Co-sleeper to Crib

What I did was put a fan or radio in the room w/them and when They fell alseep I would shut off the fan and Radio .It worked like a charm!

Thank goodness Im not the only one keeping my baby in my room for a year! With all you here about SIDS I honestly dont think I could sleep at night if he wasnt in my room, and I still wake up at least 3xs a night and check on him, I dont even have to get up because I pull the pack in play up to my bed. I love it and will not be kicking him out anytime soon! With that being said I did the same thing with my daughter, and you will probably be surprised how good your baby does. For me my daughter was completely ok with it and didnt fuss at all. I would get a mobile that she likes (if you dont already have one) and maybe a couple nights sit in there with her until she falls asleep. I think this is a perfect age, I bet she does great! Good luck!

My best guess would be to start out by laying down in the bed and snuggling til she falls asleep. Then, get up and leave her alone in the bed for awhile. Start out by just getting her used to not having your bodies right there. Over time, try moving her to the crib after she is asleep. Some kids sleep so soundly that this works.

If that doesn't work, then I'd put a rocking chair in her room and start rocking her til she is sleepy or falling out and then put her to bed. Eventually rock her for less time each night. Be sure to use background music or some white noise.

We did the co-sleeping for many years and our 8 year old prefers to sleep alone about half the time now. But she still likes to climb into bed with me sometimes just to be close.

My husband and I sleep on different floors now because this house is set up differently than our other homes and I do night-time daycare. So she'll sleep on the couch upstairs to be in the same room with him some nights. She decided recently that she is too old to be with her daddy in his bed.

If you want to do it now just try and make it a gradual transition. Otherwise, you could do a little toddler bed in your room and start out moving her into that after your snuggle time or after she is asleep. Then when she is used to sleeping in the toddler bed all night move it to her room.

Suzi

We did a lot of things in unconventional ways. We never had a crib for our son. Instead, we put a double-sized mattress on the floor of our son's room and slept with our adjacent bedroom doors open and night-lights in the hall. I was still nursing, so I would lie down and nurse him to sleep just as we had done in our bed. It was all rather casual and gradual and he was never upset about finding himself alone in bed because he was used to waking up with me already up in the morning. He was a good sleeper, but on the rare occasion he woke up in the night, he would just come to my bed. Instead of making a big deal out of it, I would just go climb back in his bed and get a good night's sleep. Some people worry that their kids will fall out of bed or go wandering about unwatched. Since the mattress was on the floor with cushy rugs beneath, this was not a concern for us. A safety gate in the hallway can narrow options in many homes so that baby can only come to your room. This was never a problem for us.

I had a nephew my son's age that was always kept in a crib. By the time he was 15 months, he would climb out in the middle of the night and they would find him watching television. He always fought going to sleep and staying asleep at night. I always felt such resistance to sleep was a result of being left to cry it out and being left alone in a crib. Babies need to know that someone will respond to their needs, night or day. I truly think our son slept well because he always knew he had easy access to us.

I never regretted our son sleeping with us. We have so many warm snuggly memories. The only uncomfortable result of nursing my son in our bed is that it created the habit of him moving his head in my direction while he slept. So, even when he was 5 or 6 and would climb in bed with us due to a bad dream, we always woke up with his head in my back and his feet on my husband, although he had not nursed since he was 20 months. But, even that is one of my favorite memories!

Good luck for a smooth transition.

I don't have any advice. But, I will say good luck. I have had many cosleepers, and I can tell you, until there isn't any room in your bed for them, they will insist in crawling in, even if you have them moved somewhere else. I have tried at this age before, and she had more will than I did. she cried from midnight to 4am, so it just didn't happen.

well, anyway, don't be surprised if she has more will than you do on this. And, it would probably be better to wait until she is a little older. just my experience

Good Morning C.. Anything you do now isn't going to be the easiest transitions. If she has been in either your room or bed this long. You will need to start talking about the move, and how exciting it is to have her own room etc.
Show her the kind of bed she will get to sleep in, if your going for toddler bed. Let her nap in it first, play some soft music for her.

Then at night no matter how many times she gets up you have to take her back to her bed. Don't give in or you have defeated the purpose. Keep to your bedtime routine of course, maybe add a story while you tuck her in or a little made up bedtime song, along with Good Night Prayers. Just keep taking her back as she will test you and that's a given.

God Bless and Best of everything to you and yours

K. Nana of 5

Something similar to the last post is the Sleep Lady's approach which is to put her down and stay with her until she falls asleep. You sit in a chair right next to her crib and can occasionally give a reassuring pat or say something, but nothing continuous that could become a sleep crutch. Then every night you move a little closer to the door. This worked for us when our daughter was 5 mos. old. I don't know that it would work with her now (she's 17 mos), but it probably depends on the child. Good luck!

Hi Chritina,
I have co slept with both my boys and understand the challenge of moving them into their own bed. I do it slowly. I would first have the crib in your room. You could start putting your baby to bed in the crib and then at night when she wakes feed her and let her sleep with you. Then when she adapts to this feed her when she wakes but put her back in the crib. Once she has this down then move her into the other room with a baby monitor so you can hear her. I don't yet feel comfortable moving my little guy out of my room. I get scared when I think of possible dangers such as fires etc... Good Luck!

I very strongly agree with starting by talking about it very excitedly and beginning with naps in the crib. My son moved very smoothly to his toddler bed that way, and it made our stress level lower, too.

Good luck!

Hi! I highly recommend The No Cry Sleep Solution book. There's one for birth to about 2-3 yo and there's one for the toddler years.

I kept my son in our bed until he was 12 months. We did talk excitedly with him about the new bed and we had a consistent bedtime routine. We did have him cry it out, but kids at this age are quick learners and able to figure out quickly that you are not disappearing forever. He learned by the third night to go to sleep on his own.
Here's what we did:

Night #1
We let him cry for 5 minutes then went in and said things like: "time to sleep, we love you." etc. (We did not touch him or pick him up.) Then left the room, waited 5 minutes and repeated the same thing. Then waited 10 minutes, 10 minutes and 15 minutes; by then he had fallen asleep.

Night #2
We started with 10 minutes then went in to reassure him that we were not deserting him. Repeated another 10 minutes, then 15. And he had it figured out.

Night #3
We did our regular nighttime routine and he was quiet and fell asleep soon after we put him to bed.

It will be hard if you choose this method, he was crying so hard and trying to climb out of his crib. My husband and I talked each other constantly out of going in to rescue him the whole time, but it payed off: now he is 7, doesn't seem scarred for life and he is much better at going to sleep on his own than my daughter (who we did not try this on). I know that's only two children out of millions, but there you have it.
Good luck!