Transitioning from Co sleeping to next-2-me

[ThatBusySeal]

We've Co slept with our 4 month old since they were 2 weeks old. It's the only way they would sleep.
But it's killing back/hips/shoulders being on my side.

Any tips for transitioning to the next-2-me please! Can I carry on contact napping in the day with LO or is an all in approach better.
For context we have to rock/shush him to sleep. He's not a fan of being laid down either also usually falls asleep upright against my chest and I then lay down with him and roll him onto his back.
When we try put him in his next to me he wakes up again straight away. 'Drowsy but awake' just leads to instant screaming too.

Drowsy but awake is a phrase created by someone who hates new parents. It never works.

I never had any success at this age of not co sleeping, but I would suggest getting a really good pillow and also a pillow to go behind your back and between your knees. It makes a huge difference.

I would wait until 6 months and then do some sleep training when they move into their own room. I managed to get mine to sleep in his own cot at night but he still contact napped until I went back to work at one year. Even now at 2 he won't nap in his cot in the day but I don't mind as he sleeps well there at night!

We failed and are still cosleeping at 10months. Going to watch incase anyone comes along with any more tips!

Hope you get some practical tips! My youngest is 2 and co sleeps and eldest who's 4 also sneaks in the bed every night !

So we coslept until about a year, but were able to put him down in the cot at the start of the night from about 6 months. It was side sleeping that was game changing for us, so not helpful advice until they can roll!

But I did want to reassure that we continued to cosleep for naps (and still do at 2) but he sleeps fine in his cot overnight (most of the time).

We still cuddle to sleep now, drowsy but awake has been a big lie here too! I did everything "wrong" when he was little - cosleeping, contact naps, fed to sleep, never drowsy on put down - and we still got there with sleep.

Hi @ThatBusySeal , how did you get on with this? We're wanting to try this soon xx

@Eagerlywaiting1990 our LO is now over a year. It does get easier. He naps great in his cot now. But nighttime is still mixed. He starts in his cot but usually ends up in with us as he wakes every 2 hours.
Persiverance is key. Also I think your child has to be ready. Weve accepted that our LO is just not a great sleeper. We paid for a sleep course (not a consultant) 'Just Chill Baby Sleep' and it got us to this point of being somewhat in his own bed. For a while he was going for 3-3.5hr stretches all night! But then there was illness and new teeth and ive gone back to work and we are back to 2 hrs.
Wish i had better advice! The Just Chill Baby sleep course was good though. Hope it all goes well for you!

@ThatBusySeal thanks for getting back to me so quickly. You must be exhausted 😩. My wee one is 11 weeks today and wakes every couple of hours too, I cant imagine doing that with work as well though.
Thanks for the course recommendation, ill definitely look into it. Hope the sleep improves for you soon xx

We did drowsy but awake from day one. He slept through the night from 3.5 months and still does at nearly a year.

It does work, but people don't do it early enough and the bad habits set in.

This is just nonsense I'm afraid. You were just blessed with a baby who was easy to get to sleep. What you did made no difference at that age, and it's cruel to suggest that another parent hasn't tried hard enough when it's totally normal and natural for a baby to want to be held.

My DD would have shattered the glass in our windows screaming if I'd done the drowsy but awake thing. It's not for every baby.

The next to me can only be used until 6 months though I think because you can't risk them sitting in it.

No, what's nonsense is saying "It doesn't work for anyone ever".

It CAN work, as part of a broader spectrum of sleep training methods and sleep association cues, and of course, a baby who will respond to these methods over a period of weeks and months.

Nobody ever said you can't hold your baby, or your baby can't ever fall asleep on you.

But I'll tell you that at 10 months, our child only will fall asleep independently. He hasn't had a contact nap since about 3-4 months. Won't sleep in the pram. He only sleeps in the car or in the cot.

I'm not saying that to brag, I'm saying it to challenge the assumption that really well established sleep training methods just "don't work".