If your dc's co-slept with you, how did you get them to sleep in their OWN bed?

[zephyr]

So we co-slept with ds for almost two years and I am really ready for him to move on to a toddler bed. Problem is, he loves sleeping in our bed and is pretty stubborn when we put him in his crib. Any ideas or suggestions to successfully move him over to his own space? I know with him being almost 2 years old that it will definitely be harder than if he was younger. Help!

[MommyAllison]

We started transitioning DD into her own bed a month or two after her first birthday, so a little earlier. But what we did was put a twin mattress on the floor next to our bed and I would nurse her to sleep there, then climb into our bed after she fell asleep. Repeat throughout the night. :) A few months later, we moved her mattress to her room, and did the same thing. (Her room is right next to ours, and shares a common wall) A few months later, we brought her actual bed frame in and put the mattress up there, doing the same thing again (with pillows on the floor). We only did each step as she was comfortable, but it did move along fairly quickly. Sometimes I'd end up on her mattress for several hours, if I fell asleep before getting up. Good luck!

[new_mommy25]

We did it somewhere around my DS's second birthday. He went into a twin bed and his room is right across from mine.

Things we did:
New sheets to get him excited about his bed.
Started a solid bedtime routine (pjs, story, brush teeth etc.)
I would lay with him until he fell asleep.

The first few months he woke up CONSTANTLY. Everytime I would get up a lay with him in his bed and soothe him. It was really exhausting, moreso because I was pregnant. Many mornings I would awake and find myself with him in his bed. I don't recall how long it took but gradually he would wake up less and less and by the time my DD was born (DS was 2 yrs. 8 mo.) he was sleeping through the night.

Good luck!

[brittone2]

DS coslept w/ us until he was a tiny bit over 3. DD was born a few months before DS turned 3. We all coslept in our king for a few months because I didn't want him to associate the new baby's arrival w/ moving out of our bed.

We got a room ready for him, and kept expectations low. If it happened, it happened, but we weren't willing to make it a battle. He helped pick out sheets, a comforter, paint color for his room, etc.

With only the most gentle encouragement, he was able to start sleeping in there. For the first 1-2 weeks, he would call for someone and DH would sleep in there with him (DS has a Queen bed). It gradually got to be less and less. He would call for someone and was okay if we'd just go in and lay with him for a few minutes. Within 2-3 months he was sleeping through the night it was an easy and gentle transition, because he was ready.

Several cosleeping moms here and IRL reassured me that when they are ready, it can be a pretty painless and easy transition, and for us, that was the case. DH and I were shocked at how well it went overall.

[ThreeofUs]

We're still working on this, but like Beth, we're slowly transitioning DS to sleeping by himself in his own bed.

It's actually pretty funny. At this point, 4 of our 5 bedrooms are under renovation and/or are being used as storage. The only bedroom we have left is DS's. So, DS is sleeping in his bed (where he was always put to sleep), DH is on the top bunk, and I'm sleeping on a mattress on the floor (because I get up and down so much).

DS is learning to sleep in his own bed, by himself, though he comes and gets hugs from me during the night. And it's pretty gentle, because we're both in there with him. If he needs us to snuggle, we're there, but then we get up and let him sleep alone. He's doing really well, and sleeping through most of the night now.

As we move back into the renovated rooms (slowly...), we'll be trying to gently encourage him to sleep in his own room by himself. But, of course, if he needs us we'll be there for him.

Good luck!

[Gena]

I transitioned DS from co-sleeping to sleeping in his crib when he was about 20 months. I started by having him sleep in the Pack-N-Play next to my side of the bed. That way he was sleeping in his own space, but I could still reach out and comfort him during the night. After a while I moved the PNP to the other side of the room. Then I moved the PNP into his room. The last step was putting him down in the crib instead of the PNP.