Baby Only Sleeps in Swing!

Sounds like all three of mine little guys. Just keep trying the crib and she'll eventually get used to it. Now my 5 mth old won't have anything to do with his swing and he slept in it all the time just a few mths ago. You really can't mess up it's all trial and error.
R.

Hi D.,
My second child (out of 4) was like that. She was very demanding in that I could never take her in public without her screaming, had to be held in a certain way and wouldn't sleep in her bassinett. We finally just let her sleep in her swing. And when she was good and asleep, we moved her to her bassinett. I nursed, and none of my kids slept through the night until after they were a year old, (when they were weaned). So she would wake up probably an hour or 2 after putting her in her bed and it would be time to eat, then (some mothers may frown at me for this), I would nurse her in the bed and when she fell back asleep we would put her back in her bassinett. It worked for us,and I could get more rest, and she eventually outgrew it. She's now 4 years old and sleeps the whole night in her own bed in another room, (and she's ver easy going now! :)
Maybe this will help, Good luck to you, and God Bless!
Take care,
V.

My daughter was the same way and we just let her do it. I mean, what's it hurt. She felt nice and cozy in it and eventually she moved to the crib about four months.... now she's in a phase where she likes to sleep on the sofa. Again, what's it matter????

My husband and I think part of it was at such a young age she liked to sleep partially sitting up so that the stuff in her tummy stayed down better.

Hi!

I agree with Faith R...a routine works wonders. I have a 3 yr old who was sleeping through the night at 6 weeks and a 7 week old who has been sleeping through the night since he was about 2 weeks old. I believe it's because I started the routine sooner with him. He takes a nap in his crib every day the same time as my 3 yr old. Other than bedtime he's not in his crib. I have a glider that he sits in while we eat but I alternate him laying on the couch, holding him, going for a ride in the car (in his carseat of course) so he doesn't get used to any one thing except nap time and bedtime which are consistent. It's hard because you have to schedule your day around their routine, but it works wonders! My 3 yr old is now so versatile she naps anywhere and goes to bed anywhere right on schedule.

I feel your pain. My daughter is now 20 mos, but she didn't sleep through the night until she was about 11 mos old. She too LOVED the swing. Unfortunately there are no "tricks" that work the same for every baby. Babies sleep through the night at all different ages. But eventually, it just boils down to when you are ready for them to "cry it out." You can either chose to go through it now or later, that is up to you. In my opinion 3 mos. old is still a little young. They're still so small and just trying to get their needs met. A book that is really helpful is "happiest baby on the block" if you haven't read it yet.

3 months old is still itty bitty to be sleeping through the night. My first didn't sleep through until 4 months, and my second was 6 months. Both of mine were the same with sleeping in the swing. They have that "falling" reflex when they are on their back flat so i think it helps them to feel more secure. I would always start them out at night in the crib and then after the next feeding, they would end up in the swing so I could get some sleep. At this point I think you do what works to get them to sleep. By the time she's 4-5 months old you will see she will start losing that startling reflex and do better in the crib. Good luck!!! :)

You are not alone. 4 out of my 4 kids slept in a swing. Now they are 12, 9. 6, and 4 and they all sleep in beds. Through the night. THis is what I did. I let them sleep in the swing. I needed to sleep and needed energy for the others. Some babies don't self soothe and I always blamed my husband for this gene as he doesn't fall asleep that easily either. You do what works for you and your household. Best advice I ever got. Each child started sleeping in a crib at a different time, too. But 3 out of 4 were in a crib by 6 months. The more you fuss, the harder it will be because you will be so frustrated, and she will sense your tension. Make her room very comfy, cool and dark. Get a sound machine. Put it in there while she is sleeping in the swing. Get her used to the sound. I also slept in their room at night because I didn't like letting them sleep in the swing without someone there. Catch up on your sleep; that is the most important part. You need to be rested to be sane, and deal with her in a calm, matter-of-fact manner.
Then when you feel up to it, let her fall asleep in the swing. Make sure she is good and asleep,(usually around 20 minutes) then move her to her bed. If and when she wakes up,if it is not time for a feeding or having a dirty diaper, put her back in the swing and start over. Do not talk to her or wake her up in any manner. (You can kiss her all you want when she fusses; I did, I just didn't talk). By 6 months they were sleeping through the night(5-6 hours before a feeding). Anyone who has not personally experienced a swing sleeper just cannot understand. This can be a trying time, but if this is the worst thing you are going through with her right now, you'll be fine. Like I said, all of my kids did this, and the only one it took a while to break had other issues as well. the most important part is that you get some rest so you can deal with this. Don't listen to those who haven't gone through it, they can try to make you feel as if you are doing something wrong.
Feel free to email me with any questions you may have...

