Getting a co-sleeping baby to nap in crib?

[Ninetales]

Anyone have any tips on transitioning my co-sleeping nine-month-old to nap in her crib?  I don't mind her sleeping in our bed but I kind of want her to be able to sleep in different places sometimes.  Right now it's pretty much impossible to get her to fall asleep anywhere else and so we're stuck at home more than I'd like.  Plus, even though our mattress is on the floor I'd feel better about leaving her alone in a crib where she can't fall off.

Any tips or thoughts on this?

[nola79]

What I did was get my dd to sleep first, then put her in the crib. It takes awhile, and you'll have to give up naps until they get used to it, but eventually they sleep longer and longer in the crib. At first, dd would wake up the second I put her down, then I'd rock her back to sleep and do it again and again and sometimes give up and lay down with her and try again the next nap or next day. Eventually, she's sleep for 20 min, then one day for 2 hours! Now it's what she's used to.

However, I cannot put her in the crib first, I still have to get her sleeping first. Good luck!

[Ninetales]

Darn.  I'm probably the first mother in history to say I wished she would fall asleep in my arms.  She will only nap in the family bed with me next to her.  But not nursing her or holding her.  So I am clueless how I would get her to fall asleep before I put her down.  At this point I'd have to get her to fall asleep in bed, then pick her up and move her to the crib, lol. 

[nola79]

Originally Posted by Ninetales 

Darn.  I'm probably the first mother in history to say I wished she would fall asleep in my arms.  She will only nap in the family bed with me next to her.  But not nursing her or holding her.  So I am clueless how I would get her to fall asleep before I put her down.  At this point I'd have to get her to fall asleep in bed, then pick her up and move her to the crib, lol. 

I either rock dd or manually bounce her in a bouncy seat ( that she will only use to be put to sleep.)

But, definitely try to pick her up after she's asleep and put her in her crib. She'll get accostumed to the crib, and grow comfortable with it. Or, you could let her play in her crib while you're in the room with her for a few minutes a day to get her used to it. I don't know if she'd equate it with playing and not sleeping, though, but you could certainly try it.

How does she fall asleep in your bed? It sounds like on her own, since she doesn't want to nurse or be held. Maybe you could bring your matress or an air mattress in her room and when she falls asleep in her crib, get up and leave.

[Skinjob]

We tried this for a week when our baby hit 6 months and she did pretty good but we ended up giving up trying to transition her because a) I don't think she was ready and b) It was way too much work and wasn't worth the lost sleep. She just would never stay down very long in there and really didn't like going in there. We'd have to spend all this time rocking and pacing when she slept perfectly fine with us. It didn't seem right.

We'll try again in a few months. I think knowing your baby is ready is key. Hope that helps.

[Schae]

if she sleeps fine next to you, maybe if you put the crib in your room right next to the mattress - then lay down on the mattress whilst she's in the crib and see if she sleeps? When we stopped bf my then 18 mo to sleep - the way we got him to bed was to put him in his camp cot and sleep next to it on our futon. It worked well.

[Ninetales]

The crib used to be sidecarred in our room but she never slept in it.  When she was new she liked to be close to me, and then she fell off the bed so we took the crib out and put the mattress on the floor. 

Thanks for the ideas, everyone.  I came to realize that her short naps were the bigger problem right now, so I'm not going to try transitioning her just yet, until she's napping longer and better.  We're in a sleep regression so I don't think it's a good time anymore.  I appreciate the tips, though.