Baby Wont Sleep in His Crib

S.,

Please do not feel bad, I happen to be a seasoned Mother My children are grown. With the exception of the youngest 8 yrs. to be exact.

They say it takes a village to raise a child - Well it also takes your bed to get some sleep.

God Bless you and yours.

N. O

Yes! There is a really great book called, "Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems" by Richard Ferber, M.D. It touches on every imaginable sleep situation for every phase of your child's development. It gives examples of case studies so you can relate to what is going on and understand better, and actually gives you instructions on how to change it. I am a child development minor and I highly recommend this book...it helped my husband and I with our son's sleep problems. I breastfed, and our son had always slept with us from the time he was born, until he was probably 18 months old. We read this book, and began practicing the techniques advised, and he has slept in his own bed since. It's not easy, I'll be honest, some of it is pretty tough to stick to, but it's never harmful, and it explains the thought process behind the methodologies. Another good book is the Baby Book, by Dr. Sears. Good Luck, and hang tough, you can do it!

try to make it tired by playuing with it or nursing it or put it over your shoulder and rock it to bed

I respectfully respond to you as a mother who made the choice to have a family bed sleeping arrangement. Without diminishing the challenges that co sleeping can bring, I can honestly say that, along with breast feeding, it's one of the best decisions I ever made in regards to my two daughters, now 9 and 14 years old. Neither myself or my husband experienced the sleep deprivation that I had been told to expect and dread. I fully support each family's right to choose what is best for them but from my own experience, the place that an 8 month old wants/needs to be sleeping in is a bed, next to mom. It gives them a firm foundation of security so that they can be adventurous, secure, and rested (along with everybody else). Good luck to you!
T. S.

Give them a nice warm bath and a nice warm bottle on milk. Make sure the baby is nicely tucked in a warm crib.

You might try a gradual method. Putting the crib next to your bed, and holding his hand through the bars while he falls asleep, then gradually increasing the distance. If moving the crib isn't so easy, you can try something similar in his room. Take it very slow, allowing time for him to adjust to each change.

Some babies can do the Ferber (cry it out) method fairly well by this age, but I never had the heart for it. Still, it may not hurt to try, if you really really need to change this routine. One of my friends who had thought she could never consider such a thing was so exhausted, she gave it a try. With her child, the crying went on for 20 minutes, 1 night. That was IT. I realize that most babies make the process much more heartbreaking for the parent, but it is always possible that you have a baby that is simply ready, just like my friend's proved to be.

Good luck with getting your sleep arrangements to where they suit your family. I know it's really difficult at these ages. And, well, you can always decide it doesn't matter. Your child WILL outgrow it all on his own some day.

We started off gradually, with naps in the crib and then moving to sleeping at night in the crib as well. Sometimes we rocked her until she became drowsy before placing her in the crib.

Have you tried a transitional object, like a blankie? Or soothers like music?