Advice Getting Co-sleeper into Own Bed

my boys have all coslept with me and I agree if you don't find a way to transition them for naps at least the you don't get much rest.

The bed time routine helped us a lot then we relied on the carseat/carrier to keep them on their back. We even put the carrier on the stroller so we could jiggle it to soothe them back to sleep before transitioning to a bassinet which we could jiggle as well.

I also put a tshirt I had worn over the crib mattress so he could smell me then put rolled blankets on his sides to give him the feeling of being held.

I have a 9 week old baby who was co-sleeping and refuses to sleep on his back. That's a whole other message in itself. LOL! We are starting to make the transition to him sleeping on his own. I have found that, at least for me, the bedtime routine is what is important. He doesn't seem to mind where he goes down for the night as long as we take a bath, have a bottle and a story and then it's lights out. And as much as I wanted to exclusively breastfeed, sleep is very important also so I started giving him formula at night. It takes longer to digest than breastmilk so he sleeps longer. Maybe you might want to give that a try also. Good luck!

My cousins little boy would also not sleep on his back. They found out later that he has acid reflux and prefered it because he was not in pain while sleeping on his stomach. Their doctor was not concerned because he did not have any of the risk factors for SIDS.

Well, i agree she is to young for crying it out. But i would reccomd trying to get her to sleep on her own asap. My son is 8 month old and he still sleeps with us (lowers head down in shame) we have reason though (not enough room for him and his siter won't share a room with him). I would suggest just to do what you feel right, and what is right with your baby.
I mean heck when i was a kid they docs recommended babies to sleep on there tummys but now its the back. So honestly i'm not sure if they even know how babies should sleep. I would just go with what your are comfortable with.

My son refused to sleep on his back. My doc said that if they can't turn over to their tummies, sleeping on their side is acceptable. Mine slept only on his side until he got old enough to turn over on his own, then he was on his tummy ALL the time. He still at nearly two won't sleep on his back.

Check out this link: http://www.onestepahead.com/catalog/product.jsp?siteId=11.... My daughter slept with us the first 1 and 1/2 years of her life. She transitioned to a toddler bed by having the toddler bed right next to ours, at the foot of it. She does still sleep in our room, but her area is partitioned off from us. We will probably continue the arrangement until after we move to a house that is more secure. Sleeping with your child shouldn't be a problem unless you aren't comfortable with it, you are a deep, heavy sleeper (I'm not), or you are on medication that makes it unsafe. Do what you need to do to ensure her safety and your peace of mind.
One of the nice things about having her at least in the same room has been that she has always slept through the night, I've always felt good about comforting her (until about the age of 2-2.5, when the zombie night terrors started and talking to her made it worse), and I enjoy our morning cuddle.

My husband and I ran into the same thing. Our daughter is now 6mths old but when she was a newborn she slept in our room in a bassinet but then she went through a phase where she wouldn't sleep unless she was in bed with us. We were fine with that because we needed our sleep too and that was the only way we got it :) After a few months we moved her into her own room & in her crib, it wasn't as easy as I was hopeing it would be but the key things I learned were : have a specific betime routine and do it every night, if she wakes up in the middle of the night get her (change her, feed her etc) don't talk to her and when she is taken care of put her back into her crib. You may have to get up a few extra times the first few nights but eventually she will sleep in her own room :) As far as on her stomach - I think you have to do what you feel comfortable with. I personally don't want my daughter to sleep on her stomach until she can roll over consitantly by herself but that's just me. Whatever your choice is I am sure it will be the right one for you and your family.

I don't care what people say. My son has slept on his stomach from the day we brought him home because that is the only way he would sleep. He is in his own crib in my room. I will move him to his own room when he can crawl. When I was a kid that was the only way infants were supposed to sleep, was on their stomach. I think it is your call.

Hi M.,
Well I know alot of people are not gonna agree with me on this but if this is the only way to get her to sleep than go with it. Also when you do lay her down have you tried laying her on her side and putting a blanket behind her and then wrapping one around her waist don't know if it will help. My daughter just turned 4 months the 12th of march and I can't get her to lay on her stomach when she is awake she gets REALLY mad so during the day I've been laying her on her stomach for naps. I have a little girl that I have watched since she was 6 months old and her mother has put her on her tummy from the day she was born she wouldn't sleep on her back and still won't, she is 19 months now. I was so nervous laying her on her tummy since I'm a home child care provider. I wouldn't leave the room. pretty soon she would just turn over to her tummy the minute she laid down. I have a little boy now who I will lay down on his back and he will automatically turn to his tummy. You have to be doing something right in order to get her to sleep thru the night. W.

