Falling Asleep in the Crib

My daughter was the same way! She slept great (and so did we) when she was in her swing. I didn't move her from the swing to the crib until she was about 4 months old. I even asked the ped, and he said that as long as she did not bring it to college with her -- stopping at 4 months was fine. :)

11 weeks is still pretty little. Really not old enough to "sleep train" yet. Our son hated when his arms were swaddled, so we just wrapped him below his armpits when he was that little. Otherwise, he'd kick himself awake. Try laying him down in the crib and putting your hand on him and singing to him so he can SEE and FEEL and HEAR you. Then he'll fall asleep knowing you're there, and you wont have to transfer him. Gradually - over the next month - you can start leaving earlier and earlier in this process until he's sleepy but awake when you leave.

Wow, to me 11 weeks seems really early to be able to fall asleep on his own. But I spoil my daughter, she still falls asleep with us holding her most of the time, or at least until she is almost asleep. I tried to let her fall asleep on her own but it was taking anywhere from 30 to 60 minutes and sometimes didn't work at all when holding her took only a few minutes. Maybe try holding him or having him swing until he is noticable drowsy and then transition him to the crib and pat his chest or hold his hand and see if he will fall asleep on his own.

Good Luck.

He still pretty little. Don't try it again for a few days. then, every 4 or 5 days give it a shot. eventually it will happen. Then it may only be "shorty naps" but as he gets used to it, they'll stretch out.

Let him sleep where ever he is most comfortable at this point!

Hi A.,

I'm a huge fan of the swaddle...any reason you stopped? Our son is 15 weeks and sleeps like a champ in his...we get at least 10 hours at night with him in there - I figure if it isn't broke...I only swaddle him at night. Our daughter slept with hers until 5 or 6 months...can't remember....he probably sleeps better in the swing b/c he feels secure in there - just like the blanket.

If you don't have a nightly routine, you might also want to get one going so he knows bed is coming and it's time to relax...bath and/or massage might relax him - rub his feet with baby lotion - songs/stories - bottle/nurse...bed.

Good luck!

I would let him sleep however he is comfortable. My 5 month old son sleeps with me at night and slept in the swing during the day up until a couple weeks ago when he started enjoying his crib. He is so new at life.... you don't need to be in a hurry to set a crib routine. When I had my daughter, we co-slept with her as well. Everyone kept telling us what a *huge* mistake we were making. When she turned about 11 months old, she stopped wanting to sleep with us and would toss and turn until we put her in her crib. She switched to a big-girl bed at 22 months and she is the greatest sleeper there ever was. Now, I'm not saying you need to start co-sleeping... just saying, they will work their way into their bed when they are ready. If he needs your arms to fall asleep right now, there is nothing wrong with giving them to him. Good Luck :)

I agree that white noise might help - we used an air filter with our son that made enough background noise to help filter out the rest of the house.

My other thought was that the places you mention he falls asleep in have him in an elevated position. Most cribs allow you to raise one end or the other so that you could have a slight incline. While you might find that he's scooched all the way to the bottom by the time he wakes up, I found that putting my kids down with their head a little higher helped both of them. I even elevated the bassinet with my daughter before we used the crib, by putting some blankets under one end, gradually wedging it upwards.

The other possible suggestion is to heat up the crib mattress with a heating pad, and then swap it out when you put the baby in so he isn't going from your warm arms to a cooler crib and blanket.

I agree with the advice here. Swaddling is great as is White Noise. Our daughter had a little bit of reflux and it hurt her to lay flat. She slept in her bouncy seat IN her crib until she was about 16 weeks then she wanted to spread out. Whatever works for now, go with it!

Have you tried white noise, such as a ceiling fan? We had a clock radio that we bought at Bed, Bath, and Beyond that also had 'nature sounds', so for several weeks we turned on 'the ocean' when we put our baby down. One day, we stopped it cold turkey and he was fine. There is also a cd called "For Crying Out Loud" that you can buy from babycenter.com or barnes & noble, etc.

At first, our son also wouldn't fall asleep in the crib. From about 3 weeks - 8 weeks he slept in his room, but in the vibrating bouncy chair (on the floor, of course). At 2 months we decided to transition him to the crib and bought one of those 'sleep positioner' things from Babies R Us. It looked like a little ramp with bumpers on the side to give him that 'close' feeling. We were petrified that we would have to spend a huge amount of time soothing him but much to our surprise he went right to sleep.

If you don't already have a routine for bed, establish one. Do the same thing every night - turn on lullaby cd, change diaper, put on pajamas, feed bottle, rock if needed, then put in crib (or swing, or wherever he will be sleeping). He will get used to the consistent routine and likely catch on. At first, we had to do a LOT of the rocking (30 mins or so) before putting him down, but now when he is finished with the bottle and burping, he goes in the crib awake and then falls asleep on his own.

Be consistent but patient - teaching him how to sleep is a wonderful and healthy thing for you to do. He will get it eventually, so hang in there!

BTW - We have never had to cry it out (although I'm not opposed to that, but at later ages) using these techniques and the longest I ever was in there rocking him was 30 minutes TOPS.