8 month old not sleeping in crib?

Question

Please tell me how to make my son sleep in his crib (in our room) instead of wanting to get up in the middle of the night and get in the bed with me. I need to sleep, I work full-time! Thanks

Answer 1

I know it's very difficulty to get a little one to sleep in their crib, but believe me, it's much more difficult to get a 3 year old to sleep in his own bed!
The best (and some would say only) thing to do is let him cry it out. It is very hard, and since you work full time, I would suggest starting on a weekend, or when you're off. Remember, he or she is crying as a way to communicate, not necessarily because she's sad that you won't hold her.

If you don't break your 8 month old of this habit now, it will only get worse! Good luck!

Answer 2

My wife and I just read this great book called "Health Sleep Habits, Happy Child." It is a great resource for answers to these kinds of questions. Until last week my 13 month old son would wake up crying at 3 am every morning. The book recommended that we should break that cycle by making him soothe himself rather than us soothing him. It took one night of "ignoring" his cries. Now he sleeps through the night. The book also said that after about 9 months kids don't need to be fed at night and that it is the brain that wakes kids up not their stomachs. So how do you fix your problem? Well, you probably need to suffer for a night or two by leaving your baby in the crib to cry and not give in a move her to your bed. Eventually he'll get the idea.

Answer 3

I can empathize. I've gone back to college full-time to pursue a nursing career and I have a 13 month old who still co-sleeps, primarily because he's still breastfeeding at it's much easier. We all sleep better when we sleep together. But I'm trying to figure out how to get him to sleep in his crib in our bedroom so that I can have my bed back (he's becoming a total bed hog lately! And my hubby wants the marital bed back) :o) I just bought a book called "The No Cry Sleep Solution for Toddlers" at amazon.com They also sell one for infants called "The No Cry Sleep Solution". It has some great reviews. I guess it takes a bit longer than the cry-it-out method, a couple of weeks opposed to a couple horrible nights of sobbing, but I just can't bring myself to use the shorter crying method. Maybe I'm too soft but I'd rather try other options before making my baby feel like I'm punishing him by banishing him from the bed, and worse the bedroom. I just think... how scary would that be to be a baby and be in a completely different room all by myself in the dark? It just doesn't seem right to me. I'm like you... for now I would rather him be in his crib in our room... later we'll move him to his bedroom.

Answer 4

My best suggestion is move him into another room close by or with a monitor. We tried that with both of our children (having them sleep in a crib in our room) and it wasn't until we moved them into another room that they started sleeping all through the night. It made me very nervous, and I really did not want to let them go, but it sure did allow much more sleep at night.

We did also purchase an inexpensive monitor, so I could keep my ears open for them! With my daughter, the very night we moved her into her own room she sleep all the way through the night. We my son, it took him a week, but after a week of being in his own room, he was sleeping through the night. We are talking at ages 1 month and 2 1/2 months sleeping through the night!

Good Luck Mommy!

Answer 5

I wish I could answer that. Our 8 month old is the same way. The only difference is that I work full time instead, and my wife stays home. He likes being next to her as much as possible. And probably like you, we have a lack of space, which is why the crib is in our room. It wouldn't be fair to our 4 yr. old to have the baby in her room.

Answer 6

I know it's hard! I was going out of my mind, getting up to nurse my son every couple hours then finally hauling him into bed with me, and I didn't have to work at the time.

I'm sure you'll get all sorts of answers leaning towards "Let him cry!" or "What's wrong with it?". There is a whole range in between.

This will be far easier on all of you if you move the crib to another room.

What I did to break this habit was I simply stopped bringing him into bed. This will make for a very tough few nights - see if you can do it over the weekend, get your partner if you have one to take over during the day so you can nap, take a couple days off work if you can. When he wakes up, go to him, snuggle him, shhhhh and pat him, anything to get him to go back to sleep in his own. Even pick him up if need be, you can ease off of that one gradually too.

The harsher you are (not as in toward your child, but as in drastic changes) the faster it will work. As in, no more mommy's bed and no more picking up, he'll get the idea in a few nights. If you go to him and pick him up, then it'll take longer. But he'll adapt, and get used to the idea that Mommy's bed is no longer an option.

A word to the wise: inconsistency is your enemy. Imagine rats in a cage that get a treat, not every time they push a lever but at random push-numbers. Imagine rats in another cage that get a treat every time or at predictable intervals. Stop giving them the treats. Guess which ones take the longest to figure it out and stop pushing the lever? That's right, the ones that couldn't predict when the treat was going to come. Your son isn't a rat, of course, but the same behavior applies. If you occasionally give up and say "Fine, come to Mommy's bed," it'll take longer for him to stop this behaviour.

Answer 7

It might take a few nights of work but put the crib in his room and when he does get up in the middle of the night just go check on him and pat his back to put him back to sleep. What ever you do don't pick him up.

Answer 8

You should try putting his crib in the other room. Babies wake up during the night and if he wakes up and sees you there of course he's going to want to come where you are. But if he's in another room he'll just roll over and go back to sleep.

Answer 9

It will be hard but...everytime he gets out of his bed take him back. Oh wait hes 8 months..then you have to let him cry for a few nights. Do not let him sleep with you. It may take a few nights and you will have a lack of sleep but eventually he will know that you mean business.

Answer 10

You are going to have to put the baby's crib in his own room. I would move his crib in another room and try to get him to get used to it on the weekends or whenever you are not working.