Amby hammock users past & present - advice sought!?!

[san2]

Hi!
I started using amby hammock at around 5 mo for DS. Both his day and nighttime sleep is soooo much better.
He has learnt to bounce himself off for naps and also if he wakes in the night.
He isn't ready to move yet (phew!) but I was just wondering if anyone else had/has a baby who is an avid "bouncer" and has got any advice on how they transitioned to the cot. (as I know the day will come when he has to move!)
Thanks for any help/advice/support.

Anyone out there?

sounds like ds3- I moved him into a cot at about 10 months when he kept trying to turn in his sleep. I did a few daytime naps (put him down asleep, then bit the bullet and went for nights. He did try and bounce himself and cried for about the first 2 nights, but soon goot used to it. The amby was wonderful- wish I'd had it for my first 2.

HI!

When you say put him down to sleep - do you mean in the day or night or both to start with?

How bad/long was the crying?

Did he wake in the night? DS does and I know he bounces back off. Unsure how he will settle in the night.

THanks
AGree - hammock has been amazing. Only wish I'd started using earlier!

Daytime naps- I fed him to sleep then put him down. Night time was a bit scarier-think I did that first then gradually put him down awake.

He did wake at night and bounce himself back to sleep- frequently! When he went in the cot I would find him half asleep doing these major twisty thuds, but he dropped that really quickly- in about a week or two. He might cry then, but half heartedly.

Getting him to go into his cot asleep and fall asleep was the hardest thing to crack crying wise- but I seem to remember the big tears only lasted about 3 days.

hi there, i'm so glad that you posted this message! My son is now five months and one week old old, and has been in the Amby since birth. He's quite a big baby at 19 pounds already, so space is getting quite tight in the Amby. He also does the 'bounce to sleep trick'.

We're quite worried about how long we should keep him in the Amby for, and I guess my question is whether it's better to start moving him now, before he gets far too used to the bounce... or whether we let him stay another five months, with the hope that it won't be even harder to 'de-bounce him' and get him into a cot bed down the line?

hope that makes sense! Thanks for advice x

Hi!
That is exactly what I have been thinking (worrying!) about.
I contacted US AMBY website and their advice is that the baby will let you know when they need to move (will arch back when goes in, seems uncomfortable) and in their view/experience the transition is easier when the baby is showing signs he wants to move.
I think I am going to leave him there for a while and enjoy relatively good nights whilst I can! (ours were very bad and don't want to go back there).
I think there are some other past users out there so am hoping they'll spot this thread soon and give us some more tips...

I'd agree- ds3 made it very clear when he wanted to move.

We used the hammock with both my boys for the first year. Neither "let us know" when they were ready to move. We just decided that a year old was about right. With both of them, I worried incessantly before the move to a cot, but really it was not a problem with either. We decided that it would be easiest to do it for the night sleep first as they were more tired and more likely to0 go off to sleep. My They both objected a little, but we comforted them and it was fine. I don't remember it being a problem beyond the first night.

However, I will point out that both of mine slept on sheepskin rugs (on the advice of the company we got the hammock from) and both had comfort dolls they slept with. These of course went with them to their cots. I am sure this is what made it easier.

bump

Ginnie
How is it going?
HAve you decided whether to move your baby yet or not?

DD2 slept in an Amby from birth until, I think, about 10mths, when we went in after her daytime nap one day to find her crying and crawling on the floor underneath it .

She was very unhappy at going into a cot, and it took probably up to about a week for her to be really settled in it.

At one point we had been putting her down for daytime naps in the cot so that she would get used to it, but then went back to the hammock as she slept better in it!

So no advice really, it probably won't be easy, but he should get used to the cot fairly quickly - babies are pretty adaptable on the whole!

Hi San2, nope we've not moved him yet. Decided to postpone, particularly since he's only just started to go for longer stretches at night, and we want to enjoy that for a couple of months before facing the next sleep challenge!

Thanks for extra advice BonyM. We're definitely not looking forward to the move... i was quite dissapointed at the manufacturer's response when I asked him for advice/testimonials from other parents to be placed on the Amby website about making the transition from hammock to bed. His response was the 'every baby is different' mantra, and told us we'd basically have to work it out for ourselves. True, but it's always really helpful (and reassuring) to hear about other parents' experiences.

Part of me is doubting the overall benefits of the Amby at the moment. The fact that our baby won't sleep anywhere else but the hammock (apart from sometimes in his pram) and the anxiety about 'the move', really has to be weighed up against the supposed 'improved sleep benefits' of the Amby (which we can't test anyway since he's never slept anywhere else!).

I think we're going to set ourselves a date, a bank holiday weekend in the spring or something to bite the bullet and move him into the cot...fun.

What have you decided to do San2?

As I type this, he is bouncing himself to sleep for his morning nap...