Help! I Need My 1-Mo.-old to Sleep in Her Crib!

Try putting her in her infant carrier amd put the carrier in the crib. She may just need the coziness that the swing and carrier provide. Putting her carrier in the crib will get her used to the crib as well. I did this with my youngest and it worked great!
Good luck.

All I know is that most babies need to be rocked to sleep or held for the first three months. They are still getting used to their reflexes and have the feeling they are falling if not swaddled and held close. Because they are so used to being inside the womb they need the feeling recreated for them. That is just what I have read and it seems that way with my two sons. Hope that helps!

Hi there...In my opinion your child does not need to go to the crib yet, if she is not ready for it. If it is not putting additional stress/strain on you, allow her to fall asleep in the swing and than transfer her. She is only 1 month old that is a very young age to have such a large space. This is a personal decision, however I slept with my daughter in my own bed for the first few months and then transfered her to a Bassinette. You may not be comfortable with her in your bed (a lot of people are not) but I would suggest starting her off in a Bassinette as oppossed to a crib. She is only one month old and if you think about it, it was just a month ago that she was confined to a very small and comfy place. She still needs and wants to be close to you and she needs to feel safe. . I also found my daughter would not sleep well without being swaddled well. My daughter did not start sleeping in a crib until six months and it was a transition but it was a smooth one...I started with naps in the crib, than I started putting her in bed in the crib, when she woke I brought her back to the bassinette and I repeated it Until she got through the night in her crib...It seemed to work really well.

Well good luck...Hopefully that was helpful.

-A.

you may try one of the sleep positioners with the padded bolts of foam on either side of her and this may give her the cozieness of the swing, carrier or in your arms. Then you can wean her from the positioners when she gets a few months older.

Hope tihs helps.

My kids didn't like the crib when they were that little either so we didn't use the crib for a few months. We got a bassinet instead. It's cozier for little babies and I think they like napping where they can still hear everything going on around them. We also just used to wheel the bassinet into our bedroom at night for the first couple of months. We found it easy to transition them to the crib when they were a little older. Good Luck with it!

We swaddled our son at night when we put him down. He fussed a little when we actually did the swaddling, but he would settle down quickly and we could put him in the crib without complaint.

During the day, we didn't swaddle. We think this helped him keep days and nights distinct.

We kept up the swaddling for the first 10 weeks. After that, we used one of the onesie blanket bags as a routine so he knew what was expected when put down. The other thing we did was never pick him back up after putting him to bed. We will pat him and talk to him, but not pick him up. There have been a few different times when he challenged this and fusses for 15 to 20 minutes. This will go on for 3 to 4 nights and then things settle again. Growing pains I guess.

At 8 1/2 weeks of age I transitioned our daughter from our bed into her swing for a couple of nights, then moved her into her crib. The first night that I moved her into her crib she cried for approx. 20 minutes then fell asleep. Each night thereafter she only cried for approx. 5 minutes if at all. I still allowed her to take naps in her swing though until she basically weaned herself from it at 4 months of age. Since then she has been a great sleeper, taking naps right on schedule and sleeping through the night all in her own crib in her own room. Some infants are not capable of soothing themselves to sleep and or back to sleep until they are between 2 to 3 months of age. Until our daughter was 8 1/2 weeks, we did whatever it took to prevent any discomfort.

A baby's most comfortable, safest place is in his/her mother's arms. I'm a mother of 4, and a huge advocate of co-sleeping. I know it's hard, and not everyone agrees, but your baby has only been out in the world for 4 weeks, and she needs to feel secure and safe. Also, if you nurse, it's a lot easier to lay next to your child and nurse, than to get up and go to a crib 4-6 times a night, which is about how much your little one should be eating at night. I hope you find the technique that works for you.
Also, I highly reccommend "the no cry sleep solution" a book by Elizabeth Pantly (I hope I spelled her last name right)
Good luck

Try doing the same routine every night and be sure to swaddle her very tightly. This worked great for my newborn until she was about 11 months old and she got sick and we let her sleep with us a few nights to keep a good eye on her. Now she's 14 months old and she sleeps with us. Co-sleeping is the only way we can get any sleep. My husband and I are going to try the crib again this weekend and see if she'll stay. Good luck with your baby. You'll get the hang of it soon.

Without a doubt, you must try The Miracle Blanket...a specially designed swaddling blanket. Don't fall for knock-offs or off-brands...this is the original! You can order it at: www.miracleblanket.com and it is a life-saver! They guarantee it will work - and I know that personally (I have four kids) and professionally (I'm a doula) - it does! You have nothing to lose, except more sleep - lol.

Good luck!
-C.

I don't know if this will help, but we found that our daughter (currently almost 3 mon) had trouble sleeping in her crib. We had a vibrating chair that she would sleep in, so we put the chair in her crib. After a week or two she learned to associate her crib with sleep. Also, sometimes she gets cranky around bedtime and just needs to cry for 5-10 minutes, then she falls asleep.

