Tranisition to Crib

Have you tried a swaddle blanket? They have some with velcro that are awesome. They are made my Kiddopotomus. My daughter will go to sleep in the crib as long as she's swaddled. I don't think they like to feel "loose" for some reason. I can't tell you that she will sleep through the night, however. I'm still fighting that battle and she's 4 months old. Hope that helps a little~

My guess would be from previous experience with this...is that she is suffering from some type of gassy/acid reflux. It may be small enough that it only bothers her when she is lying flat. Try propping up either one end of her mattress or the crib itself, so that her head/chest are elvated and she is lying at an angle. This is the only way we could get my youngest to sleep in her crib.

My son slept in his carseat until he was 16 weeks when he could roll on his tummy (the ped said it was safe as long as he could roll himself). He had reflux and the carseat elevated him and reflux babies sleep better on their tummies. I would either elevate the crib (didn't work for us, he used it as a sliding board and slid to the other end of the crib) or swaddle her or wait a bit longer and practice the tummy time. good luck

Just curious. Why has she slept in her carseat all this time? You may have to have her sleep next to you until she gets used to sleeping in a bed since she has been in a carseat all this time. I am not putting you down so please don't take it that way. It is going to take time just keep working on it. Good Luck
S.

We used a sleeping wedge in our daughter's crib. She was diagnosed with acid reflux at 8 weeks and once we got her on medication we could get her to sleep in the crib. Prior to that we pretty much held her to sleep b/c she had to be more or less upright to keep the acid down. She was not a happy baby until we started the meds, so if things are going well otherwise, this may not be your issue. But then again, it may. Even on the medication, we found she still slept better to have some elevation. It had 2 little velcro fastened bolsters to keep her from rolling or sliding off. I found it at Buy Buy Baby. Good luck!

She is used to the sitting up to sleep. Get a crib wedge at Target or Babies r us. It will elevate her head. Swaddle her because she is probably used to being cushioned when she sleeeps. Lay her down when she is not quite asleep and put a mobile on the crib for her look at. It may be hard, but teaching her GOOD sleep habits now will save you a lot of headaches later. Good Luck.

Hi A.!

I totally agree with the other responses about letting your baby sleep where ever she is comfortable. If you really want to get her into her crib, SWADDLE her! Kiddopotomus makes a swaddling blanket that works really well. Good luck!

My friend had a similiar problem and when she took the car seat away, she put the boppy pillow in the crib, then to a position sleeper, then went to nothing so it wasn't such a drastic change going from being surrounded and cushioned while sleeping, to having nothing at all.

Dear A.,
Every transition takes time, so hang in there! You will do well by putting her in her crib for small incremnts of time at first and gradually build up. She is unused to the large space and feel of the crib; she's used to the closed confines of her car seat.
To begin with, I would suggest that you place her in her crib for 5-10 minutes at a time while she is awake just to get her used to the feel of it. If 5 minutes is too much, just try one minute. Build up from there. Eventually, she will adapt.
Be patiently and lovingly persistent!
J. F.

Have you tried using a sleeping wedge? Whether it's possibly the inclined position or just the coziness of her carseat, maybe the wedge would help? And they're relatively inexpensive. My other suggestion is a swaddling blanket. Our son slept in his until almost 4 or 5 months old and I think he just really enjoyed the security of being wrapped up tight.

Hi, A.. We just let our twin daughters sleep in the car seat in their crib until they were getting too big (probably until they were 5 or 6 months old). Once they were a little older, they just transitioned to the crib very easily.

Your daughter probably likes the carseat becuse she's snug and warm, a big crib is sometimes scary for an infant let's face it, they're used to tight spaces. I would suggest a swaddler, they're about $20 at Babies R Us but I'm sure they sell them elsewhere. They meet all the SIDS regulations, keeping your baby wrapped and snug without posing a suffocation risk.
Not to overstep my boundaries but before I became a SAHM I ran the infant department for a very prestigious child care center in Detroit. We always moved babies from their seats upon arrival even if they were sleeping because it posed a very high risk of SIDS for them to remain sleeping in them. Their chins fall forward and airways are not clear, so not only is there a suffocation risk there is a choking risk if the baby spits up. That's why doctors tell you to only leave children in them when traveling and to take breaks if you're going a long distance. Carseats are the safest place for your infant when she's in a car, you can't prevent them from falling asleep in the car but I would try and get her to fall asleep elsewhere from now on.

