Moving from hammock to cot

[colsy]

Our LO is four months and sleeps in an Amby hammock. We've got into the habit of bouncing him to sleep, both at night and for daytime naps. The bouncing can really work wonders sometimes, especially if he's yelling that he doesn't want to sleep (when actually I know he needs sleep). If we bounce really hard, he will stop crying almost instantly, and then we can gradually reduce the bouncing until he is asleep.

Anyway, fab as this is at the moment, there will come a time when LO will no longer fit in his hammock (he's a big baby so this may well happen long before the suggested maximum age of one year). I am not looking forward to moving him into a cot as of course then we will no longer be able to bounce him.

To those of you who've moved a baby from hammock to cot or bed, how did you manage the transition? Was it as hard as you thought it might be? Any tips for making a gradual transfer? Or do we just need to bite the bullet and do it in one day and just accept that there will be some hard nights for a week or so?

The hammock is in our bedroom, and when we do finally transfer to cot it may well be that we keep the cot in our room as well, because I don't want to be having to move between rooms in the middle of the night to feed. So when we do swap from hammock to cot, we may well not have the dreaded bedroom-to-nursery change at the same time.

 

[kirsten1985]

I can't help much as we never used a hammock, but we had a bit of hassle when moving Freya from her moses basket to cot at around 6-7 months so thought I'd say what we did.

We tried it at nap times first, so that it didn't disturb the nights, we did this for a good few weeks before moving her at night. We made it feel the same in the cot for her as the basket, so put things round her sides (which I guess it is like in the hammock?) and used a V pillow above her head. I was a bit uncomfortable having her sleep in amongst all this stuff so I slept in her room til she was sleeping in the cot normally. This won't be an issue for you if the cot is in your room though!

We tried putting her in the cot as it is, but the mattress is so much harder than the basket she was having none of it, lol.

I would say do it gradually, and try and keep it the same as the hammock was, so in the same place etc.

Maybe you could start letting him sleep with something familiar now so that when he moves he can take it with him?

 

[ladyjayne]

I used the amby and tbh i didnt have any problems moving Finn into his cot. We did it at 6months coz he turned over in it and couldnt turn back. He never sleeps through though and still doesnt so i dont know if moving too the cot will make any difference to that?
Im putting Finn into the cot awake and then leaving the room, if he cries i go straight back in and do the minimum to sooth him and then leave again. I repeat this until he's asleep, and alhtough its really hard to begin with ( took me an hour 1st night) but it gets eaiser. Its just a bit of persevence.
Hope it goes well!!!xx

 

[Maffie]

I dont use a hammock but Noah was a long baby so outgrew the moses basket fast, he was unsure about is cot at first but I found using his travel cot which vibrates first to get him used to a bigger sleeping area worked well. Also he sleeps with a few things to comfort him (blue teddy, dumbo, mobile/light show) Only time he doesn't settle well is when he is over tired. I'd say it took about a week for him to be more settled in the cots.

 

[colsy]

I think the bit that will be hard is at the moment, using the hammock, we can simply bounce Monty back to sleep if he wakes up before he's hungry. With a cot, obviously we won't be able to do this. Have visions of trying to pick up the cot and wiggle it about, ha ha ha!