How do I get a 5 month old to sleep in his crib, not in my arms?

Question

Baby has slept in our arms since birth because otherwise he screamed and wouldn't sleep. We tried 2 bassinets and now a crib with no luck. For 5 nights now, baby has been put gently in his crib and begins screaming right away. After 3 hours of checking on him every 10 minutes (tried 30 but that seemed too much) we relented and he comes to bed with us. Cosleeping is a problem because we are all light sleepers and baby is cutting off the circulation in my arm since he won't sleep between us just on us. Plus he will nurse every 2 hours in bed despite getting solid food during the day and lots of breastmilk. The constant nursing also causes constant peeing and constant sheet changing. I can't get baby to be asleep enough to get into the crib, he wakes up the minute he touches the mattress. I've tried swaddling, white noise, mobile, and none helped. Is he too young for this? Does he have separation anxiety? Help - mom and baby are crying big tears tonight.

Answer 1

Get him so tired that he can not possibly resist going to sleep by himself! Play and play with him, then give him a warm bath, and a warm bottle.
Will he take a soother? maybe a pacifier? That's what we had to do, and it worked! Our daughter was like that, she'd cry and cry... one day we gave her a paci, and she cried less every night... Also, a little "blanky" may work, one that has your scent.

Good luck!

Answer 2

The baby has you well trainned.
And he is just five months old.........still very attatched to mom.

Have you tried a pacifer? instead of nursing? Try and comfort him before nursing. Get a diaper liner to obsorb more so you don't have to change as often.

Slowly get the baby used to the crib or bassenette. but it next to your bed. When you hear him sturring. don't pick him up. Rub his back and say shuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu. Teach him to calm himself down when he wakes up.

Try some gas drops at night so if it is gas that keeps him up.

Have him spend some time in the crub when it is day time and awake. Be there and let him enjoy this play time. He will like the Mobil or anything that will make it for for him.

Also try and get him used to a blanket or teddy bear so he feels safe.

Answer 3

I don't mean to sound mean but maybe baby needs to cry a little bit. Place him in a dark room and walk out. He will cry cause you have always went back when he cried however after he gets tired he will go to sleep. It doesn't take long just don't give in! I had this problem for a couple nights with my second. He then slept in the bassinet right next to my bed once in awhile I would place my arm in and pat his leg by his behind to get him to sleep. He now is 5 months and sleeps in the crib next to my bed :)

Answer 4

When my first daughter was a baby I asked the doctor the same thing and he said to put her in the crib and let her cry. The first night she cried for a long time. The second night almost as long. The third still less until by the end of two weeks she didn't cry at all. We used the same on our other two kids. It worked very well and does not harm them in any way.

Answer 5

Why should baby learn to sleep in crib? He is winning. He knows if he cries long enough you will give in. You aren't going to want to hear this, but you're going to have several sleepless night while you stick to your guns. It's going to be hard and you're going to have to back each other up. But in the long run, not only will you get your bed back, but you will be doing your child a great service. You will be teaching him to sooth himself. He hasn't learned to do that yet because you have always been there. I'm not going to go into the step by step method, because there are books on this, but I do want to encourage you to be strong in this journey. The longer you put it off the more difficult it will be.

Answer 6

Wow! I really feel for your situation. I'm thinking that it might be the type of formula or bottle that you are using to feed your baby. I know with my son he would do the same thing when he was younger. Try haveing your son sit up for about 30 minutes after he eats. You may also try getting a wedge for your son's crib(my son hated these, but they may work for you). When I finally got a crib for my son, I would put him in it during the day for playtime to start, so that he could get used to being in it. Pretty soon he would cry at night being put in his old bed, because he wanted to sleep in his crib. Good luck to you!

Answer 7

My daughter slept with me until she was 6 yrs old. When my son came along 5 years after I refused to let him in the bed. The best thing I found was the heart beat teddy. It sounds just like the muffled heartbeat of a mother in utero. Also had one of those pillows(not sure what the name is, but found it at wal mart) that kept him on his back or side. Looks kind of like a wedge pillow. He also spent a month sleeping in a vibrating bouncy seat. Went through lots of batteries but it was worth it. My son is almost 4 yrs old now, and other than an occasional movie night in moms bed, he has yet to spend the night with me.
Good Luck!

Answer 8

my best advise to anyone would be to read baby wise. Baby Wise is a book that really help me. also don't check on him so much about ten minutes the first time 30min second time. let him cry himself to sleep second don't pick him up when you check on him because what he wants for you to hold him and he knows that if he cries you'll give in. i know is really hard to do but my son was sleeping through the night at two months old and I haven't had to deal with this problem because of it except for the first few weeks.(give him a bear blanket,the ones that are stuffed animals attatched to them)works for my son.

Answer 9

Hello there.
I have 3 children and all of them have and are currently sleeping with me and their father. My children are 3, 2, and now 1 month old.
I will start off saying this to you: I have asked a question and got "flip flop" answers. Meaning people on here are not helping you they are just wanting points for some reason. However, there are some nice people on here.
So my suggestion to you would be, as I am working on my 1 month old during his daytime naps, I put several blankets that I use on a daily basis when I hold him and nurse him, one blanket will lay on the basseniet mattress, and the other blanket will go over him.
But people say to let your baby cry themselves to sleep, but after 20 minutes of crying go in the room and hold them, let them know you are there, and keep doing that until it works out. It doesn't happen over night, but working on it is helping you out and the baby.

Hang in there, it is a rough road to solve this solution, but it works out in the end.

Answer 10

This is just a possibility, it works with animals and may with babies too... try taking a wind up alarm clock and putting it in the crib with him. You can put a baby blanket around it to keep any part of it from poking him if he scoots to it. Sounds like you both are suffering from seperation anxiety. You wanting him to seperate and him not wanting to. Try placing his bassinet or crib right beside you and place your hand on him so he can feel your warmth. You may also have to warm his bed...try a hot water bottle just to get it warm enough that he doesnt feel any coolness when you lay him down. Remove the hot water bottle and lay him on that spot...try patting him or rubbing him on the back to assure he is asleep. This may take some time, but think it took 5 months for him to get this way.....hopefully it wont take that long for him to break the habit.
Best of luck to you!