Swing to Crib Transition

[Mom2katiebug]

Our DD usually naps like a champ, but it's in her swing, not her crib.  DH and I know that she needs to get used to crib napping and were thinking that we'll just add 10 minutes in her crib to her naptime routine before popping her in the swing.  Every few days we'll increase the crib time and eventually she'll fall asleep in the crib...right?

Do you think this will work?  Any other ideas?

[Aiden and Marlo's Mama]

Does she sleep in her crib at night?  My dd sleeps in the swing too.  I must say that I'm incredibly nervous at the idea of putting her in her crib (which is still in the attic  :oops: )  Sounds like a good plan though!  If I'm remembering correctly, I think you need to put her close in the corner though, so she doesn't feel like she's in a big open space, kwim?

I'll be watching this thread! 

[Colesmom]

Where does she sleep at night?  How old is DD?

I would think that if this is her first experience with the crib it may be best to let he spend a bit of A time in there.  Put some soft toys in (while awake) and make it a nice place to be.  It doesn't necessarily need to be part of windown.

Regardless of age I think it might be best just to go cold turkey.  By having both involved it may just confuse your lo.  She needs to learn that her crib is a place for sleeping now.  If you have her in there, take her out and put in the swing then she'll wonder what is expected of her.  Unless she's the type to fall asleep very easily I'm not sure your plan will work as she'll just wonder when she gets to go into her swing IYKWIM?

Please let me know what you think of this.  do you have Tracy's book?  Are you familiar with pat/shush and PUPD as methods to soothe your baby to sleep?

[Mom2katiebug]

DD is 8.5 WO and she sleeps in her crib at night.  We have the usual nighttime issues, but no crib anxiety for nighttime sleeping.

Another question:  we've hung two layers of fleece over DDs window to keep her room very dark during the day.  Is this a good idea?  Should she get used to the light for naps and darkness means nighttime?

I have the books and we do pat for nighttime wakings (non-feed times) - the shh doesn't seem to have any effect.

[Colesmom]

Hi there,

Sorry for the delay in responding.  I started BW when my DS was 4.5 months old.  I'm going to ask another moderators assistance since your daughter is so young.  I still think it's best to go cold turkey, but would like another opinion just to be sure.  Especially since she is used to her crib I am thinking that the transition should go quite smoothly for you.

What temperment is your daughter?  Spirited, textbook etc?

As for the blinds, my sons room is very dark as well.  Some say that dim is good for naps and dark for nighttime but spirited babies seem to need it very dark to reduce distraction.  That's why I asked her temperment.

I'll send a note and hopefully someone will have a better answer very soon!

[Aiden and Marlo's Mama]

Well, the IL's had dd today (along with ds!) and everything seemed to go fine.  I didn't give any detailed instructions (they've watched ds a lot and he's fine) so I called today to check up and they said she was just fine.  Slept in the Pack n' play without any problem.  Although they fed her to sleep, which is no big deal for me right now.  MIL said "Marlo is like a cat, she just wants to eat and sleep and poo"  :lol:  Hopefully this will prepare them for any future babysitting if they wish!!!!!!! 

[Meg's Mom]

Hi,

A few points:
-if you want to keep using the swing i would HIGHLY recommend you turn it off once your LO is asleep or you will not only have a crib issue but dc will only be able to fall w/ motion.  I speak from experience.  If you fall that rule and want to use the swing until about 3mos...you should be fine.
-i would also go cold turkey to the crib when ready.
-i would let dc spend time playing in the crib if you r worried about  crib anxiety.  Actually, i hight recommend this at all ages...I go out of my way to find ways to get dc in her crib...especially after naps.  I go in say hi, tidy up...leave...come back...fold laundry in there all the while dc is in her crib.  Tracy talks about this in her new book.
-the dark room for naps is great especially for touchy/spirt types.

Hope that helps.

[Mom2katiebug]

You don't find any problems using the crib for non-sleep activities?  Obviously not, but that seems odd.  One of the things DD does when we put her in for naps is bicycle her legs which she does when we put her on the floor for "tummytime"  (hates tummy so we roll back and forth to her back).  I was thinking that she's confusing the crib with the floor (firm surface) and thinking it's time for more Activity/Exercise.  I pat her shoulder (she tenses up if I try to put her on her side - thinks she's going to have to get on her tummy) and gently hold her legs down, but they just never seem to calm down.  Oddly enough, we don't have this problem at night.

I think she's textbook mostly but has some Touchy in her.  I need to take the quiz again as her personality/temperment has changed in the last week or so.  She did sleep fine in our family room with the TV going, dishwasher, laundry, etc.  We just thought moving it to her room would help her get used to napping in there.  And, since she was having so much trouble getting to sleep, we tried blocking out the light.

One last question (sorry so long), but how do I reconcile the overtired baby phase?  That seems to affect everything that comes after it.  So, we go cold turkey on the crib and it takes her over an hour to fall off to sleep.  That's an hour of sleep that she's missing when I wake her to eat on her next feeding.  (She's a sleepy eater anyhow, so it could throw off her feed.)  Then, getting her down for her next nap in her crib seems like it's going to be even harder since it's still new and she's overtired.  It's seems like sometime, after hours of being frustrated and cranky, she's just going to crash from exhaustion.  True?  Or, am I being overly dramatic?  (The one time she did nap in her crib, she only slept 20 minutes - after 30 minutes or so of settling.  There was no resettling her.)

Thanks so much for the feedback.  We'll tackle this soon and I'm sure I'll have some more questions or cries for help!

[Colesmom]

Hi,

I apologize in the delay of my response.  My internet connection has been down for two days.  So frustrating.

Anyway-about playtime in the crib.  The way your DD will differentiate between playtime and sleeptime is by the windown and the atmosphere in general.  During playtime you may leave her and wind up a mobile while you sing and put away laundry.  The room will be bright with lights on or at least curtains open.  You can place her in the crib and say "time for you to have some playtime while mommy tidies up" or some such phrase.  For sleeptime it is important to keep the windown the same for each nap.  This way it will program DD to expect sleep at the end of it.  The room will be dim/dark, you'll be using a soft, soothing voice and will comfort/soothe her to sleep.  Your DD will be able to tell the difference of what is expected of her.

As for the period of adjustment.  In the beginning yes, dd will get less sleep because she is going to have to learn to fall asleep in a new way and she will probably fight it. She is going to have to learn to fall asleep on her own (with mom and dad's help) without the continuous soothing motion of the swing. The swing is in fact taking her ability to self soothe away, and when she no longer naps in there, she will have to learn to self soothe on her own. Until a baby is 3 months old though she has no ability to self soothe, which is where pat/shush comes in.

I hope this information in helpful.  Good luck with the transition.  It usually takes about 3 days to break a habit.  With DD so young I'm sure if you are consistent you will be successful.