Swing Sleeper

Don't give in and put him in his swing! Pick him up to comfort him (I don't believe in letting babies cry it out) but leave him in his crib. It won't take long if you're consistent. Lay him down like you normally would, and comfort him when he cries. Rub his back or tummy or something at first, if he doesn't calm down, pick him up for a bit, then lay him down again. Stay with him if you need to, and eventually he'll get back to sleeping just fine in his crib.

Honestly, I think that if he sleeps in the swing during the day and in the crib at night it's ok. Unless his quality of sleep is poor or it interferes with your daily activities, let him sleep where he's comfortable.
My daughter is transitioning out of naps so a set nap time can be difficult. But, sometimes I'll turn around and she'll be on the ottoman fast asleep (or on the floor in my bedroom). I just cover her with a blanket and call it good!
I like to nap on the couch better than in my bed. Let him swing:)

You could purchase one of those reflux wedges - some have a sling to place the baby in to keep them in place. My daughter just had a case of croup plus a cold and she seemed to do well with one, although she is almost two. When she had colds as a baby we put a pillow under her crib mattress at one end, but she did a lot of rolling around, so it didn't help much. I think a wedge with a sling would be your best bet. I do think they are expensive, but worth it if you can get your son back to sleeping in his crib.

My daughter (now almost 8) had RSV when she was 2 or 3 weeks old. I had her sleeping in either her swing or car seat. When she was finally over the RSV, she didn't want to sleep in her crib either. I started out by taking her bouncer (with music and vibration) and putting that in her crib and turned on the bouncer. When she woke up at night, I made sure that I kept the room somewhat dark so as not to "wake" her up. When I put her back to bed, I put her into the crib without the bouncer. Another thing that might help to distract him is if you have a toy that has a light and music that attaches to the side of the crib. My daughter had an aquarium that attached to her crib. It lit up like a nightlight and also played music while the fish "swam" around.

I don't know if any of that will work but that is what worked for me. Hope it helps some.

the trick with kids is to be consistant. If the rules are broken once then they can be broken again. It will be hard but you just have to be strong and consistant. No more naps or falling asleep in the swing. It will be hard on you at first but I promise that eventually he will figure it out and he'll be back in his crib. Kids are fast learners. Good luck and be strong!LOL

I think that where ever he can get some sleep is fine. Right now my 3 month old is currently sleeping in her bassinet, but that was after spending the first 2 months in the swing for the nights. The way that we transitioned was simple. I would let her start the night in the swing (ours is a winding one so it wouldn't swing all night) when she woke up for a feeding (I am nursing) I would feed her and then after she went back to sleep I would put her in the bassinet. Then she would tend to just sleep the rest of the night there. But I have had several of my 6 kids who wouldn't sleep in their cribs at all until they were 6 or 7 months old. Let him sleep where you will get the most sleep, because frankly if mom's cranky then everyone is cranky, and if mom ain't sleeping then she's going to be cranky. Good luck.

My son was also a swing sleeper. He was the 5th of 5 boys - all the others slept peacefully in their cribs. I never have understood what made the difference.

But I would just use the swing as he needed it, then transfer him back to the crib each time I could. Eventually he started sleeping in the crib more and more and just made a natural separation from the swing, without any real struggle or effort on my part.

He is now 16 years old. He has no health or long term negative side effects from being a "swing sleeper", and he sleeps all night in a normal bed like all the other boys.

I say relax and don't worry about it. Let him sleep wherever it works best and he'll mostly likely grow out of it like mine did.

I think I would do the opposite--have him master napping in his crib first. That way, you're awake the whole time and not so exhausted you want to cry and do anything to get him to sleep at 3 am. I know, I've been there! And if he's extra tired at night, he'll sleep.
I don't know how you feel about crying it out, or if it works for him. It was the best thing for my oldest, but my second just doesn't do it. He'll just cry and cry for an hour or more.
I've been trying this trick with my 22 month old, who is also in a bad sleeping habit because of a cold. When he wakes up in the middle of the night, I pick him up and cuddle until he calms down, and then a minute more, then put him back in bed and sit next to his crib where he can see me. He stares at me until his eyes flutter closed. The first night, he put his blanket over his head and every 10 minutes, he'd lift it up to peek out and see if I was still there. It took me 25 minutes of sitting, but it worked.
Now he isn't waking up anymore, but if he did, the plan was to sit a little farther away each night, until I was way over by the door and he could hardly see me in the dark. It's worth a shot!

He's a little old, but swaddling might help. Also, letting him sleep on his side. It's hard when they've been sick. I hope he gets back to routine soon.

Roll 2 or so baby blankets up and put them under the matteress to elevated him. Or you could try putting them around his as well. he might like the feel of being cuddled.
Or swaddle him...

L.,

You have to stick to the crib sweety, he will cry himself to sleep and it will not hurt him. babies a very resilient he is pushing your buttos allready be careful or you are going to have a very controlling baby on your hands

Hi L., I imagine your little one feels more comforted in the swing than in the crib. And, if you are describing any part of your family's sleeping experience as a "battle," I highly recommend reading, "The No Cry Sleep Solution," by Elizabeth Pantley. She offers many, many ideas for sleeping arrangements that everyone in your family can be happy with. Peaceful sleep is important!

Trust yourself and your son, you will find your way... ~T.

Just keep up the work and don't give in. He WILL go to sleep eventually! In the future for colds, I would suggest (and have done myself) raising one end of his crib mattress by putting a pillow under one side of it. This will keep his head raised and will keep him in his crib!

At 6 mos he is going to quickly outgrow the swing, best to get him out of this habit ASAP plus it isn't good for them to sleep in a swing too much on their legs. Maybe just let him fuss it out in his crib at naptime. He will fall asleep, he isn't able to make himself stay up, so put him in his crib, reassure him, make sure he has a full tummy but it will get harder if you don't do it now and before too long it will be necessary to get him out of the swing for safety reasons.
Hang in there, these transitions sometimes are harder on us moms then the babies!! :)

Hi L.,
We recently had the same exact problem with our 16 month old grand daughter whom we are raising.

She has asthma, and got bronchitis and for weeks was having difficulty sleeping. Instead of a swing she was sleeping with my husband and I and we would prop her up between us with pillows, and then have her nebulizer handy if her breathing got too strained. Once she was well, we had a heck of a time getting her to sleep in her bed. We started by laying with her until she fell asleep, giving her a large pillow to sleep on, then would leave her once she fell asleep, she'd wake up minutes after we got out of her bed. so instead of laying with her, which you couldn't do anyway with a crib, we then sat next to the bed rubbing her chest. Then it went to getting up a couple of times during the night to back to sleeping through the night and us being able to just lay her in bed at bedtime. It's all back to normal now, but it took 3 weeks after patiently working her through the routine change until she felt secure again. For her, and maybe for your son, its that fear of not being able to breath and choking....having us there close until she begin to feel secure again made all the difference.

Hope this helps.

When I asked my doctor about this.. because this happened to us... he said we didn't have to fight it. Just make his swing comfortable and let him sleep in it. He eventually went back to his crib, but we let him sleep in his swing for a couple of weeks.
But there might be others that have other ideas on how to get your baby back into the crib. This was just our experience. Good luck!

Try putting a pillow or a wedge UNDERNEATH the crib mattress.This puts it on an incline so he can breathe, but since the material is UNDERNEATH the mattress he's not constricted by it in anyway.You may have to put a small incline UNDERNEATH the mattress at the end too so he doesn't just slide down, but hopefully that works and you can both get some sleep!!