Moving 5mo from cosleeping to cot

[TealHousewife]

We have co slept with DS2 since he was born, he's now five months old. I love cosleeping and part of me wants to go on forever but it's also getting less practical: as he gets bigger there's not quite enough room in the bed, plus I am going back to work in a couple of months' time and would like to be getting more sleep by then, although maybe that's a separate issue.

At the moment he feeds to sleep at 7/7.30, and wakes two or three times in the night before being up for the day any time between 5 and 7. Naps are usually in the sling, sometimes feeding to sleep in bed. He's not in a routine, is ebf and feeds every 2-3 hours in the day.

I'd love to know how other co sleepers have managed the transition from bed to cot if you've done it at this age. At the moment he just won't sleep in the cot but I haven't tried much yet. Not sure how I'll ever get him sleeping in his own room...

Watching with interest! Having similar issues with DD (6mo). Had to stop co-sleeping as I was getting literally no sleep at all but DD really struggles to settle in her cot, so we end up putting her in her pram most nights. Not a long term solution and I'm working myself up to having another crack at getting her to settle in cot - hoping to pick up some tips. Have tried propping up on end of mattress, using fleece blanket as sheet, putting her down asleep, putting her down awake, putting toys in there, taking all toys out... hmm... Reading this back, maybe our biggest problem is inconsistency!

It's hard isn't it! Cosleeping is lovely but I have some back pain at the moment which I think is partly attributable to not being able to move enough at night; plus DS is waking more often and for longer periods at night, and I'm wondering if this is related to having milk on tap so to speak.

The key is getting them to go to sleep on the cot on their own - I remember this from DS1 but no memory of how I made it happen!

Would a 3 sided cot work? Maybe the best of both worlds?

I got a 3 sided cot in the hope that she could be persuaded to move. That was when she was 3 months. She's now 6 months and still won't go in there. I eventually gave up and m still co sleeping and breastfeeding all night. She's got 4 teeth now and I'm quite worried about bottle rot.

What's bottle rot and why does it worry you?

If it's decay from milk, IIRC with breast milk, you're meant to make sure teeth are properly clean from food, as it's the combination of breastmilk and food on the teeth which isn't good for teeth I think. (can't remember where I got that from so worth a google though!)

I find it hard to believe feeding alone is bad for teeth, as it's what nature has designed us to do. Natural term feeding is a lot longer than 5 months (more like 5 years!) but happy to hear about any evidence to the contary if it exists?

So I spent four hours last night trying to settle DD in cot. Tears, micro naps and two vomiting incidents later, I ended up bringing her into bed with me. Have had a very unsettled night and she's been awake for an hour already (she usually wakes 7.30-8am). Not really inspiring me to try again tonight, but I suppose I must!

How do you settle her at the moment Hugo? DS will settle fine as long as he feeds to sleep, but tends to wake if he realises there's no longer a warm body next to him!

Three sided cot is a good idea and in fact we do have one next to the bed. I think I need to work more on getting him to settle in it rather than always having him in bed to maximise sleep.

Well, she usually sleeps in her pram, and either feeds to sleep or we just rock her off once she's in it. Last night I was trying the cot, so started by feeding her (can't remember if she was asleep when I put her down but she wakes up the second her head touches the sheet) and then I tried singing, patting, holding her hand, just sitting by the cot, almost cuddling her in the cot and anything that seemed to work. I've just bought her a Ewan the Dreamsheep which she seems to like but which definitely isn't magic, and I picked her up whenever she got really worked up. The longest stretch of sleep was about 25 mins.

I've wimped out tonight and put her in her pram. Just fed her and she's sleeping soundly.