Baby sleep and crib advice needed.
December 12, 2010 1:07 PM Subscribe
He's been in our room in a bassinet (so sweet!). But it's time for him to go to his room, his crib. Also, he wakes up every 1-2.5 hours so we're doing graduated extinction this weekend.
A few questions:
#1 Should we do it all at once, or should I move him to his crib and go in there over and over all night for a few nights - then do the sleep training.
#2 Do I keep the mobile and the other toy thingy in there?
#3 his crib (in his room) has been a playspace. How do I let him know it's a sleeping place now?
#4 He naps really well on our bed. Does he have to nap in his crib for the sleep training to be effective?
#5 Should we continue our nighttime routine of reading books in our bed, or move the routine to his room?
#1 Should we do it all at once, or should I move him to his crib and go in there over and over all night for a few nights - then do the sleep training.
#2 Do I keep the mobile and the other toy thingy in there?
#3 his crib (in his room) has been a playspace. How do I let him know it's a sleeping place now?
#4 He naps really well on our bed. Does he have to nap in his crib for the sleep training to be effective?
#5 Should we continue our nighttime routine of reading books in our bed, or move the routine to his room?
I'd probably do it all at once; he may get the idea of changes occurring faster if they occur all together. "Oh, this is where I sleep through the night." But that may vary based on personality.
We definitely had a mobile in our guy's crib; in fact, we got one of the sound-activated ones where if he cried for X seconds, it would turn on with a gentle light and the music to help soothe him back to sleep. We took it down when he got a little older. We also would leave a few toys that we felt weren't dangerous. (Now it's usually a couple books.)
I don't know about #3; we mostly want him to know it's a QUIET place (since he's mostly given up his morning nap now (18 months), but gets fussy if he doesn't get a break); we don't mind if he plays quietly by himself in his crib rather than napping or sleeping. As long as he knows that's where he spends some quiet alone time, that's fine with us.
Can't speak to #5 but moving it might help; he might be disappointed to read and then be moved. But he might prefer keeping that part of the routine the same. Probably you'll have to experiment.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 1:33 PM on December 12, 2010
We definitely had a mobile in our guy's crib; in fact, we got one of the sound-activated ones where if he cried for X seconds, it would turn on with a gentle light and the music to help soothe him back to sleep. We took it down when he got a little older. We also would leave a few toys that we felt weren't dangerous. (Now it's usually a couple books.)
I don't know about #3; we mostly want him to know it's a QUIET place (since he's mostly given up his morning nap now (18 months), but gets fussy if he doesn't get a break); we don't mind if he plays quietly by himself in his crib rather than napping or sleeping. As long as he knows that's where he spends some quiet alone time, that's fine with us.
Can't speak to #5 but moving it might help; he might be disappointed to read and then be moved. But he might prefer keeping that part of the routine the same. Probably you'll have to experiment.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 1:33 PM on December 12, 2010
We had our daughter in a co-sleeper in our room. We started sleep training when she was still with us. Once she had gotten to sleeping 6+ hours in a stretch, we moved her co-sleeper to her bedroom and had her sleep in that in her room for a few days and then moved her into her crib. For her, gradual change worked really well.
I think mobile, etc are okay until the baby can reach them or is puling up to standing.
Personally, I'd try to move all sleeping to the crib now since as soon as he's more mobile you'll want him there anyway since he can't roll out of the crib. But you might want to wait until night-time sleeping is well-established before moving naps there, too. Nighttime routine (reading, etc) can happen wherever you want it to.
posted by otherwordlyglow at 1:41 PM on December 12, 2010
I think mobile, etc are okay until the baby can reach them or is puling up to standing.
