When and how to move baby from Moses basket

[Willow82]

So DD is 5 months old now and still in her Moses basket. She's on the small side (9th centile) and still fits in it but I'm unsure when I need to make the transition. Length wise she fills 3 quarters of it and width, she fills half of it. She can roll on to her side (and often does so to sleep) but not on to her tummy yet. She is also not far from sitting up.

The original intention was to use the Moses basket for naps during the day and use the crib at night but she refused to go in her crib and only started going in her Moses basket at night when she was 12 weeks. Until then she slept on us until 3am-ish when she would finally go in her Moses basket.

As such I'm reluctant to transition her as she sleeps so well in the Moses basket and I'm worried that she will reject the crib. However, we'll need to get her in the crib soon as she will get too big for her Moses basket. I'm dreading it though!

Last night was the first time since she was born that she slept independently in the evening. However, I felt uncomfortable being downstairs without her as we can't use the angelcare monitor with the Moses basket, so I ended up reading in bed beside her.

Do I hold off a bit longer with moving her or should I try her now? How best to transition her?

 

[Iren_iren]

Lucky you that you still can use moses basket! My DD slept perfectly in it, but was waking up the monent i put her in cot
So she slept in her moses basket that i put in her cot for about 2 weeks 😂
Then i rolled up a cellular blanket U shape, so it would be close to her head and when she spreads her arms, she bangs them against the blanket as it would bemoses basket walls and it worked really well
After few more weeks i removed this structure and she sleeping in her cot since
I did the transition when she was around 3 month though..
Can you keep moses basket for naps and try to transition her to cot for the night or vica versa?

 

[loeylo]

My wee one is on the 9th centile for length but the 25th for weight. She was in a swinging crib at home but a Moses basket at my parents, which we just packed away at just over 6 months. From about 5 months we stopped using the stand.
When we transitioned her from the swinging crib to the cot we started to put her in the cot for naps and she went down fine, the transition was really smooth for us as she had been napping in it for a while. Try putting her in the crib for a daytime.nap with the monitor?

 

[Willow82]

The problem with putting her in the crib for daytime naps is that it's really difficult to get her to nap in the Moses basket during the day. It's a lot of effort to get her to sleep in there and then she will have only 20 minutes, wake up still tired and have a screaming fit. Whereas if she's in the sling, she goes to sleep really easily and will have a good 2 plus hours. I really don't understand why she's happy to go in it at night but not during the day.

It's so much easier to put her in the sling especially when I have a 3 year old to run around after. She's a difficult little lady!

 

[loeylo]

Is the room with the Moses basket quite bright? Maybe at night she sleeps because its dark? My wee one also likes to nap with something (breathable obviously) over her face. She has a small comforter which she always holds up to her cheek. Maybe introduce something which can consistently be used in both the Moses basket and the crib - does she sleep in a sleeping bag?

 

[Willow01]

You might find the transition easier than you are expecting! Both times with my babies I worried about it but it went well both times. I bought a breathable bumper to give the impression of still being enclosed rather than being able to see through the slates. I did everything the same with the bedtime routine but I think my babies enjoyed the change as they had more space. I have heard of people putting the Moses basket into cribs/cots a few nights before they actually move so they become a bit more used to their surroundings too.

 

[jessmke]

I transitioned my LO to her crib at about 3.5 months old and I didn't do anything different, just put her down in her crib to sleep instead of her moses basket! I think having a solid bedtime routine to let her know it's time to sleep helps, so it doesn't matter as much where she is put down so long as she knows it is time to sleep. She had never slept in her crib before, but I would put her down in her crib with her mobile on if I had to put clothes in the wash or something, so it wasn't an entirely foreign place for her. We also have a queen size bed in her room so I slept in there with her for over a month. I have just now started sleeping in my own room again (directly across the hallway) and I only sleep in her room if she is having an especially wakeful night (thank you 4 month sleep regression!) and I am tired of walking back and forth between our rooms. I had a harder time with getting her to nap in her crib during the day, she had always napped in the pack n play in the living room and she had much harder time getting used to sleeping in her crib during the day but we got there eventually.

 

[Willow82]

Thanks. I might try putting a toy in with her as well as putting the Moses basket in the crib for a few nights. We're going to move her this weekend so here's hoping she will continue to sleep well!

 

[donnarobinson]

I put the Moses basket in the cot for a few nights then just moved him to cot he was fine X

 

[Misscalais]

Once they can pull themselves up.