Isaac has been sleeping in our room for the past 3 months and I am starting to wonder if it's time to move him to a crib in his own room down the hall. He wakes up a couple times at night to eat.
So, here are the questions for all of you more experienced parents out there. At what age did you move your baby into a crib? What about into his own room?
And lastly, on a somewhat related note, how many of you did any kind of sleep training? If you did, what age did you start it and what method did you use?
Okay, thanks in advance for your shared wisdom.
18 comments:
John and I would put the baby in their own crib in their own room when they were sleeping through the night. It was easier for me to keep them near me when I was up several times a night. During the day when they would take their longer naps it was also in their cribs so they would get used to them.
Not sure my experience counts since it was so long ago, but babies are babies even though the common wisdom will change. I never slept a baby in my room, even newborn, and I put the baby in the crib from the start--well, Leslie was still in the big crib when Laura was born, so Laura was in the portacrib for a few months. I was hyper-sensitive to baby cries, so I didn't worry about not waking up. As for sleep training, the only training I did was to allow the baby to cry awhile and see if he/she would go back to sleep. Good luck! Aunt Lynda
Pru was in a bassinet until about 3 months and then it was to her own room and crib. However we might have moved her earlier if it weren't for the tiny apartment and move we made in those first 3 months....
Sleep training...didn't do anything official. I still sit with Pru and give her milk and rock with her before naps and bedtime. It just a habit for us now so we keep doing it. But she's a fairly good sleeper regardless.
Our two kids both started out in a crib in their own room. We always heard them when they cried. We didn't sleep train really until they were a few months old at least I think.
Ash went to a crib in his own room at 3 weeks. As far as sleep training, we used the Baby Whisperer book. That book was a lifesaver for me. I wish there was something for us now that we are struggling with night terrors.
No decent advice here. Blah. Ansley still doesn't sleep through the night but it's awesome that she's finally sleeping in her crib. I will have to check back for advice from others. :) Looking back I guess she did okay around three months (still waking up a few times a night) until she learned to roll from her back to her stomach. She refused to turn her head and would just cry into the mattress, come up for a breath of air/scream, and cry into the mattress some more. The pediatrician said to just let her cry but I couldn't do it.
Use your instincts. Sleeping in your room is purely for your convenience. So, when you are ready to move him do it. You can sleep train from birth. My docs advice was to put him down when he was groggy but awake so he learns to fall asleep by himself. Regular schedules take care of the rest. Not that I have much experience....
I only tried the basinet with the second, but didn't like it as much as just getting them used to their crib from the beginning.
I would agree with "Austin's Mommy" about the sleep training. I started with the last 3 kids when they were 2-3 months old. I never did anything with my oldest but rock him to sleep and by the time I was too pregnant to rock him anymore I laid by him in bed (he was 17 months old--we needed the crib for the next one :) ) And I decided I couldn't do this with all my kids.
I really like the book "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Baby." But I only read it once and used the things I agreed with :) It really worked though. I can tell you my kids hardly ever cried when they went to sleep. The younger you start, the faster they learn, and less crying.
First two went to the crib in their own room around 2 months. I had a rocking chair in their room so I could nurse them when they woke up. Third one was on an apnea monitor for reflux 24/7 for the first 3 1/2 months. I was so exhausted all the time (the older two weren't that old!) I let her nurse while I slept. That wouldn't have worked for mw with the first. I wasn't used to a little one in bed. It freaked me out and wouldn't have been wise. By the third I was used to it. She slept in our bed most of the night for the first 4 months before moving to the crib. From then on the rule was that everyone had to go to sleep in her own bed. Then we'd deal with it from there. We tried some different "sleep training" methods, but they didn't work well for any of us. None of our babies were great sleepers and I really need decent sleep to live through the rest of life. So we did what we had to in order to survive. We started sending #1 back to her own bed when we caught her in ours during the night when she was a few years old. By 5 or 6 years old she just didn't come in any more because she (finally!) slept well enough most of the time. #3, despite her extended time in our bedroom during her first year, was the easiest. The same week she finished potty training she just quit coming in to our bed in the middle of the night! It is extremely rare for her to come in any more. #2 is an entirely different matter. She still sneaks in at least once every night. Yes, she's 6 years old! She struggled with night terrors in her toddler years which were awful, and still gets good ole nightmares sometimes. Any time we catch her in our bed we just send her back to her room. Sometimes she just waits until she thinks we're back to sleep and tiptoes back to our bed, lol. So she's still a work on progress.