Personally, I'd try to move all sleeping to the crib now since as soon as he's more mobile you'll want him there anyway since he can't roll out of the crib. But you might want to wait until night-time sleeping is well-established before moving naps there, too. Nighttime routine (reading, etc) can happen wherever you want it to.
posted by otherwordlyglow at 1:41 PM on December 12, 2010
Oh wait, I forgot one step in our sleep training. We started sleep training while she was still in our room, but we moved into her room (there's an extra bed there) after the first night. That way if she cried at all (and she didn't for more than a couple nights and very briefly at that), we didn't have to be right next to the noise but could still hear and monitor from the next room over. So then after she was sleeping longer stretches, we moved her and her co-sleeper to her room and we moved back into our bedroom. And then eventually she moved from her co-sleeper in her room to her crib in her room.
posted by otherwordlyglow at 1:45 PM on December 12, 2010
posted by otherwordlyglow at 1:45 PM on December 12, 2010
Re the crib mobiles - we still have them there, but when it's bedtime I unhook the actual hanging bits or swing the mobile away from the bed. I also put her head down the opposite end of the bed, facing the other way, when it's playtime as opposed to sleep time.
Napping - I don't think it matters if they nap elsewhere; mine won't nap in her crib but sleeps there fine at night. I find what works at night time is very different to what works for naps - eg I can still nurse to sleep at night without serious repercussions, whereas if I do that for a nap, she's almost guaranteed to wake up after one 40 min sleep cycle.
I would suggest moving the bedtime routine into the baby's room but can't speak from experience on that one (see below).
There's some stuff in Ferber that addresses your other questions re moving out
Caveat is that my baby is only 4 months old and still sleeps in our room, we moved her from bassinet next to our bed to crib at the opposite end of the room at about 10 weeks.
posted by 8k at 12:24 AM on December 13, 2010
Napping - I don't think it matters if they nap elsewhere; mine won't nap in her crib but sleeps there fine at night. I find what works at night time is very different to what works for naps - eg I can still nurse to sleep at night without serious repercussions, whereas if I do that for a nap, she's almost guaranteed to wake up after one 40 min sleep cycle.
I would suggest moving the bedtime routine into the baby's room but can't speak from experience on that one (see below).
There's some stuff in Ferber that addresses your other questions re moving out
Caveat is that my baby is only 4 months old and still sleeps in our room, we moved her from bassinet next to our bed to crib at the opposite end of the room at about 10 weeks.
posted by 8k at 12:24 AM on December 13, 2010
Sorry, I couldn't work out how to amend that answer on my iPhone.
Re Ferber: you've probably either read it already, or don't want to, but i have a copy and am happy to paraphrase a couple of useful things he suggests, if you're interested!
Good luck.
posted by 8k at 12:28 AM on December 13, 2010
Re Ferber: you've probably either read it already, or don't want to, but i have a copy and am happy to paraphrase a couple of useful things he suggests, if you're interested!
Good luck.
posted by 8k at 12:28 AM on December 13, 2010
Response by poster: Eyebrows: thanks for the nuanced advice. It helps to remember to be flexible.
OtherWorldlyGlow: I had forgotten abouts naps and mobility. We're "any day now" on crawling, so the bed's about to be a non option anyway! Also, I hadn't thought of moving the co-sleeper into his room. Genius!
8K: Oh...moving the rib into our room to help the transition. Interesting! I read Ferber, but then found out that I had read an old version which doesn't address as much stuff. Looks like I need to go out and buy it. beh.
posted by kristymcj at 1:15 PM on December 16, 2010
OtherWorldlyGlow: I had forgotten abouts naps and mobility. We're "any day now" on crawling, so the bed's about to be a non option anyway! Also, I hadn't thought of moving the co-sleeper into his room. Genius!
8K: Oh...moving the rib into our room to help the transition. Interesting! I read Ferber, but then found out that I had read an old version which doesn't address as much stuff. Looks like I need to go out and buy it. beh.
posted by kristymcj at 1:15 PM on December 16, 2010
Response by poster: Update:
We moved him to his crib, moved reading/nursing time to his room, and started sleep training all in one night. Success - big time.
posted by kristymcj at 5:37 PM on December 30, 2010
We moved him to his crib, moved reading/nursing time to his room, and started sleep training all in one night. Success - big time.
posted by kristymcj at 5:37 PM on December 30, 2010
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(And no on #4, regardless of age; they can definitely have one napping place and another sleeping place.)
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 1:13 PM on December 12, 2010