going to leave her and over the corse of a few nights work your way out the door. and for one or 2 nights sit outside the door so she know's you are there. The key is leaving her in her bed so she knows that is where she is supposed to be. My son is about to turn 2 and there are nights when he doesn't want to be in his bed and so he fusses and cries sometimes. But he knows that bed is where he belongs and doesn't fuss for long. My son has only slept in my bed once, and he was sick and that was the only way he would sleep. After he was better, back in his bed he went. As far as bothering her teeth bothering her at night - ever had a sun burn and somehow it always seemed worse at night - you woke up hurting more? Don't know why - it just does. Or when you are sick, you feel worse at the end of the day...after dark. Same concept. Give her infants tylenol or infants motrin 20 minutes before she goes to bed and if it's her teeth, that will help. Good Luck!!

Answer 10

do you have the Ocean Wonders Aquarium for her crib? My daughter absolutely loves hers! She now even turns it on herself! I recommend trying that. It is very soothing to them.

Also, my pediatrician says that way you lay them down in bed, that hurts more as far as teething then when they are up and about, which would explain why she doesn't seem so bad until it's bed time. My daughter is doing the same thing, and she is also getting her two top teeth in. Good luck!