Our cutie pie is 19 months and has been co-sleeping with us since day one. I forget when we started being able to put him down for naps in his crib...maybe 8 months or so? When we got close to his first birthday we moved his crib from his room (on the second floor) to our room (on the third floor) and put it right up against my side of the bed, but did not "sidecar" it because we didn't feel ok about him napping alone up there in a crib with only 3 sides. He goes down for naps no problem (usually).
When we moved the crib upstairs we also started having him start each night in the crib. Since this was very much like going down for a nap, it also has usually worked just fine. He goes through phases where he nurses to sleep in the rocking chair and can be moved to the crib and he goes through phases where he does not fall asleep while nursing, but can be laid down in his crib and will go sleep if I have my hand kind of resting/pressing on his back (I stick my arm through the bars as I lay in bed). He would usually sleep 1-4 hours and then, when he woke, we'd move him into our bed.
About 2 months ago DH and I decided he wanted to start working on DS staying in his crib through the first wake-up. I was anticipating that this would be horrible, but to my great surprise the first week of doing this went great. He'd wake up, stand up and do his little crying thing to let me know he was up. I'd sit up, give him a hug, say "mommy and daddy love you. do you want to lie down for more sleepies?" and - I still can't believe it - he would just lay down. I'd put my hand on his back, he might cry a little, but was usually asleep within 5 minutes. This even carried over to nap time, where I got him to take some longer naps (longer than 60-80 minutes) using the same "method."
And then it stopped working. It was taking me 60-90 minutes to get him back to sleep and he was crying and crying. So, after maybe 4 nights of this, I decided that maybe something "was up" (teeth?) and stopped trying to get him to go back to sleep in his crib. It also stopped working at nap time.
We really do want to get him transitioned to more time in his crib. He has a tendency towards restless sleep, at least part of each night usually, and we get constantly woken up (or, more often, prevented from sleeping) by him whacking us in the face, pulling our hair, etc. It's no good.
So, has anyone had success with this transition at this age? Do you have suggestions? I've read NCSS, but probably need to re-read.
When we moved the crib upstairs we also started having him start each night in the crib. Since this was very much like going down for a nap, it also has usually worked just fine. He goes through phases where he nurses to sleep in the rocking chair and can be moved to the crib and he goes through phases where he does not fall asleep while nursing, but can be laid down in his crib and will go sleep if I have my hand kind of resting/pressing on his back (I stick my arm through the bars as I lay in bed). He would usually sleep 1-4 hours and then, when he woke, we'd move him into our bed.
About 2 months ago DH and I decided he wanted to start working on DS staying in his crib through the first wake-up. I was anticipating that this would be horrible, but to my great surprise the first week of doing this went great. He'd wake up, stand up and do his little crying thing to let me know he was up. I'd sit up, give him a hug, say "mommy and daddy love you. do you want to lie down for more sleepies?" and - I still can't believe it - he would just lay down. I'd put my hand on his back, he might cry a little, but was usually asleep within 5 minutes. This even carried over to nap time, where I got him to take some longer naps (longer than 60-80 minutes) using the same "method."
And then it stopped working. It was taking me 60-90 minutes to get him back to sleep and he was crying and crying. So, after maybe 4 nights of this, I decided that maybe something "was up" (teeth?) and stopped trying to get him to go back to sleep in his crib. It also stopped working at nap time.
We really do want to get him transitioned to more time in his crib. He has a tendency towards restless sleep, at least part of each night usually, and we get constantly woken up (or, more often, prevented from sleeping) by him whacking us in the face, pulling our hair, etc. It's no good.
So, has anyone had success with this transition at this age? Do you have suggestions? I've read NCSS, but probably need to re-read.
