Crib or not?

[emmaluv+2more]

The rock n play worked wonders for my 2 year old (too bad it wasn't available for my other 3).  I was easily able to transfer a sleeping baby into mine from the comfort of my own bed.  If your baby allows swaddling, it is even easier.

 

But you should take my advice with a grain of salt...I'm a nurse and rock to sleep kinda mama all the way and have zero regrets.  I wouldn't change those precious months for anything!

[ktgrok]

Is the rock and sleep thing the one that people said caused flat heads? I remember something being accused of that forever ago. But given how much my babies sleep on me, in carriers, etc I guess I wouldn't be too worried. And it seems very reasonably priced. 

[Murphy101]

Is the rock and sleep thing the one that people said caused flat heads? I remember something being accused of that forever ago. But given how much my babies sleep on me, in carriers, etc I guess I wouldn't be too worried. And it seems very reasonably priced.

It is my understanding flat heads were not caused by any particuliar item but repeated long term positioning of the infant. It didn't matter if they were constantly on their back on the floor, or in a car seat or swing or whatever. The problem was they spent hours upon hours every day with their head in the same position against a hard surface.

Edited June 30, 2016 by Murphy101

[mommyoffive]

The rock n play worked wonders for my 2 year old (too bad it wasn't available for my other 3).  I was easily able to transfer a sleeping baby into mine from the comfort of my own bed.  If your baby allows swaddling, it is even easier.

 

But you should take my advice with a grain of salt...I'm a nurse and rock to sleep kinda mama all the way and have zero regrets.  I wouldn't change those precious months for anything!

 

Agree 10000%

 

 

Get a Rock and Play.   I so wish they would have had them with my first 3 kids.  This is the must have baby gear.  That and and Ergo.

 

I do a rock and play for the first 6 months.  They sleep so well in it.  

[aaplank]

Parts of it worked for me, like learning to keep track of their natural sleep pattern. But the rest made me a crazy lady. Settle baby, lay baby down, pick up crying baby, settle baby, lay baby down, pick up baby....for an hour straight and by that point I was losing my mind.

 

I'm either a lazy parent or just not cut out for that stuff, but I decided it was way easier to just nurse them to sleep while watching star trek reruns on the couch with my feet up on a comfy ottoman, lol. But man, did that book have me stressed while i tried it.

 

Of course, others love it. Worth trying i would think, but for me it was way more stress than it was worth.

 

I did not follow it to the letter at all. I agree that nursing a baby to sleep is the easiest way to go for both mom and baby. But my kids would jerk awake soon after I laid them down, and I'd have to nurse to sleep all over again, or just hold them for their entire nap.

 

It was a revelation for me that I could have a goal of putting them down to sleep while they were still slightly awake!! It took awhile to be successful, and I didn't follow all her steps, but my babies would no longer jolt themselves awake when they realized they were no longer in my arms. They would stir a little and put themselves back to sleep.

[ktgrok]

It was a revelation for me that I could have a goal of putting them down to sleep while they were still slightly awake!! It took awhile to be successful, and I didn't follow all her steps, but my babies would no longer jolt themselves awake when they realized they were no longer in my arms. They would stir a little and put themselves back to sleep.

 

LOL, I think it is the 'took awhile" part that I struggled with, lol. I may not be that persistent, and I have a very short attention span. 

[BusyMom5]

I did exactly like you- mine end up on a matress on the floor.  I like an arms reach co-sleeper for the first few months, then we transition either to our bed or a twin matress right beside our bed.  We have a crib, but I never used it.  We stopped setting it up after the first 2 b/c I knew it wouldn't be used.  I actually think I set it up around 6-7 months old with the last one b/c I thought I might put her down for a nap in it, that lasted about a month before I felt it was useless, I never laid her in it and it was taking up space ;)  You've had 2 kids, you know how you parent.  If you decide when the baby is 5 or 6 months old that you need a crib, you can always purchase one at that time. 

[MistyMountain]

My last two used the crib after about 7 months. It did not last long for my middle child because he started jumping out by 14 months. I do not think the pick up put down method was in the No Cry Sleep Solution I thought that was another book. I heard about it from message boards and I think it was in The Baby Wisperer. I never read it but I heard it was like a gentler version of Baby Wise where you also follow babies cues. I did a version of pick up put down with my son but my own way. I did not follow a schedule for nursing. I did the same with night weaning I did not use the Jay Gorden method but I did similar but that was for a baby over 1 year old

 

I did not do exactly pick up put down I just patted and rubbed the babies back and sang unless they got really upset then I would pick them up and comfort them. I did not pick up and put down as often as recommended I held longer if need be. I gradually gave them less help until they would get patted and sang to at night but they put themselves to sleep. It took time for them to learn it was not an overnight thing but it was not too hard of a routine and they did learn to put themselves to sleep in a way that was very gentle and did not involve crying. I did not transfer a sleeping baby into a crib and had them in my room in various arrangements until about 7 months.

Edited June 30, 2016 by MistyMountain

[ktgrok]

 

I did not do exactly pick up put down I just patted and rubbed the babies back and sang unless they got really upset then I would pick them up and comfort them. I did not pick up and put down as often as recommended I held longer if need be. I gradually gave them less help until they would get patted and sang to at night but they put themselves to sleep. It took time for them to learn it was not an overnight thing but it was not too hard of a routine and they did learn to put themselves to sleep in a way that was very gentle and did not involve crying. I did not transfer a sleeping baby into a crib and had them in my room in various arrangements until about 7 months.

 

Ah, see...patting and singing would have still resulted in crying here. And did. So I'd pick them up. Ugh...getting traumatized remembering. 90 minutes of that to try to get a baby to sleep, in a dark room, bored and frustrated. Totally gave in after a few days and just went back to our normal, because I hated being isolated in a dark nursery. We STILL all cuddle to sleep on the couch, actually. We put on a show like Sea Rescue or Dogs with Jobs, the kids snuggle up, and the 3 yr old falls asleep ASAP, the 6 yr old often does make it to the next episode, but then we make her take off her glasses and close her eyes and she falls asleep with her head on Daddy's lap in a few minutes, while I watch Star Trek :)

[Okra]

Well, I feel that I am like you.  My first two babies were not very good crib sleepers even though we had one.  I would treat them like little bombs, and carry them very carefully to the crib and try to set them down most carefully.  At that point, most of the time, they would wake up and start screaming.  And, I don't let them cry, especially not crying hard.

 

What I did for my last two worked the best, so you might try it. Basically, I tried very hard NOT to treat them like "little bombs".  From the very beginning, during the newborn phase,  I would wake them up just a smidge.  Sometimes, they would wake up, and sometimes they would fall back asleep.  I think the key is that sometimes, they were falling back asleep, and teaching themselves that they could put themselves to sleep without sucking on something.

 

I don't know.  It's just personal experience, so nothing to really back me up.  But, trying to be super careful in putting a baby in a crib clearly wasn't working for me, so I decidedly tried to NOT be careful when putting them in the crib, and that seemed to over the long run work much better.  We started this from the very start, right when they were tiny. 

 

Good luck!

 

Edited June 30, 2016 by Okra

[StaceyinLA]

Never owned a crib with any of mine; co-slept with all of them from day 1.

 

Neither of my dds own cribs either; they just cosleep until the kiddos go into a regular bed.