Transitioning from swing to crib

sbpr · 01-14-2010, 09:22 AM

Hello! I'm looking for some tips on how to transition my 3 month old from sleeping in her swing to the crib. She only sleeps in the swing...on rare occasion, we've gotten her to sleep in the crib, even through the night a few times, but typically, as soon as I place her down (she's been asleep in my arms for at least 5-10 minutes, sometimes even as long as 45 minutes), she wakes up and immediately cries and won't stop until I pick her up again, then rock her back to sleep, then place her in the swing. For the last month or so, she's been sleeping a stretch of 10-12 hours in the swing, so it has been wonderful for us!! BUT, she will eventually grow out of the swing, and I'm not sure if not being on her back is harming her in some way, so I'd really like to get her sleeping in her crib. I've tried putting her down as gently as possible, then keeping my hand on her chest for a few minutes, but this just doesn't seem to work. I think she's too young to start teaching her how to fall asleep on her own (as that results in non-stop horrible crying), but maybe I'm wrong about that? Any help is much appreciated! Thank you.

goodenoughmother · 02-08-2010, 09:33 PM

I don't think it's healthy to be in a sitting position while sleeping for 12 hours. It's going to be hard to break a habit and I think you really should start now rather than later. Here is a long thread on this topic from others in a similar situation-with some great advice:
http://aplaceofourown.org/boards/sho...ighlight=swing

let us know how it goes,
goodenoughmother

sbpr · 02-10-2010, 08:14 AM

thanks for the push to start trying now...so here's where we're at. yesterday, I successfully had my daughter napping in the crib twice during the day, with one arm unswaddled. not for too long, one nap was 45 minutes, the other was only 25 minutes, but still in the CRIB! last night, I put her down (asleep in my arms, then I patted her as I placed in the crib and she stayed asleep miraculously) and she slept for almost 3 hours then woke up crying. it was on and off so I didn't go to her until she was actually crying for a few minutes straight (as I didn't want to stop her from falling back asleep on her own) - fed her and put her back down...this time awake, and she fell asleep on her own within minutes - this has never happened before! SO, she then woke up again at 5am, I got her and fed her and tried again to put her down awake and this was a huge mistake, she cried and cried. I then picked her up and tried to rock her back to asleep and that didn't work either...I put her in the swing and that didn't work either, so I finally put her in the swing again, turned on the lightshow thing that's part of the swing, and left her crying unfortunately. however, she became quiet after just 5 minutes...and I imagine fell back asleep for another few hours. where do you suppose I went wrong?? she's currently napping in the crib, and I again had her asleep in my arms then rocked her as I was putting her down, and so far so good. her pedi wants me to start doing the ferber training so she can teach herself to fall asleep. I'm nervous about how that will go.