Sleeping in Crib.. - Greenville,NH

Without screaming? No. You can still train the baby to sleep in their crib-it's just more difficult the longer you wait-you might need some help. They have to be put down while awake and learn how to self soothe. The only thing worse than this is handing them the .........car keys. Good luck-it takes about three nights-do it for naps, too.

I let my kids cosleep until about 2 1/2 years or so. We're transitioning my 3rd out of the bed now. He has always napped in his port-a-crib (we didn't even bother setting up the real crib this time, as we realized that we wouldn't really be using it) and I put him down there at night when he goes down to sleep, and have always just picked him up and brought him into bed with us the first time he woke up after we went to bed. At this point, he's sleeping through until about 5 - 6 am, so that's when he comes into bed with us. I really like that method because it really is happening without any drama for him, and frankly, he can keep coming into bed with us in the morning until he doesn't want to anymore (the other two stopped doing that sometime between 4 and 6, with the occasional morning snuggle whenever they need). Sometime within the next year we'll be transitioning him to a bed in the kids room and moving my oldest into his own room. Anyway, with my daughter, we put the toddler bed in our room next to our bed, and put her down in it, but didn't fuss about it when she moved into our bed with us in the middle of the night. It was a process, and took somewhere between 6 months and a year, but she moved rather painlessly into her own bed and then into a room with her big brother.

I highly recommend doing it in small steps. No, you haven't gone too long. If you like sleeping with your baby, there's no reason to stop now -- you can transition her out at any point. A good first step is merely to get her comfortable being put down in the crib... try for naps first. And once you've got it so that she will sleep there for a little while, pick her up the first time she wakes and bring her in with you. Eventually, she just won't wake and then will spend the night in her crib.

I would start by letting her nap in her crib if she doesn't already. Also put her to bed awake or drowsy, this way she learns to put her self to sleep. Come up with a bed time routine and stick to it. Our son has slept in his crib from day one but our routine has always been the three B's as I like to call it- Bath, Books, Bed. It is up to you if you want to go the cry it out method or not, crying was not an issue with us so we never had to think about that. Hope this helps a little and good luck.

This book was extremely helpful to us:
http://www.amazon.com/Solve-Your-Childs-Sleep-Problems/dp...
You can read the 1st few pages and some reviews here too.
Good luck :)

I let my DD start co-sleeping a bit when she wasn't feeling good, and she really got into the habit fast. I was able to get her back into her crib by letting her fall asleep with me, but as soon as her eyes shut I would put her in the crib. Yes, she would wake up and cry. So I would go back to bed with her, and repeat as often as it took. Eventually, it won't be worth the bother for her to wake up because she will be too tired. Once I was able to put her in the crib without her throwing a fit, I started putting her in more and more awake. It took about 1.5 months, but now I can put her in mostly awake and she will fall asleep on her own.

Have you read Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Dr. Mark Weissbluth? I highly recommend you pick up this book. This was instrumental in getting my 5 month old out of our room and into her own room and crib. yes, there will be a little crying (or a lot of crying) in the beginning, but it didn't take long to get my baby to self-soothe and put herself to sleep. I also suggest a glider in the baby's room, so if you need to go in to calm, you do it all in the nursery and never back in your bed.

Good luck!

Simply Put the crib next to the bed, rail down, so it is an extension of the bed. Gradually teach her that the crib is her own space. As she gets older , teach her(with some ritual) that having her own space in her crib is a great thing. Also, when she is asleep at night I'll her over into it, so she strts to get used to it. Dont force the issue, make it a positive thing. It is a gradual thing, as as she gets older, she will naturally want her own space. Worked great for us, Amd my mom did this with seven kids!

I started with naps in the crib. And on occasion I would climb in the crib for a little while as well with my son to help him acclimate. I am sure that is not a popular concept but it worked for us. I also have and swear by the baby Einstein fish attachment for the crib. It winds down the degree of light and volume of music for 25 minutes soothing my son to sleep.

Babies and toddlers if given a choice will most time choose to sleep with Momma. It's a natural instinct - Mommy keeps them comforted, safe, loved and fed (breastfeeding).

I am one of those who allow my child(ren) to sleep with me until they are ready to move on or until they have to because of another child. My daughter is 5 y/o and she knows she has to transition to her bed by July - since that is when baby brother will be coming and will need her spot in the bed. She's half excited to have her own room, half wanting to stay next to my comforting and loving presence.

Take it as the compliment and show of love that it is that your child wants to be with you. It will not be that way for long... for even up to age 5 y/o - that is such a short time span during the raising of your child and even shorter time span of your child wanting to spend so much time with you.

All I can tell you is my daughter co-slept with her baby until she was nearly 3. She NEVER slept in her lovely crib, and when she was at my house, she always had to go to sleep/nap with me holding her in some way. And when she woke up, she insisted on Mama or Nana to be there. My daughter finally got her to make the transition to a regular single bed in her own room but it was not without a lot of crying and several nights of no sleep for anyone. My daughter and her husband had to just lay there for several nights listening to their child scream and cry and beg to come into their bed (this after laying all the groundwork as outlined in the books written on this subject). Finally they put a sleeping bag on the floor next to their bed and said, if you HAVE to come in, you can't come into our bed, but you can get into the sleeping bag. That seemed to do the trick. She is a very reasonable little girl and it somehow made sense to her, she felt comfortable with it, and now she very seldom comes into the sleeping bag.

You can start off by putting her in her crib at nap times during the day. Then gradually work on bedtime. More than likely she will wake up in the middle of the night. If you give her a few minutes, without rushing over to pick her up, she may just lay back down. In less than a week, she'll be sleeping threw the night in her own bed. I hope this works for you.

Every child is different. I will also say that although mine did sleep in their own room, I think there is nothing wrong with co-sleeping if you choose it. Having said that... I would try creating a bed time routine that ends in her room. Maybe reading or singing or rocking in her room. Ideally, you will like them to be able to put themselves to sleep. This can be tough. My daughter always fell asleep while breastfeeding and then I was able to lay her down. However, the day came where she had to do it on her own (about 8 mos). I remember just being close and singing or rubbing her back w/ my arm over the crib for a long time... but I couldn't leave her cry it out. Eventually it worked.. just began to take less time. I also would play music in her room at night (only at night and naptime) thinking it might signal "sleep" to her... Take your time, follow your gut -there is no right way, each child is and needs something different. Enjoy her : )