Transition from co-sleeping to crib?

Question

I co-sleep with my 2 1/2 month old daughter and plan to continue this until she no longer needs to nurse at night. Yet, I realize I am inadvertently teaching her to depend on me to fall asleep at night.

If you had a smooth transition from co-sleeping to crib, how did you do it?

If it wasn't a smooth transition, what would you have done differently?

Answer 1

I'm working on that transition now with my 3 1/2 month old. I thought I would go longer with just co-sleeping, but much to my horror she managed to roll off the bed. Yes, she's fine, but that created a greater urgency to get her sleeping in her crib.

So far I'm still just getting her to sleep next to me in bed, then once she's good and asleep I pick her up and put her in her crib. Sometimes she wakes up and I have to sooth her in her crib, or start all over with getting her to sleep next to me.

Also, she's not making it in her crib through the whole night yet, as she gets fussier and fussier in the early morning hours, so I keep her safely in my arms and co-sleep at that point.

I figure as time goes on she'll be able to sleep for longer periods in her crib, but so far this transitional period is going okay.

Answer 2

Since it's generally agreed upon that little or no night nursings are needed after 6 months, I planned to transition our daughter around that time. I started by only putting her in there at naptimes. She'd scream and for a while we tried going in every 15-20 minutes to soothe her and talk to her, but not pick her up. THAT didn't help at all!! She is a high need child and was way too freaked out by seeing us but not being picked up. So we let her cry, and it KILLED me! After naptimes started getting better, about a week or so into it, we put her in her crib at nights too. A week later she slept 11 straight hours! Almost every night since she sleeps 12 hours or so. From the first night she spent in her crib to about 8 months, she'd wake up once to nurse and go right back to sleep easy as anything.
The crying now (she's 14 months) is minimal if at all. Sometimes she's so happy to go to her bed she tries to leap out of my arms to get in!
What REALLY helped her was her transitional objects. We chose a bunny and a small fuzzy blanket. She loves them so much!
Good luck, and if your child is like mine, the crying will stop, I promise! It's sad to hear but it's part of life. I just knew it'd be way harder at a year and I didn't want a 3 year old in our bed!

Answer 3

I have been co-sleeping with my son since he was born and he's a little voer 5 months old right now. My plan is, when he's around 2 years old and completely weaned, even from night nursing, I am going to go pick out a bed with him that we call his "big boy bed" and make him feel proud he's a big boy now. Then we will make a special time to transition into his own bed, now that he's a "big boy". I've heard mothers use this method and it works well. That's my plan....but god knows things don't always work out the way we hope.

Answer 4

take a breath... this is my story...

I breastfed my daughter for nearly 6 months. at around 4-5 months old i would lay with her in my bed and nurse her until she was sleeping then i'd move her into her bed, she'd wake up about 5 hours later and then sleep the rest of the night in my bed. We did this for a few weeks then (if i didnt fall asleep too) i'd put her back in bed after night feedings. I put her on a bottle at 6 months old becuase of her teeth. It was SO smooth of a transition from there. She knew that it wasnt my breast or my milk so she wasnt going to be sleeping in my bed. She did perfectly. I'd recomend pumping and using a bottle at night to help the transition.

My son slept in my bed for two weeks. then he was in his crib/bed up until he turned two. I was pregnant, and it was a lot of change for him, he had just started seeing his father. I tried to encourage him to sleep in his bed, but the more we talked about it the more he shyed away from his bed.
We had a routine of 2 books & a song and i'd blow him a kiss from the door and shut out the light and he'd stay in bed. Started it at 18 months when he got a twin bed.
He is a little over three now, and in the past month he started sleeping in his own bed again. I eased him into this by putting him in his bed once he was sleeping, and half way through the night he'd come in with me(took six months).
Personally i love co sleeping with my kids. But i know that i dont want them in my bed forever so i have to break the habit early and gently.
He loves sleeping in his bed now... unless of course if he thinks santa is going to come early...

Answer 5

It really depends... does Daddy like the idea of cosleeping? Would he be comfortable sleeping with her in bed between you? I personally don't like the idea of her sleeping all the way across the house from you... so if you must get her out of your bed, maybe bring the crib into your room so she is closer to you. No worries about feeling bad. Emma coslept with me for over a year, and we moved her into her own bed in her own room when we moved in here. She did GREAT! She loved it! I, on the other hand, cried the entire first night she wasn't there, and didn't sleep well for WEEKS. It broke my heart. But she did very well. It wouldn't hurt having her get used to her own bed, she'll be there eventually. Does she nap there now?

Answer 6

I transitioned my child well - but not to a crib. I got him a regular bed. 2 1/2 is toddler bed size. You put her in a crib he is going to freak out like you put her in a cage or something - i think she will feel trapped if she isn't used to it. I got a regular full size bed for my boy and I lay with him and read him a story before he falls asleep and assure him that if he wakes up and gets scared he can come to my room. The first few times I laid with him until he fell asleep - but let him know I would leave once he fell asleep so it wouldn't freak him out. I leave his closet light on... and he falls asleep just fine and usually stays in there... if not he comes to my room sometimes around 4 or 5 am and I am ok with that.

Answer 7

We started by putting the crib in our room, where he would be able to see us when he woke up.... then we would lay down in bed with him, get him to sleep, and then lay him in his crib. Then we moved the crib into his own room and did the same thing.... now we can just put him in his crib and it works out well....

Answer 8

There's nothing wrong with letting your baby depend on you to fall asleep at night! Babies who are parented to sleep for as long as they need to be will naturally transition to their own beds and fall asleep on their own when they are ready.

http://www.askdrsears.com/html/7/T070100.asp
http://www.kellymom.com/parenting/sleep/familybed.html

Answer 9

my son easily transitioned to the crib when i put it in our room