Your baby might be a little bit young still for this but when my son was about 2 months old, I began working with him to get him to sleep on his own at night. I established a bedtime routine and every night at the same time, I would put him in his crib before he fell asleep (this is key - they have to learn to comfort themselves so that when they wake up in the middle of the night, they don't need you to go back to sleep). I would let him cry for 5 minutes and if he didn't calm down, I would go in an pat his belly (don't pick him up) for 1 minute. Then I would leave for 10 minutes and if he didn't calm down, go in for 1 minute. Then I would leave for 15 minutes, and you get the point. If he would wake up at night, I would give him a minute before I would go to him to see if he would put himself back to sleep. Then, I would go feed/change him or whatever he needed. After, it was back in the crib with the 5, 10, 15 minute rule.

I'm going to tell you now that this was a very hard thing for me to do as every instinct cried out to me that I should go and comfort my son. But trust me, this is not cruel! It is harder on you than it is the child and there is nothing cruel about teaching your child to fall asleep on his own. It is a skill he is going to need and the earlier he learns it, the easier it will be on both of you. Within a couple of weeks, my son was falling asleep on his own quite readily and by 3 months he was sleeping through the night. He is now almost 2 and I never have problems with getting him to bed (and he's in a toddler bed too). I'm telling you, if you have the willpower to stick to your guns, this will work. In your case, I think your baby might be a bit young for this and you might want to wait a few weeks before you try it. It's up to you, though. You know your baby better than I do.

Hi J.,

I think potty training and sleeping are the two big issues on this website. My first child slept with us until she was five and got her own room. Our second still sleeps in our bed and she is two. Your child is so tiny that being alone in a crib can be scary. I remember John Grey wrote a book about how the U.S. is the only westernized country that puts its children in separate places to sleep. Perhaps she needs to be close to you now. It's very comforting and I have found my children are far more relaxed during the day, at school etc. because they feel safe and secure with us.

Hope that helps!

I highly recommend The No Cry Sleep Solution for any/all infant & toddler sleep issues. Another good resource is The Happiest Baby on the Block (video). You should be able to get either of these from your library. Both of these helped boost my confidence with a very difficult & demanding first child.

My son is very sensitive to his environment and the recommendations in this book gave me hope without feeling like we had to simply endure it. I do not agree with the cry-it-out solution. It tears you up inside and teaches your daughter that she cannot rely on people in her world. Also, if there are any set backs (and there will be), you have to resort back to the cry-it-out method each time.

Take your time & be patient. Don't rush her. Depending on her temperment, she may not yet be ready for this move. But don't beat yourself up over it either. You're doing the right thing by asking for ideas from others & keeping your mind open to options. What works for one may not work for another. But by trying different things, you'll find just that right thing for her.

For my children, they had to be tightly swaddled in the beginning. If not, they would wake within minutes of being laid down. Learn how to do it correctly. If she comes out of it (before the age of 3 months), chances are it wasn't done correctly.

Also, one of the best things I learned is that there is a "magical" time during which you should lay a child down. Make sure she's sleepy & dozing off but not yet asleep. If you lay her down at this time, she'll have a better chance at putting her self to sleep. Although, at one month old, you may want to savor these precious moments holding her :)
If she happens to fall asleep in your arms (or in the swing, or carseat), you should then plan to wait approx 15 minutes to move her. By that time, she should be in a deep sleep (floppy arms, very quiet breathing) and you have a better chance of easily moving her to another location and her sleeping through it.

Regardless of what information/tips you use, it will get better! :)

Keep us posted,
P.

If you'd like to try co-sleeping but your nervous about the risk of SIDS, you might try a co-sleeper. There are basically 2 kinds-- one that goes in the bed or one that attaches to the side of the bed. Other good options are putting the crib near your bed or putting a bassinet in the room. Hope that helps.

My daughter was the same way. I had a choice- let her cry it out, or continue to put her in her crib asleep. I chose to put her in her crib asleep. The Dr. was against this because it would form a habit, but since she'd be forced to "cry it out" either way, I chose to wait until she was a little older. Just choose what's is right for you and your family. Hope you find something that works!

I slept with my baby in my bed for the first 3 months or so, I never feared rolling over on her because i was so aware of her presence. The only way I transitioned her to her crib was by getting her to sleep first and then putting her there. lasted maybe 2 hours at a time. but just keep trying. at about 4 months is when i really pushed the crib sleeping. she'd cry every night when i put her to sleep. i'd let her cry alone in the room for about 2 minutes, then comfort her and leave the room again and repeated the process until she got used to sleeping in her crib. it's hard to listen to her crying, but she does know you are there and will be ok. She's been in her own bed ever since. Only advice is to be strong.

I have a 6 month old who got into the habbit of napping in his swing. He is now too big for the swing so I had to spend 4 days at home with him conditioning him to nap in his crib. I did the cry it out method. It worked for me although by the end of the 4th day, I was crying too. I tried to make his crib as comfortable as possible and played a favorite CD of his. After the LONG weekend, he was napping in his crib. It was a TOUGH weekend but well worth it. We went on a vacation and could not get him to sleep b/c we didnt have a swing. That was when I knew I had to get him out of the swing. Good luck

S.