My daughter never slept on her back. She would wake up every 20 minutes if she did. We ended up putting her on stomach and she never woke up. Recently we found she has sleep apnea and sleeping on her back makes it worse and her ENT said that could have been part of the problem with her not sleeping when she was an infant on her back. I would try putting her on her side at first and if that doesnt work then I would put her on her belly. I don't see anything wrong with doing what is most comfortable for your baby as long as you keep an eye on her. Hope it works out for you.

Hugs
J.

Have you thought about having the crib in your bedroom? Each one of my girls slept in the same room with us until about 3 months old. Then we felt comfortable enough to move them to their own rooms. My first daughter who is 5 yrs now. Was the same way, I ended up letting her sleep on her tummy from about 2 weeks on. If your daughter can turn her head well enough that she isn't face down in her bed then I would say its ok to let her sleep on her tummy. Also I have a this thing that my 7 month old sleeps in that has two cushion type things one on each side of her. When she was born the nurses told us she likes her boundries and come to find out she would not sleep without something on each side of her and at her feet. She wasn't a swaddler either but she liked knowing that there was something around her it also prevents her from rolling onto her tummy. Its great for newborns! So you might want to try two small stuffed animals on either side of her kind of lower on her sides not by her head or a rolled up receiving blanket or cloth diapers

I used the same co-sleeper as Jamie E (OneStepAhead). We loved it so much, I bought one for a friend when she had her baby. We had our baby sleep in the co-sleeper with us when we first brought him home. (He did sleep on his back & loved to be swaddled.) Then we moved him, in the co-sleeper, to the bassinet next to our bed. It worked great! Since he was still in the co-sleeper, he didn't notice the move to the bassinet. We also kept the room really dark & had a floor fan on for noise. Good luck!

Does she like her swing? If so, you might try that. We had to do that with one of our daughter's who had colic. This gave her the feeling of being held. We also used a wedge sleeper that would keep her sleeping on her side. The wedge would be on either side of her and make her feel like we were there.

Hi M., I have co-slept with all of my children until they would sleep a good portion of the night. I think that transitions are harder on parents then babies. You could try putting one of your shirts in the crib with her. She will smell your scent and think u are there. If she completly fights it then around bed time take her for a drive, or put her in a swing until she falls asleep.Then move her. I have all sorts of temperments of children, and didn't really have problems getting them out of my bed. Oh yeah, u could move the crib in your room if its not already there. That seems to help.

At eight weeks I'm guessing she is a lot more resilient to change than you may guess. With the swaddling, if she is wriggling out of the blanket, then she needs a better blanket. If she just cries and resists emphatically, well then swaddling is not her thing, for sure. I also don't think it is a huge deal to let her sleep on her tummy. If there are no other factors that could lead to SIDS (blankets, pillows, second hand smoke, etc.)then I say go for it. Lots of babies aren't capable of sleeping through the night without waking until they are closer to 6-9 months, so expect her to go through spells of night waking.

My thoughts are a little disjointed here but I guess I am saying, keep trying to help her learn to self soothe (try different pacifiers, blankets - www.miracleblanket.com - or music), place her crib or co-sleeper in a close locale, let her lie on her tummy if that works for you and expect her to have some occasional night waking spells since she is still so small. I agree that she is too little for CIO but another fabulous sleep book is Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Baby by Dr. Marc Weissbluth. He details sleep patterns and issues by age and is a great guidebook.

I would go with putting the crib or starting with co-sleeper bed in your room first and then transition her out. Although, you will be surprised what they can adapt too! ;o) Then I would start slowing moving her out of your bed. Maybe start with naps. I would wait until she is 'really" asleep then move her into her bed. But, to be honest, whatever you are comfortable with then please be. If you like to have the family bed style, then keep with that. I recommend the No Cry Sleep Solution by Elizabeth Pantley. Great read and great advice...also Dr. Sears is a great resourse on co-sleeping.
Enjoy your little bundle. They grow fast!