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jennnic7
02-21-2004, 02:00 AM
My 6 1/2 month old still sleeps with us, and I still breastfeed her. She still wakes up at night to eat too. Its really easy cause she does sleep with me, so I dont have to get out of bed. I really want to know how I should start putting her down in her crib. Should I start out slowly with naps first? Oh yeah and whenever she is ready for bed I breastfeed her to sleep. SO I am really worried that she is never going to fall asleep on her own. Please help. Any suggestions are appreciated.

squimp
03-14-2004, 04:22 PM
We're in the same boat - so I have a few suggestions. But hopefully the veterans on this board can help. Our baby is 5 months old and sleeps happily with us. She's been able to sleep long stretches since she was born, and seems to sleep best this way. (I actually get more sleep now than before she was born because we go to sleep together!) But eventually we want to move her into the crib.

We're trying naps in her crib, so she gets used to the environment. I'm going to wait until a bit later for the crib at night, until she shows that she can soothe herself back to sleep. Sometime between 7 and 9 months, we're going to start the transition to the crib.

You also may want to try putting your baby down when she seems sleepy, rather than fully asleep. It's hard, but I try to do this for her a.m. nap, when she's really sleepy. Sometimes she'll fuss herself to sleep. I think it's an important skill to learn.

There are lots of different perspectives out there. You may want to read a few sleep books, just to get some ideas (I've read Pantley's "No cry sleep solution" and Weissbluth's "Healthy Sleep Habits,..."). There are suggestions for transitioning from the family bed in both books.

megulis
04-12-2004, 10:21 PM
I was hoping for more suggestions also.

About a month ago, we successfully transitioned our son for a week to sleep for 10 hours in his crib. However, our success became a total failure when I caved in and let him sleep again with me. I thought he was teething, but I think we tend to attribute all his quarkiness to teething.

Anyways, for a bit he wasn't even taking naps in his crib although the last week he has been taking 1-3 hour naps. I am trying to gradually get him to feel comfortable in his crib. Today while he was stirring, he accidentally kicked on his FP aquarium. The sound from the aquarium seemed to calm him down, and that prolonged his nap for another 30 minutes.

I tend to make sure he is totally asleep, and then very carefully take him into the crib. I sometimes keep my hand under him for a bit and then very slowly take it away. Also, I feed him to naps, so that when I hold him afterwards I kind of keep him in my arms till he seems like he isn't stirring anymore. Sometimes each step can take 10-15 minutes.

While he is awake, I kind of let him play by himself little chunks of time. I am not always in the room with him, so he knows that even if I am not in the room with him I am not far away.

I hope to get more suggestions! Thanks in advance!