cant get baby to sleep in her own crib...?

Question

for the past 2 nights in a row i cant seem to get my daughter to sleep in her crib. SHe falls asleep with me but when i go to put her in her crib she wakes up instantly and cries. Im AGAINST the cry-it-out method so i dont want to just leave her in there but i dont want her to get used to sleeping with us. Last night was understandable.. she had her 4 month old shots that morning and had a terrible fever, but the night before nothing out of the ordinary happened and she absolutly refused to sleep in her own crib. She is a breastfed baby and at night i nurse her in our bed but the minute shes done she goes back in her crib because we didnt want her to get used to sleeping with us. I dont mind her sleeping there for a few minutes but im nervous about my husband who is a heavy sleeper and her sleeping with us. I need some ideas on how to get her to stay asleep when i put her down in her crib. Keep in mind that I DO wait until she is totaly asleep to put her down,..

i have a shirt of mine tucked in her crib so she can smell me... i have one of those womb sound bears.. the radio plays soft music... its quiet in the rest of the house... HELP

I WILL NOT LET HER CRY IT OUT

we do the "limp arm" trick... but its like the second she feels were putting her down shes awake and screaming....

Answer 1

Moms really should support one another even if they dissagree. We should also respect the choice to NOT let a child cry it out.

Some of us CANNOT abide the "cry it out" method. This does not make us weak, nor does it mean our children will be "spoiled." It means we as individuals cannot sit on our hands when our children are screaming and we know our presence can soothe their pain.

Elizabeth Pantley has written a sensitive, yet extremely practical book about this very problem area of parenting. She understands Moms who cannot let their babies cry hysterically and do nothing. She suggests ways to gradually alter your baby's habits so that you can get some rest, too! I'm not exaggerating when I say that this book saved my sanity when my little boy was 3 months old. At that time, he was sleeping for 1 hour or less around the clock. Now, at 5+ months, he takes at least two 2 hour naps a day AND sleeps between 5-7 hours for the first stretch of the night, wakes to eat, and then gets back to sleep within 30 minutes and sleeps another 4-5 hours.

EVERY BABY IS DIFFERENT. Pantley's book allows for this, and gives practical advice you can start using right away, as well as a long term plan for getting you and your baby sleeping better.

Get yourself an inexpensive copy on half.com (sorry, mine's on loan to a pregnant friend) and read it ASAP. You'll thank me for it! Good luck!

Answer 2

I had similar problems with a couple of my children. Is her crib in your room or her own? If its in a seperate bedroom, move it into yours. If you have enough room (even if you have to move around the furniture in your room) move her crib right beside your bed. You can do research and see this has been a proven method to help get a child out of your bed.

Also, you say you breast-feed the baby while in your bed. From now on, do as you would during the day. Sit in a comfortable chair and breast-feed her when she wakes up. After you burp her and she goes back to sleep, place her in her crib again.

You may have to pick her up several times to soothe her back to sleep, but be persistent. Always place her back in the crib. She will get use to this routine and eventually learn that the crib is where she is suppose to sleep at night.

I know breast-fed babies are more likely to not have gas on their stomachs, but you might want to invest on some infant gas drops. They are very inexpensive and have no side-effects. She might have gas on her little stomach.

I hope this helps. :)

Answer 3

Do you let her sleep on you until she has the "limp arm sign"... she may be having a bit more trouble falling asleep and you may need to snuggle her a little longer --just for a few days maybe.

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Hmmmmmmmmm well, I tried. But honestly I am a co-sleeper who has a baby who lately will only fall asleep in the crib, however he will only fall back asleep in the big bed with me lying beside him. And he is one of those babies that wakes very easily - no matter what.

Do you go to bed at the same time as her? Could you put the crib beside your bed where she can see and hear you? Just for a couple of days even.?

I have a crib beside my bed with one of the sides removed. The mattresses are level and the crib is firmly tied to my bed. Also there is a rolled up blanket jammed between the matress and the far edge of the crib to make the matresses even tighter together.

In the beginning my baby only slept on that side of me. That way a) he couldn't fall out of the bed and b) I didn't have to worry about my husband who is not as aware of things in his sleep. We learned to nurse from both boobs in this position, but you could nurse from only one boob all night (Actually some people recommend this to help your baby sleep longer as they get more fatty milk. Mine is a two boob feeder though). Also I have the crib down a bit so it isn't level with the headboard, that way the baby can't roll into my pillow.

This is the only way I get any sleep. If I have to go to another room during the night I wake right up and can't sleep.

My last thought is that you put a comfy chair in her room and nurse her there. Maybe she will get used to the crib again.

