When you have a baby most of your life revolves around sleep. Getting the baby to sleep, where they sleep, how long they sleep, how often you sleep, etc, etc. All you think about is sleep. I had made the decision from the get go to have Will sleep in a co-sleeper by our bed. I wanted him close by to minimize crying and make sure he stayed alive through the night. I was a big fan of constantly checking him since he was right by us, which I thought was calming my nerves, but may have been making me crazier. I wasn't sure when we would switch him to his crib but I wanted it to be gradual and on his terms to minimize stress.
I did some research to see when other moms make the switch and found that it really depends on you and your baby. Some do it during the first few months, while others co-sleep until there child is ready to move to their bed on their terms. Some even start the baby out in the crib after bringing them home from the hospital. I first set a goal for having him in our room for 3 months, then possibly start the transition.
Three months came, and three months went. At that 12 week mark I wasn't ready to move him out of our room. Even just the mention of it gave me anxiety. Brent would say something like "let's try him in his crib tonight" and I would scowl. My crazy mom hormones would flare up and I would think to myself "might as well just let him sleep in the shed!". Brent must have felt the tension and would let the subject go without pushing.
Around 14 weeks I started to notice he was outgrowing his rock and play sleeper. He would move around a lot at night and slide down causing him to be bunched up. Since he is a bigger than average baby I figured the switch to his much roomier crib was imminent and began preparing myself. Oh yeah, and preparing the baby. But mostly preparing myself.
We started by doing naps in the crib. He would usually wake up pretty quickly and we were lucky to get a solid 45 minutes out of him. After about 10 solid days of crib naps I let him sleep from 8pm until 11 or 12 in the crib, then would wake him up, nurse him, and switch him to our bedside. Then, at 16 weeks old we made the full jump. I chose a week where I only had half days at work so that I could get some extra sleep if he was up more than usual through the night.
Night 1: Rocked to sleep around 8, then he was up at 11:30, 2, 5, and up at 7:30 screaming his head off. He never wakes up sad so this kind of bummed me out and a part of my mom brain was telling me that he wasn't ready for the switch. My logical brain then reminded me that it was only night one and I need to chill out. I would still consider it a successful night.
Night 2: Rocked to sleep at 8, then he was up at 2:30, 5:30, then up at 7:30 with a smile on his face. Better.
Night 3: Rocked to sleep at 8:30, up at 5:45, then up at 9am. Did you catch that? Asleep at 8:30.....then awake at 5:45am. That is 9 HOURS OF SLEEP. What changed? I assume mostly that he was just getting used to being in the crib, and also I wedged him between a pillow and a blanket so that he wouldn't flail his arms. and wake himself up. Nothing near his face, just something that made him feel more secure if he did wake up.
Night 4: Rocked to sleep at 9, up at 4:45, then up at 9. This is the day I decided my baby is an f'ing rock star. Pardon my language, but seriously. My baby is the best baby.
So far he has been pretty consistent. There are times when he wakes up and starts to make noise. If he does this we will quietly go into the room, put a hand on his chest, and wait for him to go back to sleep. I want him to know that we are always there before he gets upset and this seems to be working well with him. He will stare at us and slowly drift off to sleep again. Once again, I am very aware that things could change next week or even tonight for that matter, but I consider our transition to crib a MAJOR success. It was harder for me than I ever thought it would be, but he loves to stretch out in his bed. My advice is to take your time and do what is comfortable for you. If you aren't ready then don't push it because you will only stress and your baby will know something is up. I will say that it is nice to have our room back and that one on one time with Brent where we don't have to whisper or tip toe around.
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