Transition to crib--does it get better?!

[writingislove]

My LO is almost 5 months old and is getting too big for her bassinet--totally uncomfortable in it. She's been napping solely in her crib for the past three weeks (on the weekends, she's in day care during the week), and she does great in the daytime.

Last night, however, we transitioned her to her crib for actual bedtime. I kept our bedtime routine exactly the same, and she actually slept better than usual for the first three hours after I laid her down. But after that, she was awake at least every hour and at times had to be rocked back to sleep. She normally wakes at 6:30 every day but it's almost 9:30 and she's STILL asleep because the night was that rough.

Did anyone else have a hard time at first, but find it got better? And how long did it take? Share your crib transition stories, please!

 

[ruby83]

I have no advice to offer as I am going to try transitioning my co sleeping 4 month old to his cot at night shortly too! He is so far only having his first sleep in the cot and has been doing well with that.

It will get easier I am sure, just try and stick with it and be consistent. It may take a couple of weeks but she will settle. Good luck xx

 

[Crosby]

I am in the process of transitioning now. At the mo i am trying to put her down in her cot for her day naps.

I think i will try to transfer her to cot on friday. But i am planning to:
1. Put the same bedding to her cot as she currently has in her chicco next to me bed (we have flat sheets in various sizes, brushed cotton)
2. She still has a towel rolled up in a sausage that i put down before i put the sheet on, it snuggles her nicely so im gonna do the same in her cot
3. Im gonna sleep next to her on the mattress. So that she is in the different room in the different bed but still has me until she settles

 

[writingislove]

Thanks ladies, please let me know how it goes (and good luck).

Yesterday afternoon we found a tooth poking through her gums on the bottom and she pretty much screamed all day, so I'm sure that has a LOT to do with the sleeplessness, but I don't know how much of it is teething and how much is the change of scenery at bedtime.

 

[Pinkee]

I have no advice , hoping to gain some knowledge as well ..
We are still cosleeping at 10 months

 

[jessmke]

I found the transition to the crib fairly easy. I would always put DD in her crib while I was putting clothes away in her room or something so it wasn't a totally foreign place for her. Then I started having her nap in the crib during the day. Then she started sleeping in the crib at night and I slept in a bed in her room for about 6 weeks (we transitioned her to the crib when she was only 3 months old). At first I would go to bed at 7pm when I put her to bed and watch netflix on my iPad so she wasn't in the room alone. After a few weeks I would then leave her to sleep alone until her first feed and then I would go to sleep in her room. Then I moved back into our room permanently which is just across the hall. She has had sleep problems for other reasons but sleeping in the crib wasn't ever a problem.

 

[nessaw]

Hi we put her moses basket (similar to a bassinet I think) in her crib in our room at night and in her cot in her room for naps which seemed to help. Same bedding and comforter as well. Teething will definitely have made it harder. X

 

[writingislove]

Just an update ladies, we're almost a week in and it's still pretty awful--waking up a minimum of 5 times per night. She falls asleep like a charm and sleeps pretty well for a few hours, but after that she's waking constantly. Not sure what to do, I've always been against it but I'm ready to attempt some controlled crying...

 

[DandJ]

Hiii~ found this as I am transitioning my 4 month old from her rock n play to the crib and like you said, she goes down easy at first for about 3 hours and wakes up startling herself and cries when her paci falls out.

I know this is an old post, so how long did it take for her to get used to it and sleeping through the night? Find any methods that worked?

 

[writingislove]

Hi DandJ! I am happy to say that after a couple weeks my LO decided the crib wasn't so bad, and she actually loves it and does very well sleeping in it now! It helped a lot to take off the shirt I wore that day and stick it under the mattress with a little bit poking out--that way she could smell me. As hard as it was, we did NOT give in, ever, to bringing her back in our room. It was rough on all of us at first but so worth it.

 

[DandJ]

Thank you for your reply! That's good to know.

And last night I said to myself that if she starts fussing after I put her in there, I will put her back in the RnP, but luckily she whimpered a little bit and fell asleep soundly for mostly the entire night! Woo! Hopefully it won't come back to bite us in the butt tonight :\