Basically, we gathered all the information we could then did what worked best for us. May not be the "best" way to do it, but every family and every child is unique. I decided to give up the guilt of not "letting" my children scream and all that. (Tried that -- they don't seem to ever wear out, but after an hour or so they do manage to start throwing up from the screaming. SO not worth it.)
I seem to recall putting Walter in his own room at two months. He was really good about falling asleep by himself until he was about seven months old and got a vicious cold that wrecked everything. A long while after he recovered, exhaustion caused us to let him cry it out. I hated it, but remember laying in bed and literally being too tired to get up. When he got a little older I learned that it was best to run in and soothe him, because if left alone he would become hysterical and would take 15-20 minutes for me to calm him down. He eventually grew out of that too and now going to bed is one of the only times of the day he doesn't make me want to rip my hair out. :)
I'm going to try the Baby Whisperer method for Lars, but would love suggestions on putting a baby in with a toddler, as they will be sharing a room.
I put my little man into his own room probably pretty close to 4 months, he was sleeping through the night. He came back into my room when he got sick though because I was paranoid and slept better where I could hear him breathing. We just did a schedule and he goes to bed (usually) just fine. I nursed him to sleep until 12 months and then put him into his bed where he rolled over and went to sleep.
When E got RSV last winter, he stopped sleeping through the night but only woke up once to nurse. At about 10 months I decided it was more habit than need and forced him to sleep. I spent a week of miserable nights, him screaming for an hour, but I learned that I had to completely ignore him (pillow over head, watching the clock) and it only took a week before he stopped waking up.
Do whatever works for you. I think routine is the best. If you have a bedtime routine, they start winding down naturally and going to bed isn't a big deal. It is just the next step.
I slept so much better and so did the baby when I moved them to their own room, probably about 2 months with Dallin. I didn't jump at every little cry or movement like I had, and the baby also slept longer. So, I put Carley and Peter in their own room right from the start. I also let them cry a little longer each time they woke up to see if they'd go back to sleep on their own. This seemed to help, and often I'd find they went back to sleep on their own. Naptimes are also a good time to let them lie down and go to sleep on their own. Obviously you don't want them to cry more than 5 or 10 minutes. I guess as you get more kids, you don't notice every little cry and it gets easier to let them comfort themselves. I'm not sure if that helps, but you also have to trust your insticts and your own baby and do what works for them.
5-6 mo. is my 2 cents. When we introduce solids I no longer breast feed at night because they should be getting all they need through the day. I also wear an ipod and let them cry it out a bit if necessary. As I re-read this I sound so mean, but it has worked for our sanity/privacy.
Yeah -- I have no advice to offer. I stink at sleep training and getting kids into their own bed. I did try letting Megan just cry it out and she would throw up she would get so upset. I also do whatever I have to get sleep.
Sandy!
I am no expert, but this is what we have done and has worked with both kids. Here is what we did with Izzy. She was in our room for the first 2 months. Then I moved her into her own room at 2 months. I never rocked her to sleep, I fed her, put her in the crib and let her put herself to sleep. This is so tricky and you have to do it early on otherwise they remember that you will hold them and rock them to sleep. She would wake up 2-3 times at night. I would go in sit on a rocking chair with a boppy and feed her and put her back in the crib and let her fall asleep. It will be hard at first but let her cry for at least 10 minutes before getting him.
Good luck!!!
I have already given you my input, but I will say this...don't rock to sleep. As much as that is nice when they are small (I liked it as much as Jeremiah did) it turned into a big power struggle and not so nice moment when I was still trying to rock him to sleep for naps when he was one and almost two. Not so good. He gave his naps up earlier than any of my other kids because of the bad routine we got into. What is strange, is that we did not rock him to sleep at night time and we did have a good routine for that. We were wierdies, I know.
Both my kids were in my room until 3 months. Then I moved them into their own room and crib and just walked across the house the few times a night. I honestly didn't really do any sleep training. On certain night if they kept getting up over and over for no reason I would start leaving them there because I was tired, but I just really play it by ear. Sleeping patterns change so much with them, especially when they're having growth spurts or teething or whatever.
I just read all the good advice you got. I obviously have no experience or real advice in this area. All I have is some info from a handout about SIDS that I got at PCMC. It says, "Keep your baby's crib in the room where you sleep until he is at least 6 months old." It doesn't say why. But I'm pretty sure I'm paranoid enough to heed the advice.
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