Need advice on putting 3mo old in her own bed

[alannanoelle]

DH and I had agreed from the start that 3 mos was the age we were going to start making some changes with DD. Now that we've been cosleeping, I hate to have to put her in her own bed, but DH is adamant that we start making the change. I know in many ways it will be useful since she will be able to nap unsupervised (I can't put her down to nap on our bed without keeping an eye on her in case she rolls). I need to do this since I'm going to have to start working soon, so I need her to be able to nap on her own while I work.

I need some advice on how to do this. I definitely don't want to have her CIO, so I need some tips on how to get her to sleep on her own without doing it that way. We do have an Arm's Reach Cosleeper, so I was planning on putting that back in our bedroom to start with. I'd like to have her sleep in that as long as possible before putting her in her crib in her own room.

I'm sure most of you are advocates of cosleeping until a later age, but this isn't really an option for me, so please, any advice you have that would be helpful for getting her to sleep in her own bed/bassinet would be greatly appreciated!

[svs79]

The only way I was able to get my DD to sleep in her co-sleeper or crib without crying was to nurse her to sleep and transfer her....carefully :-) This was easier when she was younger, but a little harder to do without waking her as she got older. Good luck!

[sugahbee]

I don't have much advice, just commiseration. I have horrible insomnia since the birth of DS and he's a LOUD sleeper, which makes the problem worse! So I'm thinking he might need to go in his own room for the health and sanity of us all. We also have a co-sleeper, I've been putting him in it for naps, and when I put him down to bed at night. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I also have been putting him in there awake and just play with him in there, to bring positive connotations of it. He does sleep better and more soundly snuggled up next to me, (or on our memory foam mattress!) but I'm hoping that he gets used to it. My real dilemma is that we don't have a crib, and I was hoping to not buy one! We can convert the co-sleeper to the bassinet and put that in his room for a little while but not for much longer, so we may have to bite the bullet.
Anyway, keep trying with the co-sleeper. Hope it works for you, too!

[cileag]

One thing that helped my daughter transfer was to nurse her to sleep or have my husband rock her with a prefold/spit up cloth under her head. Then there wasn't the sensation of cool sheets when we put her down. Also, swaddle! that really helps prevent the startle reflex. good luck!

[alannanoelle]

Thanks for all your input! So far she has taken two naps in the cosleeper on her own. I put my hand on her until she falls asleep, and then gently sneak away. Last night I put her in the cosleeper where she slept until waking to nurse. I kept her in the bed with me after that, but so far these baby steps are working!

[Llyra]

My DS had a hard time staying asleep without me being next to him. What really helped him was when I learned to roll a blanket tightly and secure it with tape so it didn't come unrolled. I would lay him slightly on his side, and put the rolled blanket behind him, so the blanket felt like somebody lying next to him.