I don't know if it will help, but you may want to try a white noise CD. It has various types of background sounds such as Vacuum cleaners, washing machines, etc...
I couldn't get my little (she is 4yrs. now) to sleep, in the swing, or anywhere else, until I ran my vacuum one day, and boom, out like a light.
You may want to try either that, or those waterfall, steam, ocean wave cd's.

Good luck, I hope you are able to get her out of the swing soon.

That is the only way that my kids would sleep as well. It might be a pain for you to have your baby sleep in the swing but I have always said why interrupt something that works. All 3 of my kids slept in their swings until they were about 6 months old and then my son would only sleep in his infant car seat after his swing. He went into his crib at 6 months old too.
Do what you want but it worked for me and I got sleep. That is what matters in the beginning.

Hi...I don't have one magic answer...but I wanted you to know you are not alone. My son slept in his swing (buckled in of course) until he was five months old. He would cry every time we laid him in the crib with positioner or not. However, we did have the white noise machine going while he was "Swinging" and I think when we finally decided to put him in his crib keeping that white noise on helped. It took about one week of him crying for 10-15 minutes after our night-time routine and he was laid down to fall asleep. I found during the night he would cry for just a few minutes (it took everything not to go in and "rescue" him)and then he'd realize he was there to stay and go back to sleep. Now he loves his crib. In fact, he is almost 2 1/2 and has never climbed out and does not want to sleep in his "big boy" bed. Go figure....
J. :)

hey D.

I am going through the exact same thing !!!!!!!!!
I have decided to accept it and just try the crib over and over . depeneding on my energy level and how much sleep i am needing. I have to have some energy for my 3 yr old =)

good luck
Christy

Let her sleep in swing, my first child would only sleep in carrier, so i strapped her in and let her sleep. she eventually gotover it.

My daughter is 3 months old and only wakes up once a night. What I do is I give her a warm bath around the same time every night (about 7:30) then I feed her and put her to bed. She usually sleeps to at least 2am then I feed her and put her back to bed. She gets up about 7am and we start our day. I also have a floor fan in her room, which also helps. The only light I use in her room is a night light. Good luck!

She's old enough to get her used to sleeping in her own bed now. Make her room conducive to good sleep. Keep it dark and cool. I strongly suggest a white noise sound machine. It works wonders in helping to lull them to sleep and keep them asleep. Make her bed comfortable and get a routine going. Each time you place her in the crib do the exact same things.
Talk softly, keep the room dim while changing the diaper, snuggle her a moment, lay her down gently, you can stay with her a little bit if you need to and stroke her hair or something. I always laid mine on their side in the positioner that was inclined. Then laid a nice open weave light blanket on the top with a glow worm facing them. I would push the glow worm and quietly leave the room.
You're trying to get her to pick up cues that it's time for sleep. If you do the same routine, whatever you choose, she will pick up fairly quickly that sleep is expected when you leave the room. And she will learn to soothe herself to sleep. You have to be consistant and do the same routine every time. There is no need to pick her up if she starts crying. Give her a couple minutes to see if she can work it out herself before even going back in. Then if/when you go back in try to comfort her with your presence by touching her or softly singing or talking to her without picking her up. You can even stay in the room until she falls asleep for the first few times if that helps you.
Congrats on your baby!