Hi A.!
I agree with alot of the other moms, it may just be a swaddling thing. With my son, I had the same kind of problem only it was in the stroller. It didn't dawn on me that he might feel insecure with all the room he had in the stroller, so I'd just wrap him in a blanket & he was fine. Your baby won't be rolling over to soon so you won't be confining her or hindering her growth. It's worth a try & it won't cost you anything.
Good luck!

Someone suggested that you use a Boppy pillow in the crib. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE do not do this. That is really terrible advice. Tags on Boppy pillows clearly say "not for sleeping" and "don't place in crib or bassinet." I have read horror stories about babies suffocating after parents leave them propped against Boppy pillows to sleep.

Let her sleep in the carseat! My now 4 year old slept in her carseat for the first 6 months of her life. I asked the pediatrician if this would hurt her growth or her spine or whatever. He said not to worry - eventually she'd be too big for the carseat and then she'd sleep in the crib. So, let her sleep in the carseat and get some sleep yourself so you can really enjoy her :)

My girlfriend had her daughter sleeping in her car seat for the longest time. She was finally able to wean her from the car seat when she got too big for it (a few months old) and then had her in her swing. She was probably about 6 or so months old before she was able to wean her daughther from the swing and into her crib. Everyone is different, every child is different. You need to do what's best for you and your daughter, and if that means having her sleep in her carseat, so be it. She will eventually become uncomfortable and not want it anymore. Not really good advice, sorry!! Best of luck to you and your amazing little soul.

K. - SAHM of 2 boys, 5 and 2

I would guess she likes the feeling of being 'secure' in the car seat, the closeness of the sides would mimics the tight secure feeling of the womb. Once placed in the crib she feels unsecured because she can't feel the sides. Have you swaddled her in a blanket and placed rolled up blankets along her back. Try using one end of the crib instead of placing her in the middle. I did this mine and it worked. I have 4 children. Let us know how it worked.

A., she probably likes the snug feeling of the car seat. Maybe it makes her feel secure. I suggest you dress her in those onesie sacks or even swaddle her and place her in a bassinet (it's smaller than a crib). Ride it out. She'll get use to it.

I don't want to scare you but car seats were not designed for sleeping. In fact, it's dangerous for her to keep on doing it. IF her head falls forward, her airway can be cut off. There are studies, stories and news articles on line if you want to read/research this.

Good luck!

Hello AngO,

We went through a simular situation with my granddaughter. Everytime we placed her in the crib once she had fallen asleep she would immediately wake up crying. We were told to take a soft pillow and place it underneath the crib sheet and lay her on it and it worked. She stayed sleep and continued to sleep in her crib from that day and we had no more crying issues.

KaTrina R.

We had this issue with our third child. From about 6 weeks old she would sleep through the night in her car seat or swing. We loved it!

Around 6 mos we started transitioning her out of both during naps and then at 7 moths during the night. She is now 8 months and is sleeping in the crib, however - she wakes a couple of times on occasion. If she is having a restless night and is on her third time waking up and not able to fall back to sleep, she goes in the swing and enjoys a peaceful sleep for the next 4 - 5 hours.

Do what works for you and your family. That is what is most important.

I don't really have advice about how to transition her, but I wanted to suggest that you talk to her doctor. My son slept in his carseat and swing for about the first month of his life. I mentioned it during a dr visit and the dr told me that he needed to be sleeping in his crib or bassinet. He told me that it is bad for their bones and the way they grow and can hinder their development physically if they sleep in their carseat or swing(in other words, a sitting up position) all the time. With my son, I generally would nurse him to sleep then just lay him down and he would stay alseep. The transition was very easy for us. I would definitely talk to her dr about it to make sure that it is not hurting her to be sleeping upright like that all the time.

Someone else pointed out that your child might be used to sleeping upright, but there is another side.

If your child has gas, she can more easily pass it slightly upright. Laying her down flat in such a case would make her VERY uncomfortable.

Try one of the baby wedges and make sure she is good and asleep, not just lightly asleep when you put her in the crib.

Not sure why this is happening but my guess would be the position and the feeling of being surround in teh car seat. My guess is you added padding to the sides to keep her balanced in the middle? Anyway teh crib is flat and open. try propping the bed up to tilt her head up and swaddle her tightly. This will give her a sense of security.
Hope it helps

Hi A.,
My daughter slept in her car seat for the 1st four mos! I actually put the car seat in her crib at night. At 4 mos. she tried to roll over in the seat and got twisted around and that was the end if it. I then laid her in the crib--I think she cried for 1 or 2 nights but that was it. I do remember thinking I needed one of those wedges to elevate her head, thinking she had a bit of reflux but then she ended up sleeping fine and I never bought the wedge.

