1st time mother needs help with family bed to crib transition

[Nyomi'sMommy]

My 10 1/2 month old daughter has slept with my husband & I since day 1, she was exclusively breast fed up until about a month ago. I kept her in our bed up until this point because it was so much more convenient to nurse throughout the night (it was almost 6 months before she slept more than 2 or so hours at a time without nursing). We started out with an Arm's reach co-sleeper, and used that for the beginning of the night for about 6 months, then I stopped using it completely when she began sitting up and moving around because I was afraid she would climb out. Now she is almost 11 months, and I've just found out that I will be having another baby in September. I don't care to wean her from breastfeeding until she chooses to do so, but I would like to get her into her crib before the new baby comes, and before she crawls off the side of our bed. I have come to dread bedtime, and I'm quite sure I've brought it on myself. It has become more of a play time with mommy and daddy, than a time to rest. We turn all the lights out, and lay down for bed, Nyomi will nurse for a few minutes, then get up....crawl, climb, poke, pinch, kiss, hug, pull hair and the list goes on. On a good day she might go to sleep within 45min, a bad one can take upwards of 3 hours. I don't know where she learned this, or how to stop it. If I try to keep her breastfeeding, and not let her play, she cry's. So here are my questions...Is now the time to move her to her crib? I've read some places that it is easier to do it early, and other places say its easier after 2 years. If I should, do I continue to nurse her to sleep for all her naps & bedtime and then try to get her to her crib without waking her? or do I try to let her learn to fall asleep in her crib? I tried last night to just let her cry herself to sleep because I had tried all that I knew to do...it only took 11 min for her to fall asleep, but it was the longest 11 min of my life! She woke up a few hours later, and I brought her into our bed for the remainder of the night. I didn't know if I should do it all over again each time she wakes up during the night. Is this what needs to be done? Is there an easier way? I am the only person I know that has done a family bed, so I don't have anything to go by. Please help!

[Jayray]

We had DS in a side-carred crib for the first 6 months and then moved him to the crib (away from the bed), but would cosleep part of the night when we felt like it (if I fell asleep nursing, if he wouldn't go back to sleep easily, etc.). I nurse him to sleep or rock him to sleep and then transfer to the crib. He usually doesn't wake up on the transfer.

When he wakes in the night, these days I usually nurse him back to sleep and either just leave him in bed with us or try to put him back in the crib. He's been a little more touchy lately in the middle of the night, but also harder to cosleep with (rolling around the bed while asleep and such).

I also let him play around his crib during the day a little so that he feels comfortable in there when he wakes up.

You can always try now and see what happens. If it doesn't seem like the right time, you can go back to cosleeping for a while. I would definitely tend to her when she wakes in the night, though, so she knows you're still there even though she's in the crib.