Ready to Move 6Month Old to Crib. Help!!!

Hi E.,
I'm very interested in the responses you will receive. I'm about to move my 5 1/2 month old to a crib. I hope to continue nursing. I've heard conflicting information- one that you should only make one change at a time and also that you should do everything at once.
Good luck!
liz

Hi E. My experience has been that making one change at a time is the easiest for the child! If you don't care which of the two comes first, I would make the transition to the crib first (because as they get older they become more opinionated about where they sleep:-)) So crib first, but keep the nursing schedule for at least another 2 weeks. If all goes well, take the next step. Some kids get used to the big space of the crib pretty quickly, some take lots of convincing. Also, if you plan to move your child to the crib and to his own room, I would do it one at a time too. The rule of thumb is to keep something familiar for him when you give him something new, and that helps soften the change for him. For example, I moved the cradle to the new room from our room, and left it right next to the big crib for a week before moving my baby to the crib. In your case, you may want to keep the crib in your room so your son gets used to the crib before moving him to his new room... Just a thought. Adults prefer changing everything at once, but my experience has been that kids... not so much:) Good luck

We moved my son to his own crib at 4 months old. I continued to nurse him usually just once in the middle of the night (sometimes more depending on if he was teething, etc). But lucky for us he seemed to LOVE his crib and it didn't take much coaxing to get him acclimated. The extra space and being able to move around freely within the crib (when he started getting more mobile) was something he loved. Nap time was a little more difficult as he was a swing napper for the most part but after a few attempts of rocking him and then putting him down he got used to it. I think it all comes down to just being consistent. I didn't stop nursing him in the middle of the night until he was 9 months old. I often wonder if I could've done it sooner but was afraid to stop. The thing that worked for me was that I started giving him a full lunch as well as breakfast and dinner. He was only having a snack at lunch time aside from his nursing at lunch time so the day I gave him a full lunch was the night that he made it through the night without nursing. He woke up, but only for his pacifier and then went straight back to sleep. Not sure if your son takes a paci, but that helped me out in getting him to go back to sleep without nursing.

I had a hard time with doing more than one change in my son's life at a time, but more power to you if it works out for you. Good Luck! :)

Hi E.,
If you feel that you are ready to introduce him to his new sleeping area along with stop nursing him at night, there's is nothing wrong with that. We did it to all our children and it helped out a lot breaking it early than waiting till it's too late then it will becomes more different...however, he is still young and might be in need of that nutrition at night.

You may want to purchase books on prodigy & advanced children, crystal & indigo children. Most children born at this time are advanced and require more. You may want to play with non traditional ideas of how to move your child to his own room and bed.

Be well.

N.

I remember going through this with me son. What worked for my son was doing baby steps towards sleeping in his big crib. The empty space around them I think is too much to handle for some babies. He slept in a co-sleeper in our bedroom til 4.5 months. Maybe you can try what we did and first introduce him to sleeping in his room for his naps while in his co-sleeper. We put my son's co-sleeper next to the big crib so he would get use to seeing it and being in his room. Then you can gradullly go into overnight sleeping in his room while in his co-sleeper.
Then try putting him in his crib after a few days or a week for nap times then go into overnight sleeping in his crib. Too much at once for my kid was too shocking so we had to adjust to what worked for him. I'm sure it will be the same for your baby. It takes time. I remember it wasn't easy but my husband and I stuck to our guns. We needed to reclaim our bedroom back so we could relax and have a good sleep.
Lots of luck and I hope you find something that works for baby and you! :)

my son did both when he was about seven months old, but i think it was a fluke!!
what happened was he couldnt sleep in our bed anymore, he would just scream and was uncomfortable! one night i just couldnt stand it anymore so i put him in his swing and accidentally left him in it all night swinging(right next to our bed of course) because i had fallen asleep. i woke up at 7am and he was still fast asleep! didnt wake up once! so i thought i would try it again the next night. i nursed him really good right before bedtime (around 8pm for us) and stuck him in his swing once he was calm. he fell right to sleep once the swing started going and stayed asleep unless it stopped. he didnt wake up to nurse at all and he slept 12 hours!!
i figured out that the reason he liked being in the swing was because he had acid reflux and couldnt sleep laying flat. although to this day he is a GREAT sleeper.

you have to hear everyones stories and find a good combination that will suit you and your child. thats what i found out. each of my kids were very different.

good luck

When do you nurse throughout the day? evening?

Your son can go to sleep at 7pm, maybe even 6:30pm if his nap has been awhile. Go through a bedtime routine before the designated bedtime- bath, jammies, (teeth), (book)- whatever you decide- make it simple! Then, feed him a FULL feeding in a dimly lit room- try to limit distractions is that is realistic- maybe get your 3 year old ready for bed at the same time and then have her read a book in her bed while you feed your son and then go tuck her in... Then, put him down in his crib and close the door. You may want to think about his sleep environment: http://www.lullabyluna.com/2008/12/happy-new-year.html.

Go get him at 7am. Of course there may be some crying as he complains about any change, but this is complaining- it doesn't mean he is hungry or hurt... He is adjusting and finding the way to soothe himself to sleep. This is a very important skill- let him have the time to discover it.

C., mother of 3, sleep consultant, sleep blog writer

Hi E.,

The easy part will move your son into his crib. Just do it. As far as stopping to nurse him at night, I think you have to play that by ear. Hopefully if he can have a large enough meal before bed time ( do you have him on any solids?), that will help. Also- when you hear him stirring in the night, don't run over to the crib right away. See if he'll resume sleeping. If he's really hungry though, then you'll have to feed him.