Hi moms,
I have a great 9 month old baby girl who was a terrible sleeper until we started co sleeping. Now she is great & she does wake up a few times to nurse at night. My goal is to have her sleeping in her crib & then if she wakes up I don't mind going in to nurse her/comfort her but I want most of her night to be in the crib. A few nights ago she was awake at 3 am and I needed to get a drink & I put her in her crib for all of 3 minutes. She screamed the whole time & when I picked her up she held on for dear life. So I'm feeling kind of stuck as I don't want to traumatize her. I know lots of people co sleep for years but I really don't want to do that. Any ideas or suggestions? I've read weisbluth, ferber, sears...but I would love to know what ideas you guys have. Thanks so much!
I advocate Dr. Sears attachment parenting as much as possible. In the long run, children seem less clingy, etc.
Best,
L.
If she has never been in her crib, I would start with naps and move up to nightime. Either way I think there will be crying, and that is ok, it doesn't mean she will be traumatized, sometimes I think letting them cry it out is harder on us than them!!
Have you read No Cry Sleep Solution? She has a few tips for moving a baby to his/her own bed or crib. Take a look at it.
Personally, we did not have success moving our ds until he was much older and was finally able to sleep through the night.
Ask your pediatrician for advice--I'm guessing he/she will tell you that at 9 months she should be sleeping through the night and is probably waking out of habit and for comfort, not necessarily needing to eat. That is what they told me at 4-5 months. To break the middle of the night feedings, we had to let him "cry it out" about three nights in a row and then he was over it and sleeping thru the night! First & second night he cried for about 20-25 minutes and then for about 10 minutes the third night. If you do get him to check on your crying baby, rub her on the tummy or rub her head but do NOT pick her up or she is going to want to nurse. Again, I'm not even close to being expert so check with your pediatrician.
However, I must note my now 6 month old that has been sleeping through the night for a couple months (thankfully) but has recently started waking again at night but it's a combination of teething and his growing appetite. Good luck--I know it's something new every day that we try to figure out about babies!