Hi D.,

I am a first time mom, as well, my daughter just turned 6 months. My daughter slept in her glider for the first 2 months, then we moved her into her bassinet. We placed her in a positioner that kept her on her back and side and kept her feeling very secured at night while she slept in her bassinet. It worked wonders! If you have not tried a sleep positioner, I highly recommend it. You can buy them in all baby departments of all stores. Since she turned 6 months, I felt she was big enough to be in her crib. We tried it without the positioner and she sleeps so soundly and all through the night. I know everybody has different opinions about where the baby sleeps, but I personally felt that she was just too little for her crib and did not feel secure in such a big place. If you don't have a bassinet try her in the crib with the positioner. Good luck I hope it works.

C.

My son was the same way. In fact I remember the first time he ever slept over 45 min was in the swing and it was 2 hours--we kept going over to check on him to make sure he was OK.

Babies have to learn everything, including self-soothing and sleeping through the night. For most of them it does not come automatically so we have to help them along with the process.
What helped us was a baby hammock. We got one when he was about 8 weeks old and used it until he was 6-7 months old. It enabled first us to be able to rock him without picking him up and then he was able to rock himself to sleep. (http://www.amby.com)
It's a pricy solution though and being that your daughter is already 3 months old may not be worth the investment.
I would first suggest getting on a feeding and eating routine though and there are a couple of really good books out there that can give you a plan and techniques to help your daughter sleep in her crib and through the night.
Good Night Sleep Tight and the Baby Whisperer books are the two best ones in my opinion. They takes the routine ideas from Babywise, but give you other gentler techniques then simply just letting the baby Cry It out.--yes there is crying, and sometimes you do have to let your baby cry it out to get to sleep, but these books give you some other techniques too to help you teach your baby to sleep...

My daughter was the same way at 3 months. I think it was about that age that we started a feeding schedule and everthing else fell into place. At 4 months we started letting her cry it out at night. It isn't for everyone but it worked for us and she has been a super sleeper since.

Well, I never had that exact problem with my little girl, now 17 months, but I have had to deal with other issues regarding sleep. The only advice I have is to stick it out. The only way I could change my daughter's sleep habits was to be persistent with what I wanted her to do. It meant a lot of sleepless hours for me, but after doing it over and over, she would eventually adapt to what I wanted her to do. It will be difficult, but she should eventually learn to sleep out of her swing if you just don't let her sleep in it.

Also, my daughter was around a year before she slept through the night, so don't worry. It will eventually happen.

Good luck.

I learned with my second child that if you let them cry it out in their crib a few nights it won't hurt them. Unfortunetly, I didn't learn this with my first. She is 6 now and still wakes up almost every night to climb in bed with me. You need to establish healthy sleep patterns NOW.

M. D. 35, mother of 2.

Maybe you should limit her time in the swing... I know it is easy to use since it frees you up some, but if she has become dependent on it to sleep, then you need to limit it. I'm not sure what you mean by sleeping through the night. At 12 weeks, that ought to mean around 6 -7 hours uninterrupted...
If she is sleeping that long without waking.. regardless of what time it is when she wakes (if she goes to bed for the night at 8 pm, and wakes at 3 am.. that's still 7 hours), then she is normal.
The swing was very soothing for my son,too. And he would sleep in it. But I only put him in it during the daytime, usually only once a day, for no more than 20 minutes. Any time I was TRYING to put him to sleep (either naps or bedtime) I nursed him, rocked him while singing to him and put him in his crib. If you limit the swing she will learn to sleep elsewhere. If you give up getting her to sleep in her crib and get her after 5 minutes and just plop her in the swing, she will grow more dependent on it. Just be aware that at 3 months, she is not trying to manipulate you! Just have patience with putting her in her crib and stick with it. Otherwise, you will inadvertently teach her that the swing is where she sleeps.
Best wishes!