Transitioning a Baby to Crib

A lifesaver for me was the Aquarium from Fisher Price. I used it from birth and still use it for my boys, who are now 2 and 4. The music is very relaxing and when he gets a little bigger, he can hit the buttons himself. I know it sounds like a simple solution but it worked for us. Good luck to you!

Who would have thought that getting a baby to sleep would the hardest thing in the world! Don't worry it will get better, 8 weeks is very young.
My baby slept in a moses basket until 3 months, I think she liked the close feeling. She never liked being swaddled but I do hear that it can help.
My daughter wheb through a stage where she would scream from about 8 until midnight when she would finally sleep, I started putting her in bed earlier and that really helped! You could try putting the little guy down earlier in the night?
Good luck, I promise you will make it through!!

Stop immediately because it will only get worse. :) Sorry to be so blunt. A friend let their daughter sleep with them for months, and then tried to start putting her into her crib. She would just scream, so they would bring her back into their bed. At 1 year, she was kicking them in her sleep out of their own bed. They've had sleep problems with her from now on, and she's 3. Everyone has some great advice on here. We all went through those sleepless nights. Just remember...it always gets better!!! We promise!

I was having the same problem!! But mine is 4 months old. :/ I think we are FINALLY getting him to sleep on his own although I do end up putting him in bed with me when he wakes up for his night feeding(4 am). I plan to only breast feed until 6 mos, so that is when I'm hoping he will sleep ALL night in his own bed. I'm not ready to put him in his crib yet so we are also using the pack and play in our room. Here is what I learned: the pack and play does not have the most comfortable mattress. So...we put one of those terry cloth contour changing table pads in the middle and placed him on that to sleep and he seemed to find it much more comfortable. We also added of those inclined to sleep pillows and wedge him on his side and he seems to LOVE that postion.
Usually he falls asleep while nursing so that is when I move him into his pack and play. The second I put him down, I lightly rock it to get him back to sleep which he does within 30 seconds. There are also times when I put him down and he is wide awake. At these times, I put on his Ocean Wonders Aquarium mobile and it does the trick. A friend of mine suggested I use a Moses basket. With her baby, she'd place her all bundled up in the basket and she'd fall right asleep. My method seems to be working so I haven't tried the basket yet.

I completely agree with Kellyan. Swaddle your baby AND use a sleep positioner!! Also, try transitioning your child to the crib during nap times, and see what happens if you put him to bed in his crib at night. We were extremely surprised when we put our son down for a late nap in his crib one evening, and he ended up sleeping most of the night there. He was three and a half months at the time, though, so that might be too much to expect with an 8 week old baby right now. Another thing to try is putting a warm heating pad over their sleeping place and removing it just before you lay them down. Babies like warm places, so putting them down on a cold sheet may be another reason he doesn't want to sleep where he is.

I have a 9 month old and by the time she was 4 weeks, I was asking her Pediatrician when we could move her to her crib. The answer: "Right away!" She also slept in a pack n play at the end of our bed and we all heard each other's every noise all night long. We moved her to her crib at 4 weeks and by 5 weeks, she was sleeping 8 hours at night. By 8 weeks, she was sleeping 10 hours at night, so it can be done and it will DEFINITELY help to have him in his own bed. Hang in there....it gets better! Good luck.

Start trying the crib - the pack and play bassinet feels very shaky on most models, he may not feel safe.

Maybe one of those bears that make a mommy-heartbeat noise?

As someone who still has one in her bed at 15 months, I encourage you to find something that works, because co-sleeping is great for some, but uncomfortable for me and my husband and we wish we hadn't started it. Good luck!

Amen ladies, great answers. Being a mom is the hardest job ever. If someone told you it would be easy, especially at 8 weeks, they lied. Be consistent, have a routine, allow yourself to listen to your baby cry, and trust your instincts. From past experience with 2 boys, it was about 2 weeks of pure heck before a routine was established. Routine works.Also, kids are cyclical, so they will sleep well for awhile and then all of a sudden they won't. But routine and consistency are the key.

Poor darlin'! :-( Sleep deprivation will rob you of your best intentions, won't it?

Best advice I got was, get the baby out of your room and into their own room ASAP, and invest in a good baby monitor. I couldn't have our baby, much as I love her, in our room; seemed like every little sound disturbed her, which in turn disturbed me. You wouldn't think it, but babies are just noisy sleepers. So within a couple weeks she was down the hall in her own room, and we got the Sony 9-channel monitor, which I would leave turned down so I could hear only the cries when she was hungry, and life was much easier after that. She also has slept with a noisemaker (small fan that runs constantly in her room) to drown out extra noise almost from the beginning.

My second thought was, man, I wouldn't want to sleep in a pack n play. :-) My daughter has done it on several trips , and occasionally at nap time when she was small, and she just doesn't sleep as well. I finally decided they're just not comfortable. She slept in a bassinette I bought used until she was about 8 weeks, and then we bought her the crib. She immediately slept better and longer (she's a thrash-around-and-stretch-er).

