Moving Baby to Their Own Room

We moved Jack into his crib while he was still in the bassinet. We could just put the basket part of it in the crib. He slept that way until he was too big for the bassinet. That way he was used to the crib and I didn't worry so much with such a little baby in such a big crib!

I wouldn't worry about moving your baby to her own room for a long time, until you are all ready for it. My kids slept in our room off and on for the first five years and some of them still do if needed. I believe it is more important to have emotionally secure, happy children than kids who sleep in their room by themselves. Do what works for you!

Hi C.!

We have an almost 3 month old (she will be 3 months on March 1) who sleeps in a bassinet in our room. Lately I have been putting her in her bedroom (in her crib) during the day for her naps. This way she can get used to her bedroom and it won't be such a shock when I move her in there at night. We did this with my 3 year old son when he was a baby and it worked well.

On a different subject I noticed that in your "A Little about me" section you mentioned that you were 32 and your husband is 25. I am 34 and my husband is 28! I have never met anyone else who has the same age difference that we have! Just wanted to share.:)

L.

Don't try to predict the future! It may be easier than you think! If you are anything like me, the transition will be harder for you than your baby. I've just always had a routine for my children at bedtime...that has made bedtime much easier from the start.

hug,
S. W. - 35, married 11 years, at-home-mom to Avery - 10, Anna - 7 and Lily - 2

I put a shirt I had been wearing into the crib so he could have my smell around over the night. You have to make sure it can't get bunched up on her though.

C., I have twins that were also 7 wks. early and we, too, kept them in our room until they were older, because my daughter had bradycardias (where she'd stop breathing) and had to be on a pulse-ox monitor any time she was sleeping. She gradually outgrew this, but we moved the twins into their own room at about 4-5 months and used a baby monitor (placed in between the two cribs) any time they were sleeping, so we could always hear them (whether at night or if they were napping). We also bought a radio/sound machine from Walgreens and used this any time they slept. The "white noise" really seemed to help them and wasn't bad to hear over the baby monitor either.
Good luck... G. P

C.

I would just get a baby moniter hooked up and just do it one night and see how she does if she does not do well then keep persisting that she be in a crib and in her own room. She will start to figure that out.

A.

P. S. Make sure that your husband is the one wo gets up and gets her if you are still breastfeeding and bring her to you at night.

When you say it is not going to be easy, do you mean for you or her? If you mean for you, don't move her out! There are lots of options, such as a co-sleeper or a small crib in the corner of the room. Check out How To Get Your Baby To Sleep by Dr. Sears. He says that the best sleeping arrangement for your family is the one where everyone is getting the most sleep. Our kiddos slept in our room for quite a while, and personally, I always slept better with them there beside me. My neighbor on the other hand could never have her kiddos in the room with her, she couldn't sleep at all.

I think you should be open to what works best for you and your family and do that.

J.

Make sure you have a really good baby monitor. If you have to keep her close by, get a pack n play and set it next to your bed, they are great for traveling and play time anyway. That way or put the crib in your room. You start at naptimes and laying him down awake and get him used to the new sleeping. Both of my kids transitioned super well, seriously it isn't a biggie at that age. If you are moving her into her own room a very good baby monitor will help you with some peace on how she is doing and maybe get a music box. Both of my kids LOVED having a music box, I got one like for $6 at Walmart that was noise activated and would kick on and start slowly getting quieter and is on for a good five minutes.

C. - HELLO!
Take it easy! Your baby is only 4 months old and has sleep apnea. You are on crutches. Getting up in the middle of the night to go to another room is not something you should be doing now. You can ask your doctor but I say wait until the 6 month mark AND you are off the crutches before you make this move. This is an opportunity to slow down - not speed up. Take care of yourself.

C.,

Our son (who is now 2) was not premature, but we kept him in a bassinet in our room until he was 4 months old as well. I had heard horror stories about moving babies to their own rooms so I expected the worst. However, he transitioned just fine and actually slept better because he no longer had to deal with our noises and we no longer had to deal with his noises. Everyone slept better. So, if you guys are ready to try it, just try it and see how she does. She may suprise you. One thing you could do is move the bassinet in the room first and have her sleep in it in the new room for a while until she is used to the room, then try the crib. We didn't have to do this as our son thought the crib mattress was way more comfortable and prefered it.

