Have you successfully gotten your co-sleeper to nap in a crib?

[lucy_v]

DD is almost 6 months, and we have co-slept at night since she was born (first in cradle next to us, then in bed with us). She napped in my arms a lot in the early months, falling asleep nursing, or I would nurse her in bed to sleep for naps (to get some extra rest myself). She's been pretty mobile for at least a month though, and she's getting more mobile every day, so I have been trying to get her to sleep in her crib (in her room) for naps, or one of these days she's bound to crawl off the edge of the bed. Trouble is, when I try to move her into the crib, she wakes up 90% of the time as I lower her down. I try to be very careful and slow, wait until she seems to be really out of it, but most of the time, she jolts awake as soon as she hits the mattress.

Mattress on the floor or rails on open side are not an option for us. We'd ultimately like to get her to sleep in her crib at night too, but the naps need to happen there soon.

Just wondering if anyone has been through this, and had any advice. TIA.

[nola79]

I have, for short periods of time. I has not been easy, and we are still trying to transition. My dd has a blankie she likes, and when she wakes when I lay her down, I give her the blankie and pat her bottom until she is back to sleep.

[lach]

I know she might seem old for it, but you might want to try swaddling her before feeding and put her down swaddled. I think that helped us.

[laughingfox]

When you say mattress on the floor isn't an option, do you mean your mattress? What about putting her crib mattress on the floor? Or if she has a nursery, will a twin mattress fit in there? Just a thought.

Also, if you try laying her down on her side instead of her back, she might not jolt awake as easily (then you can try rolling her onto her back from there).

[akind1]

We have laid DS down in his crib for naps, at least occasionally, now daily, since . . . 3 months? or so. I usually nurse him to sleep in the glider and once he is out, transition him to the crib. Or, if he is tired enough, he cuddles his lovey (this started closer to 5-6 months), rolls to his side, and goes to sleep.

He also starts the night in his crib and I bring him with me to bed whenever I go to bed.

As your DD is almost 6 months old, she could sleep on her side, if that would help.

[lucy_v]

Thanks for all the replies. I'm worried that I missed some "window" of opportunity a couple of months ago, as now I'm hearing that "sleep training" is best done at 4 months. And these days, she's so easily distracted, and the second she wakes and is aware of it, she wants to be crawling, climbing, pulling, twisting, etc.

I've been getting her to hold her toy bunny rabbit while we snuggle, but it doesn't seem to be helping her sleep. Sometimes if the timing is perfect, I can pop a pacifier in her mouth as she wakes, and she'll go right back to sleep, but more often than not, she spits it out. I think it's the crib, though, because at night in the bed, the pacifier will work as long as she's not hungry. Maybe I need to put her in the crib more to just hang out and get used to it. (Was that a suggestion in the No Cry Sleep Solution? My head is spinning from all the reading I'm doing trying to figure this parenting thing out!)

She'd probably laugh at me if I tried to swaddle her now. We had maybe 2 weeks when she was born where we could swaddle her. We called her Houdini. I can barely change her diaper these days without a huge struggle!

I'll try laying her on her side. I've tried switching her as soon as I realize she's waking on her back, but haven't done it first thing yet.

[ErinYay]

We bedshare with V at night, but she naps alone in her cosleeper. She's never fallen asleep in it on her own, so I lay down with her, nurse her, then kind of pin her flailing, pinching, kicking limbs to me with my legs and arms until she falls asleep, then I plunk her (sometimes, literally- she's heavy!) in the cosleeper. Maybe 25% of the time, this wakes her up, and we start all over again, but it's the rare nap that takes more than 30 minutes start to finish to get her down.

Once I finish her room (we bought a house in June and I've been working on it as she permits, and her room is not high on the priority list!) I'll set up our Aerobed and do the same routine, but plop her in the crib.

She was about 6 months when she started napping well in her cosleeper; prior to that, it was all over the place. She'd nap in the swing, or on the bed, but not really in the cosleeper. I don't think you're too late, but then again, I have "spoiled" her by "conditioning" her to fall asleep next to me. It's actually kind of nice to be forced to take 2-3 quiet rest-breaks each day!

[lucy_v]

Thanks, Erin. Glad too hear about a positive 6-month transition! And you can "plunk" her too! I've been afraid to move her from the bed to the crib, not wanting to ruin a good nap, but I'll try that. Maybe she'll gets off to a better start napping in the bed than on my lap.

[ErinYay]

Originally Posted by lucy_v

Thanks, Erin. Glad too hear about a positive 6-month transition! And you can "plunk" her too! I've been afraid to move her from the bed to the crib, not wanting to ruin a good nap, but I'll try that. Maybe she'll gets off to a better start napping in the bed than on my lap.

lol, she has to be in just the right sleep stage for the plunking to work. The cosleeper is on the lowest setting, like a Pack'n'Play, and she's a tummy sleeper, so sometimes it's hard to lower her down gently from lying down 2' above! I think she'll transition to a crib well, as I can set her down more gracefully.


I think you and your girlie will be okay!