Hope this helps!
J. (mom of 22mo)

I agree with the Mom's who have mentioned the book "The Happiest Baby on the Block" We lived by this book at your babies age..She is now 9 months and a great night sleeper. We kept her swaddled ...pretty much up until about 6 months, when she could turn over on her own, then transitioned her to a Halo Sleep Sack. The second best investment besided the book is a "Miracle Blanket"(Basically swaddling for dummies..your baby can also not squirm out of this one in the middle of the night) This swaddling blanket is amazing...most babies want to feel snug...like they were in their Mamas tummy..and this helped comfort our little one tremendously...granted she would scream like crazy for a few seconds ...but then calmed down immdediately and slept so well. Hope this helps! Best of Luck to you!

K.

If this is a problem for you, FIX IT NOW! It will only get worse as time goes on. I consult with parents every day who co-sleep with their babies out of sheer exhaustion. In 8 short weeks of life, your son has learned that he has an option on where he sleeps. As his parent, you have to establish a boundary and teach him that your bed is not an option. It won't be easy, but it IS possible.
L.
Baby Answers (a division of NannyForNewborns.com)
Parenting Coach and Infant Sleep Trainer

Bless your heart! I just went through the same thing with my 5 month old. Good for you for making the transition at eight weeks, cuz it only gets harder...if you can believe that. My DD was making us completely nuts in the bed... and honestly I still sneak her in every now and then when she won't settle at 4am. Anyway, what we did was take the side off the crib and attach the crib to our bed so that the mattresses matched up mostly (no gaps, just a height difference). She slept right next to me, but in her crib and I gradually night after night moved her farther into her crib with reassuring little pats as needed. This process took two weeks of acclimation, before we moved the crib one foot over and attached the side. I could still provide her with reassuring little pats when needed. After a couple more weeks of this, we decided to 'rip off the bandaid' and moved her to her nursery all at once. That was the painful part...she has been up more frequently at night since this move and we are currently working on reducing these night wakings, but she is napping in their fine and goes into the crib without a peep everytime, which I consider a HUGE success. Good luck! And don't forget to pray about it...God's the best helper out there for this kind of stuff.

I know you are probably exhausted and you want to do whatever will get everyone some sleep but remember, if you do the hard work now, you'll won't have to deal with a five or six year old that is still sleeping with you. Is the baby restless because he's hungry maybe? I'm sure you've already been told to fill him up really good before he goes down for the night. I have an 8 year old and 15 month old twin boys and all three of them went straight to their cribs the day we arrived home from the hospital. My two little guys liked to be swaddled and placed in opposite corners of the crib so that one side and the top of their heads were nestled snuggly against the bumper pad. Also, I know a lot of the magazines and books say that babies should sleep on their backs but all three of mine were tummy sleepers from about 2 months on. I know, some of the moms reading this will cringe that I just admitted that but whatever got them through the night with restful sleep (and us, too) then we did it. On a side note, one of my little twins has been sleeping in the play pen sense about 4 months. I think he likes to cuddle into the netting. My other prefers the crib so it worked out perfectly for us. Best wishes for peaceful dreams very soon!

I agree with Julie. My son did not sleep well in his pack n play either. He was in our room for two weeks and then we moved him to his crib. It was a little hard the first couple days, but believe me he will start to sleep much better, and so will you. We keep classical music playing very softly in the background and have the ceiling fan going to provide some background noise for him. We also go the book " The Happiest Baby on the Block". It has alot of good suggestions. Good Luck!

Put him in his crib in his own room not yours. At 8 weeks, don't expect him to sleep much - my twins only slept 2 hours at a stretch at that time. He probably is colicy and doesn't feel well. You have to just walk him, but that should be stopping soon.

I know you are bone-tired, so you need to sleep when he does.

Good luck. It will get better with the little guy, but not for a while. Each night let him cry a little longer, offer a pacifier - but ONLY in bed.

I hear you that you don't want him in your bed... but on the other hand... if he sleeps great in your bed but doesn't sleep much at all anywhere else, and you want to get some sleep, why not let him sleep where he (and therefore, you) sleep best?!

I say this as a mom who has three children- all of whom slept best as little babies in my bed, and when they slept best, I slept best. (And they all grew out of that need and learned to sleep on their own, and I never listened to anyone scream for 20 minutes... very easy process by waiting until they outgrew the need first.)

He's just a tiny baby who was used to being in your womb, never being alone where he couldn't hear your heartbeat and feel your presence- no wonder he is more comforted being up close to you hearing your heartbeat and feeling your warmth and presence. He WILL outgrow it... but he is just a tiny baby right now.

They grow up so fast- mine are now 10, 6, and 3 and none of them sleep in my bed, nor have they for a long time. This is a temporary thing, I promise.

Happy sleeping!
D.
http://www.cherishbirth.com

Hi, I glanced over the other responses to your request, and I noticed no one had suggested a momma bear. It's a stuffed bear that plays womb sounds in the crib. I don't know if your baby may be too old for it at this stage or not. Hope this helps.

D.