Good luck and don't rush it if it causes difficulties. You need to make sure you heal yourself and a lot of stresss or lack of sleep would not be good.

Hello C., If you find reading supportive, I recommend "The No Cry Sleep Solution," by Elizabeth Pantley. She gives tons of different ideas for all kinds of sleeping arrangements.

Personally, we kept our babies in our room with us. They liked to be close to us and we liked to be close to them.

Here is to restful and peaceful nights for all of you! ~T.

After my babies were a few weeks old, I started having them nap in their crib in their room. It was quieter, and I could get more work done in my room during naps. It wasn't ever a big deal to have them sleep in their rooms at night after that.
You can leave the side down on the crib to help you get her out while you're on crutches. Make sure the crib is set to the very highest it can. It actually ought to be a bit easier to get her out of than the bassinet! After 2 c-sections, you learn that you have to think about those things to make your life easier when you're hurting.
I wouldn't take the bassinet out of your room just yet, though, until things are going smoothly with the crib. You don't want to have to set it up in the middle of the night if you have a problem. (when I took off the side of my son's crib to make it a toddler bed, turns out he wasn't ready and woke up many times per night for a week. I ended up screwing that side back on his crib at 3:30 am 'cause I was so tired!)

Hi,
We had twins a month early and just moved them into their own room about a week ago (they are 10 weeks now). I started by having them take little naps in there during the day, or just laying in the crib to play and look at the mobile, etc. It was a smooth transition. If it comforts you, get a good monitor. It'll work out just fine!

My daughter was in a travel crib right by my bed for the first 6 months of life. If you want to keep her close by for a little while longer, try that. Travel cribs are bigger than bassinets. You can get pads for them to make them more comfortable. My daughter slept on a sheep skin. But if you feel it's time to move her to her own room, now is the time to do it. It might not be any trouble at all. She's young enough. Just start laying her down in the crib in her room. Start at nap times. Then if she does well with that after a few days, put her in there at night. Have a consistent bedtime routine, bath, feed her, sing a song or read a book, then put her to bed awake. If she still wakes up at night, you might want to keep her close to you, especially if you won't be able to get around very well for a while. My daughter had no trouble at all moving to her own room after sleeping with us for 6 months. Hopefully yours won't either!

When you are really ready to make the move; this is what I tried.
I nursed my babies... I don't know if that is a factor or not but I found it helpful to have a special sleeping blanket. A blanket that I had slept with that had my smell on it. I used this with both of my children around that age to transfer them from our room to their crib. I think because of the blanket they could still smell me enough to make an easy transition. Neither of my children had sleep apnea but my 2nd was early....It worked like a charm for me. I am trying to get pregnant with my 3rd and if we are successful, I will use this method again. Best of luck to you!

If you feel she still needs to be with you, you could put her in a Pack-n-Play in your room. Otherwise, we've never had an issue with changing to a crib in their own room other than our second son who didn't like the room of the crib. We let him stay swaddled and we put his head against the end of the crib with him in a cornor so that the side was right in his face. It took him a while to figure out that there was a lot of unused space and by then, he liked it. (He was six months when we made the transition.) GL

I wouldn't necessarily rush the transition at this point. Your baby is still little, and if your room is too, then maybe a pack-n-play for a couple more months will do. The main thing is for your convenience while you recover, I would just let her stay where you can easily get to her. BUt that's just my opinion. If you do want to transition her to her own room, then just use a gradual approach of sitting close to her crib and rubbing her back every now and then (not constantly, or she'll grow dependent on your touch), then move half-way to the door, then to the door, etc. until she falls asleep. Play with her and spend time in the new room so it becomes a place of comfort. Soft classical music helped our second with this transition. Good luck to you!!

We had our first daughter in 2003. She was in the intensive care for nearly 2 weeks (a 'miracle baby' the Dr's called her) so we too had to keep her close. I would suggest either moving her to her room and have the baby moniter up loud enough so you can hear your baby and feel comfortable, but low enough for you to sleep (babies make tons of noises). If the room is too far from you with your crutches, then maybe you can move her outside your room a bit so you can hear her but she's learning not to be in the room with you. Truly, if she is out of your room you and her will sleep better. I know it is an anxious feeling when you have to make the transition, but she should be fine. And, after a few nights of going and checking on her a few times and realizing nothing has happened, you will both adjust well. That is my suggestion, which worked for us. Do as you feel best.