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Tuesday, May 30, 2006
How Can I Get My Baby to Sleep in His Crib?
Carol, 39 from CA asks...
How do I get my baby used to sleeping in his crib instead of with me? At what age? Do I make him cry it out?
Stacy Says...
Oh, Carol. Dear, Carol. This is the question of my life right now. And I gotta tell ya--I have not come up with the magic solution. My daughter has done it all. First, she fell asleep no problem in the crib. Then, we had to hold her in our bed until she fell asleep. Then she got big enough to roll off the bed (thankfully onto pillows) and so we started putting her back in the crib. Now, that's ok during the day but not at night. Sheesh.
My personal opinion, go with the flow. For our family, it's just easier to allow her to sleep whichever way she can. Trying putting your son in his crib around nap time when he's getting sleepy and letting him play, put some toys in there so he's entertained. He might just get tired and fall asleep. Once he gets used to the idea of, "Hey. My crib's not so bad," he might be more agreeable to it at night. If he'll ONLY sleep with you, cuddle him and let him fall asleep then put him in his crib.
A few words of caution, however. "Crying it out" is a dangerous phrase. Usually, I'll give her at least 5 minutes in her crib to cry during the day and 9 times out of 10, she stops and is asleep. Ahhh. At night? Whole other story. She screams and screams, works herself up to where there is NO consoling her. So then instead of taking only 10 minutes to go to sleep, she's up for another hour, gets hungry again...just a viscous cycle. So, is "crying it out" good then--nope. Who knows, she might be scared at night despite the night lights.
There's really no magic age where they are ready for sleeping in the crib versus with you. You have to go by what YOU think is best. Try different things, don't be afraid to change something that isn't working or stick with something that is. (For a long time, my dad gave us a hard time for laying down with Hannah when she slept--but you know what? She was asleep in 5 minutes, slept for 2 hours and we could get some work done). Try relaxing music or fun music he likes, try leaving the light on, try rocking him to sleep and putting him in his crib. Whatever works!
How do I get my baby used to sleeping in his crib instead of with me? At what age? Do I make him cry it out?
Stacy Says...
Oh, Carol. Dear, Carol. This is the question of my life right now. And I gotta tell ya--I have not come up with the magic solution. My daughter has done it all. First, she fell asleep no problem in the crib. Then, we had to hold her in our bed until she fell asleep. Then she got big enough to roll off the bed (thankfully onto pillows) and so we started putting her back in the crib. Now, that's ok during the day but not at night. Sheesh.
My personal opinion, go with the flow. For our family, it's just easier to allow her to sleep whichever way she can. Trying putting your son in his crib around nap time when he's getting sleepy and letting him play, put some toys in there so he's entertained. He might just get tired and fall asleep. Once he gets used to the idea of, "Hey. My crib's not so bad," he might be more agreeable to it at night. If he'll ONLY sleep with you, cuddle him and let him fall asleep then put him in his crib.
A few words of caution, however. "Crying it out" is a dangerous phrase. Usually, I'll give her at least 5 minutes in her crib to cry during the day and 9 times out of 10, she stops and is asleep. Ahhh. At night? Whole other story. She screams and screams, works herself up to where there is NO consoling her. So then instead of taking only 10 minutes to go to sleep, she's up for another hour, gets hungry again...just a viscous cycle. So, is "crying it out" good then--nope. Who knows, she might be scared at night despite the night lights.
There's really no magic age where they are ready for sleeping in the crib versus with you. You have to go by what YOU think is best. Try different things, don't be afraid to change something that isn't working or stick with something that is. (For a long time, my dad gave us a hard time for laying down with Hannah when she slept--but you know what? She was asleep in 5 minutes, slept for 2 hours and we could get some work done). Try relaxing music or fun music he likes, try leaving the light on, try rocking him to sleep and putting him in his crib. Whatever works!
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Yeah..I'm not a big fan of "crying it out" either. That is an old fashioned tactic in my opinion.
Like Stacy said, give him a few minutes of crying to get over it himself, but then help him out.
Crying is a sign that something is wrong or needs to change. A baby is trying to communicate. What if he was sick or in pain? How would you know that if you left him to scream all night?
Babies are new to this world. No reason to try to teach them a lesson when a good cuddle might do the trick.
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Like Stacy said, give him a few minutes of crying to get over it himself, but then help him out.
Crying is a sign that something is wrong or needs to change. A baby is trying to communicate. What if he was sick or in pain? How would you know that if you left him to scream all night?
Babies are new to this world. No reason to try to teach them a lesson when a good cuddle might do the trick.
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