Hi there!
I have two children a 6 year old and a 3 year old so I have been there done that! :) I would say the baby is probably not comfortable and the pack n play is just too big for an eight week old! I would buy a sleep positioner if you don't already have one and swaddle him in the crib! The sllep positioner will keep him "tucked in" and feeling warm and secure! Good luck!

I feel your pain, sister. My son wouldn't sleep the first 6 weeks of his life unless I was holding him or he was otherwise snuggled against me. My first child was not like this and slept easily anywhere. We only kept her in a bassinet in our room because it was easier for middle of the night feedings. As soon as she could sleep 6 hours in a row, she was in her crib.
So, perplexed by my son, and very, very tired, I bit the bullet one day and went against everything the American Academy of Pediatrics says....and I put him down for a nap on his tummy. I got a solid hour of peace.
However, if you really don't want to put him on his tummy, you will have to find a way to perservere for about 3 or 4 days in a row to train him to sleep without you. First off, in my experience, a baby under 12 weeks old really can't comfort or soothe himself very well, and you can't "spoil" him. It's perfectly ok (and necessary) to comfort him when he cries. As far as getting him to sleep without sleeping ON you:
One method I've heard of is to actually hold him for an entire nap at the same time every day so he gets used to sleeping at that time. This will tie you down for an hour or so, but it worked for my friend. Once you've spent about 3 days doing this, put him down for the nap. Comfort him when he cries, pick him up if he's frantic, but don't hold him long.
The more common way is to put him down for his nap (and you should notice his signs of tiredness before he gets to all-out wailing. If you wait til then, he's actually OVER tired and will have a harder time falling asleep). Then you keep coming back to soothe him every 5 or 10 minutes until he falls asleep and stays asleep. It could take a couple hours the first time, but should take less and less time.
Good luck! Hang in there! You'll barely remember this in 6 months.

I've been there and done that! Our son hated his pack n play. He also hated his crib. At six weeks, we invested in a swing, and he loved it. He slept there exclusively until he was four months. I found the book "The Happiest Baby on the Block" helped us the most when dealing with his sleep issues. Best wishes to you, and may sleep come soon!

Shan

Hi J.,
I believe this is very normal, and you should not get to stressed over the fact that your baby is not sleeping in his pack and play yet. I believe the baby is just to young still and is adjusting to life outside the womb. I would recommend getting a motorized bassinet and letting him sleep in the same room. You can try getting him used to a crib when he is around four months old and than trying to sleep in his old room. For naps I would stronly just putting him in a swing or bouncey seat. My son didn't start sleeping in his crib until five months.
Hang in there! You're worrying to much.

Hi J.,

I had a similiar situation. (she didnt sleep in our bed but she wouldn't sleep unless I was holding her...so I thought.)Turns out my baby just didn't like her co-sleeper. Once I realized that it was ok to put her down, she fell in love with her crib.

8 weeks is really young.....my pediatrician said that you cannot spoil a baby that young. (My friend, that has a Masters in Early Childhood Education, said that you will be able to tell when your child gets to the age when he is manipulating you with his crying.)

It wouldnt hurt to give all of these a try......put him in his; car seat, swing, stand under the ceiling fan and rock him until he falls asleep, walk outside with him for a few minutes when he crys, go into a different room, (sometimes a room/atmosphere change does the trick.) Or try lulling him to sleep with a crib toy. (mine loves her Fisher Price Ocean Wonders Aquarium)

I think that the suggestion of having a consistant nightime routine is the best. Do the same thing with him every night, and he will learn it is bedtime and go to sleep where you want him to.

I know its hard, especially since you are not getting much sleep......keep the faith, YOU WILL get more sleep and so will he.

I bought "On Becoming Babywise" and it helped us a lot, too.
Good luck
T.

My advice is to cosleep. I haven't read all the responses, but I can tell you what we did with our ds. We started with an arm's reach co-sleeper. It's safe and keeps the baby close by for all those feedings. If you breastfeed, they're great because you can just scoot the baby next to you and then scoot him back.

My ds was allergic to cribs -- no kidding. I tried and tried to transition him but nothing (and I mean nothing) worked. Some kids are like that and I think it's genetic. My dh didn't sleep well as a baby and my ds has a cousin who is a week younger and keeps the same hours as my ds. My sil keeps her dd in a crib down the hall and gets up every night and is a walking train wreck during the day. We kaep our ds with us in bed and get a lot more sleep.

I know some people will mention "baby training" however, this does not work for A LOT of babies. It didnt' work for us. When ds was still tiny I mentioned to my Dr about his sleep, etc. and she said her 3rd son was the same way. She co-slept and this made all the difference to her as well. The bottom line is whatever gets you some sleep not what some "expert" tells you kwim?? If you dc sleeps better with you, then do that.

Go buy the Amazing Miracle Blanket. It is a swaddling blanket that will work wonders. I had the same problem, except my son would startle himself awake. I read about the blanket online and thought it sounded too good to be true. But I was desperate! It costs about $30 but it helps them feel so secure. I actually went out and bought another one a couple of weeks later so if he dirtied one, the other was always available. You can go to their website and find stores around here that sell them or you can order online.