Best of luck.

Answer 4

My son just turned 8 weeks old and has been like this from day one. He sleeps with us at night and only wakes every 3 to 4 hours to nurse a bit. I have yet to be able to put him down anywhere for any extended period of time. He wakes up in five or ten minutes if I lay him down. He does not like his swing, or his vibrating chair. I bought a Moby Wrap and it has been a lifesaver for me. I can hold him and he sleeps much longer in it, while I am moving around the house doing laundry, etc. I can still do things while holding him at the same time. It may be worth getting one. I don't think there is anything wrong with holding your baby all the time. My Mom always makes comments to me about it, but, babies are small for such a short time and soon he will grow out of this phase. I am happy to hold him and cuddle him and love him, rather than letting him cry because he's laying by himself. Good luck.

Answer 5

I had the same issue with my now 18 month old when he was about 3 and 4 months.He would fall asleep is my arms after nursing and the minute I put him in his crib he would scream and only nursing him again would calm him down.I was so tired and wanted some sleep as did my hubby.He would sleep for about 3 hours at a time in his bouncy seat or in his car seat .I knew I couldn't let him do that forever so we purchased an infant vibrator that attaches to the bottom of the crib.It was a miracle-he slept in his crib perfectly after that.We would leave it on until he fell asleep and then turn it off.We purchased ours on ebay-you should try it!

Answer 6

You need to keep putting her back in her bed, I went through this with ALL of my kids. If she wakes up pat her back and try to get her to go to sleep. Sit next to her crib and sing to her. Dont keep letting her fall asleep in your bed. Put her in her crib while she is still awake. During the day walk out of the room for just a couple of seconds and come back in. Try putting the radio on when you put her down. If you think shes not feeling well because she could be teething (shes that age) or not well from shots give her some IB before she goes to sleep. If you dont stop sleeping with her she will still be sleeping with you when shes 4 years old. I had that problem with my oldest daughter! My youngest daughter is 15 months and she sleeps in her bed EVERY nite!

Answer 7

Don't ever take the sleeping pills route!!

1. They will damage your liver big time and you can get into serious health problems.

2. You will get hooked up on them and you won't be able to have a normal life any more if you don't take your pills everyday.

The sleeping pills industry is damaging our health by capitalizing on our ignorance, and by distracting people from effective and natural ways to deal with this problem. I had been taking prescription sleep medications [Ambien] for over 5 years. It stopped working and I simply took more. Still did not work. Nights were very difficult - medication put me to sleep but I would wake up after 2–3 hours with a strong sympathetic response (fast pulse, pounding heartbeat, wide awake alert). It was a very difficult cycle to break. I was really in bad shape due to lack of sleep.

After years of struggling I was able to cure my insomnia naturally and pretty fast. I followed the Sleep Tracks sleep optimization program, here is their official web -site if you want to take a look: http://www.insomniacure.net

Ohhh..and Good Luck!

Answer 8

I didnt notice anywhere any indication of how you put her to bed/sleep initially. With my first baby I'd let her fall asleep while feeding, then lay her down in her bed. When she woke up later she'd be pretty mad, like 'what the heck?'. When child #2 came along I had to do things differently. I'd put him in bed awake (sleepy but aware) make him comfortable, wind up his music and walk out. If he cried, I'd go back in and just talk to him, not pick him up. I'd leave. If he cried again, I'd wait longer to go in. If he cried in the middle of the night I'd go in and put his music on, talk to him, but never bring him in my bed or turn on a light. It only took a couple of nights for him to really realize he wasn't getting out of bed. He learned how to stay in the crib and entertain himself too, so I could pop him in there while I cleaned up his room or put away his laundry and he was perfectly happy.

Answer 9

I read and followed the advice of The Baby Whisperer, which is less harsh than Ferber's method. The Baby Whisperer says that you need to soothe a baby, but not over-soothe them. Pick your daughter up when she cries, but the second she is quiet again, put her back down. Repeat as many times as necessary until she puts herself to sleep. It might take over a hundred times the first night. But it will be less and less every night until your daughter is finally putting herself to sleep. The author's name is Tracy Hogg, I think, and the book is called "Secrets of the Baby Whisperer." I'd recommend you check it out of the library; it sounds like the style you are looking for.

Answer 10

If you want to put your baby to sleep in 20 seconds you must get the "Instant Baby Sleep" MP3 sound track. Here is their official web-site: http://www.instantbabysleep.net

The sound track gently produces energy over the full human hearing spectrum with an embedded pulse that gently eases the brain to the Alpha state well known for drowsiness and sleep induction.