Q & A: Transitioning an older baby to a crib

Hi Rosemary,

I have a question about moving our 15 month old daughter to her crib.

We have been co-sleeping since she was out of her bassinet (around four months old) because the crib we had was damaged and couldn’t get a new one right away. In our bed she had been sleeping through the night for months now. I finally got the crib set up in her own room and have begun the transition of moving her there for both naps and bedtime. Currently to get her to fall asleep I am staying in the room with her while she lays in the crib. She naps fine and will go down okay but is waking up every few hours at nighttime where I usually can go in, give her her soother and she goes back to sleep but there are times where she won’t go back to sleep and wants out to be with me.

How do I go about getting her to the point where I can lay her down to sleep on her own and have her not get up so many times in the night? I should also mention we are only on day three of this transition.

Thanks you for your help,
RaeAnna D

Hi RaeAnna,
Congratulations on the transition! Not an easy thing to do. There will always be wrinkles, so hang in there! Before too long, your daughter will be very happy, on her own. It sounds like you are doing all the right things. I would keep the pacifier in the picture right now because the transition in general is enough for her to handle. Your goal should be to distance yourself away from her gradually. If you need to rub her back constantly, then try doing it intermittently. Or if you are within arm distance of her crib, try inching yourself away a little bit each day. Try your best not to take her out of the crib. That is a slippery slope and makes it harder to eventually move away from her. Patting and rubbing are better than taking her out of her crib. It would be good to be practicing the same habits when you put her down at nap time and also at bedtime. Once she’s down, do your best not to pick her up again.

Hope this is helpful!

Rosemary

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