I am a SAHM of a 6 month and 21 month old. My six month old presently still sleeps in the infant car seat in his crib. (I know, Shame on me. I should know better! but it was the first place where he slept through the night....and why mess with a good thing!) Anyways, he is getting too big for it and next week my hubby has off and we will transition him to his crib. I am just seeking any advice from those who did this same mistake and how you made the transition easy/ier if possible. Thanks so much!
My daughter also would only sleep in her car seat when we brought her home. When we transitioned we rolled up towels on both sides of her so she would get the closeness as if she was still in her car seat. We also elevated the mattress a little bit to try to match what she was getting in her car seat and slowly took both away. It worked for her
Maybe it will seem like no big deal to him since he is already sleeping in his crib anyway. I would just do the same normal bedtime routine and put him in the crib very sleepy but not asleep. I think he's still young enough that at least he probably won't be standing up and rattling the cage! I think you're smart by doing it now rather than later. It may be a tough few nights as he cries (I would go in and soothe him every 10-15 minutes or so, but don't pick him up) but it will be over relatively soon. 3-4 nights should do it. Good luck!
k
We had the same situation with our daughter, except we made the transition at 4 1/2 months instead of 6. I worried about it a lot more than I should have. We first started with the sleeping in the crib at bedtime....she would usually fall asleep with her last feeding, and I would lay her down, and she would stay asleep...now I try to put her in there while she is drowsy but still awake, so that she will learn to soothe herself to sleep. After a week of sleeping there at night, we tried the nap times. It took a few days of reinforcing that she needed to sleep there before she figured it out. Now she is in the crib for all sleeping activities. At first, she would wake up once a night, but eventually she started sleeping through the night again. It really wasn't as bad as I had pictured it in my head. Good luck.
J. W
Oooo me.....ooooo me...I did the same thing....LOL....It honestly was not bad at all........It was not a big deal and if I would of known that it would of been that easy, I would of done long before the age of 7 months....LOL
It was harder for me that her....I put her in her cric awake, and she cried off and on for three hours....Went to sleep.....and woke up twice in the middle of the night.....second night....thirty min of crying.....woke up twice....third night...10 min of whining....slept all night....Good luck
put him next to bumber he use to being close contact but yes way past time to get out. Just do it now, he might cry but will have to let him cry it out.
Hi H.,
My son slept in a carrying seat when he was an infant due to reflux. My suggestion when transitioning your son into his crib is to elevate the head of the crib matress a little at first then work your way down until it's level. You can use almost anything to elevate the matress. You don't need to go out and buy those expensive wedges for it.
L.
You just have to do it, eventually the habit/rutine will catch on and he will be fine. Keep your energy calm while doing it and he wont feed off that. Has he ever been in the crib at all w/o the car seat?
Don't shame yourself...you do what you can in the beginning! For any type of sleep training I used "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child." This book will give you the confidence you need to get through this transition, because your baby may not be to happy about the change. But, who knows??...maybe the baby will do great because he is already in his crib. Good luck.
H.,
I am so happy to see that you and others did the same thing we did! I think we had to transition our son around 4 months because he was lifting his hips out of the seat so it became unsafe. I don't remember it being a deal though, to be honest. I think we elevated an end of his crib by putting a rolled up towel underneath the mattress but that didn't really work because he'd end up scrunched up at the bottom of the crib because he moved so much. We tried swadling him too and that helped a little. Just don't go to him at the first cry. Keep a timer or clock near you because 5 minutes of crying is no big deal but when you're not timing it it seems like an eternity!
Good luck!
K.
Our little guy had several colds that made it hard for him to breathe laying down so he was in the carseat in the crib for about 6 months too. I started moving him by putting him down for naps just in the crib. The environment was the same so he wasn't frightened or anything. It really wasn't a big deal for him at that age because by then he was able to wiggle, roll and twist until he found a comfortable position unlike when he was younger. Actually I think he enjoyed the freedom to do just that. After a few naps that went fine, we did our normal bedtime routine and put him just in the crib and that was that. We definitely worried more than we needed to.
Hi, we just went through this very problem. My method of getting him from carseat to crib took a month or so. What i did was make the crib more like the carseat then i slowly made the crib normal, if that makes sense. If you would like ideas. let me know. GOOD LUCK!
Don't beat yourself up. We had the same situation. I just considered where my baby was coming from (curled up tight in the womb for 9 months). From there, would you want to be forced to lay flat, without human contact? After recognizing that, I just slowly did what I could to transition him to the crib. The wedge sounds like a good idea. Also, is there something from the car seat holding a familiar scent that you can move into the crib during sleep time?
Good Luck! You'll get there.
both of my kids slept in their car seats for the first 5 months due to severe reflux. they were too big for their seats at 5 months so we had to transition them. it was hard for me, but stay VERY consistent!!! what I did was start at like naptime putting them in the crib w/ no seat... i found that if i put like stuffed animals around them it worked well (since they were so used to that comfy seat surrounding them) and *gasp* i let them sleep on a pillow and THAT is what did the trick. then i eventually put them in their cribs at night too and my son only took like two days to transition, but my daughter was over a week. just stay strong and DO IT. whatever you decide to do just be consistent about it and don't give in!! good luck!