Why not try putting the seat in the crib for a week or 2 then trying the transition again? Good luck,
J.

Just a few things I tried and worked.
A bassinet
A pillow wedge under the mattress to elevate it slightly
A thing called the 'snuggle nest' it's used usually for co-sleeping but I found it great for eventual transition to the crib 'cause I could lay it in the crib, may be used until they start turning over. I even put the pillow wedge under the snuggle nest to elevate it slightly. It's enclosing a little but not too much so they get used to the open feeling of a crib gradually.
Good luck.

Hi A.,
Don't force the crib issue if she is sleeping well in the car seat! My son would only sleep in his swing seat (it was removable) for the couple of months. Your daughter is too young for crying it out, just let her sleep where she is most comfortable otherwise you will be uncomfortable and sleepless too! :) Good luck!

My husband put a pad under one end of the crib to raise one side when my children had ear infections. Maybe your daughter prefers her head to be slightly elevated. Good luck!

Have you tried a sleep positioner? Or swaddling? She may just need that tight, close feeling that she gets from the carseat.

At this point she is so used to sleeping upright that it is probably going to be very hard to get her to sleep in her crib. There are these wedges that you can buy to put either under the sheet or the mattress (can't remember which.) I think they are used for babies with reflux to keep them in a reclining position, if you can find these it might be easier for your daughter to transition. Or you can let her cry when you put her down and she will eventually cry herself to sleep. Good luck to you and your daughter.

You've gotten a lot of good feedback, particularly about replicating the angle and snugness of the carseat (and the womb), but the one thing no one has mentioned yet is that your little girl is only 11 weeks old! She's still wee little, and in the world of sleep, she's still in the very early stages of development. Even Weissbluth, the king of cry-it-out, wouldn't want you to let her cry at this age, and not for at least another 6-8 weeks. The fact that you're getting her to sleep through the night at this age, by whatever means, is wonderful! You may never have to go that route.

As far as sleeping in the carseat goes, some pediatricians disagree, but there is no scientific evidence that there's a problem with letting her sleep in her carseat (or swing), except for the one already mentioned, which is a compromised airway. But you can address that issue with proper head support (they sell pillows for carseats that keep the head in an upright position). We had our son in his carseat in a co-sleeper for a while, and I felt just fine b/c he was right there with me, but we still had separate sleeping spaces. I might be a little more cautious with your daughter in another room, but really, it's just b/c we're moms and we're cautious, there's not been any reliable study done to show that you're actually taking unnecessary risks.

At 11 weeks, keeping her swaddled and cuddled, whether by your body, the carseat, the swing, or wedges (personally, I wouldn't use pillows and/or boppies, b/c of the risk of SIDS), is going to help almost any baby sleep, and clearly, with your daughter, this is the case. There's nothing wrong with that! You will get lots of dire predictions about how you're coddling her, how you're never going to get her into her crib, how you have to let her cry it out now, before the habits are formed. Just breathe, and follow your instincts. This is YOUR baby, you know her better than anyone, and she will develop and grow at her pace. You can, and should, guide her development (and there's plenty of time and opinions for that!), but that doesn't mean that she's going to follow any text book example of what "should be." For now, do what works, and re-visit the issue in a month or two. You'd be amazed at how much she changes each month for this first year. Nothing is set in stone in terms of her habits or her development. Seriously. You're doing great.

Hope that helps...

My first two children slept in their carseats until about 4 months of age. (One Dr. Said "whatever works!" and the other said "get them out!" Just make sure they are out of the carseat as much as possible during the day.) To transition to the crib I propped the head of the crib up (put something under the mattress) and put the sleep positioner wedges on either side of them to try to replicate the angle and snugness of the carseat. I slowly transitioned them down to sleeping flat in the crib. Just make sure you don't you loose bedding or anything near their face. With my 3rd and 4th children I used a crib wedge and also swaddled them tightly from the beginning.

She sounds just like my nephew, he did the same thing!! It sounds like that she likes the "tightness" of the car seat, have you tried Swaddling her really good in her crib? Not super tight, but tight enough that she feels warm and safe.

A little about me:
I am 37 and a mom of 3 boys, ages 10, 8, 4

I'm just wondering if your baby might have an inner ear problem. When she's in a car seat, her head is elevated. Not sure if that has anything to do with it, but I'd mention it to your doctor. It could be something as easy as that.
Good luck
D.