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Original poster

Moving 4 month old into own bedroom

24 replies

Sunday89 · 16/02/2018 14:28

Just wondering if anyone has any thoughts on moving a 4 month old into their own room? Any experiences of doing it and going well (or badly!)
My DS is in a chicco next2me which in the last week we have moved slightly away from the bed (and zipped the sides up).
Despite doing this he still wakes me up pretty much every hour, often by coughing (he’s poorly at the moment) or being restless/moving around and flailing his arms etc so I end up sticking Ewan on for the white noise and settling him or trying to give him a dummy even though he’s still sleeping, just restless. He usually his one feed a night at around 4am, although this has been more like 1am while he’s poorly as he’s been going to bed earlier.
I wouldn’t move him until he’s over his current illness but I think part of the problem is he’s very long and he can kick the bottom of the next2me crib, which disturbs him. He’s slept well in his sleepyhead since he was born and I would like to try putting that in his big cot in the nursery, with the Angelcare monitor and sensor pad and see how he does, but I’m aware that babies are meant to stay in the same room as you until 6 months old.
I’m also forward planning as we have our first baby free night away planned for the end of March (when DS will be nearly 6months) and it will be easier for my mum to look after him if he’s settled in his nursery rather than having her stay in our bedroom with him.
So - any advice!? I just dread bedtime at the moment as I’m a very light sleeper and waking up hourly is leaving me feeling like a zombie

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danTDM · 16/02/2018 14:35

DD(9) always had her own room! I didn't realise any differently at the time. She is the most amazing sleeper as a result. Always very happy. Not clingy either as a toddler. Independent even. Slept through at 12 weeks.

I wish my neighbours would move their 2 yr old child into one of the other 3 bedrooms, instead of still having him in their room which is directly next to me with shared wall, letting him cry, not picking him up. Pointless. All night. He will never learn like that.

I'd do it.

MrsBriteSide · 16/02/2018 14:36

I moved DD into her own room and the big crib at four months and it went well for us. Like you, she was waking me frequently with her noises/grumbling in her sleep.

For a few weeks beforehand I’d been putting her in there for daytime naps when at home. I used a sleepyhead style cushion at first and then she went straight on the mattress.

Our walls are thin so I could hear enough to go see to her if she needed me but not so much that I was constantly being woken up.

I was breastfeeding so still got up a few times in the night for feeds which was fine. I know others say it’s easier to have Baby in your room or your bed for this reason but that wasn’t for me.

We splashed out on a video monitor so I could see her sleeping peacefully rather than barging in and waking her to check on her.

I left her little crib in our room for a while in case I wanted to bring her back in with us. I never did!

Good luck!

Original poster

Sunday89 · 16/02/2018 17:06

Glad to hear the move went well for you! He has had a few daytime naps in his cot so have started him getting used to the nursery, and his changing tables in there so he’s used to the room from night changes anyway. He’s FF and can take ages having the night time bottle so the dilemma will be whether to sit in the nursery on a cold chair or bring him back to my bed for his feed and then back to the nursery... might have to play that one by ear.

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MrsBriteSide · 16/02/2018 17:57

We don’t have a chair in DD’s room so I just used to bring her into my bed and take her back to hers when she’s done. It wasn’t too much hassle at all. I still do the same for her one night feed now which is a bottle. Mix it up in our room with the lamp on, get DD, feed, take her back to her bed. Easy!

BentleyBelly · 17/02/2018 06:51

My first went into her own room at 4 months and it went well. My second (4 months yesterday!) now starts the night in his cot in his sister's room and then I bring him in with me when I go to bed. He is still feeding up to 4 times a night though, if he was feeding once he would stay. I have a lovely comfy nursing chair in there that I used for night feeds for dd. I have a video monitor...had the angelcare one for dd and never got on with the sensor pad. It was so sensitive it went off all the time.

hollowtree · 17/02/2018 06:54

DD went in her own room at 5 months and it went well.

Start by putting them in their own room for naps during the day then after a week or so try an overnight

Desmondo2016 · 17/02/2018 06:56

My LO transitioned from next to me (already separated from my bed from about 6 weeks) to cot in her own room at about 15 weeks with no issues. She was already sleeping right through and the transition didn't effect or change anything other than the quality of my sleep! We used snuza go alarm and video monitor for my own peace of mind and I was satisfied it was the right decision at the right time for me. You'll get people tell you it goes against safe sleep guidelines, which it does, but as with all parenting you have to assess your own risk and make decisions that work for you. Good luck!

NickMyLipple · 17/02/2018 07:12

@Sunday89 - can you use the Angelcare sensor pad with a sleepyhead?

NickMyLipple · 17/02/2018 07:13

Sorry pressed send too soon! Do you pop it under the sleepyhead itself?

eurochick · 17/02/2018 07:43

SIDS terrified me so it wasn't a risk I was comfortable taking. Ours was in with us until around 8 months. The quid pro quo for less disturbed sleep is more stumbling around in the dark anyway.

WhatInTheWorldIsGoingOn · 17/02/2018 07:47

Nick/ you can use anglecare on anything. Even a thick king sized bed mattress. I put mine under the normal mattress as usual and put the sleepyhead on top.

welshweasel · 17/02/2018 07:50

I’d keep them in with you and buy some earplugs! SIDS guidelines are 6 months, but a year if possible.

user1499786242 · 17/02/2018 08:02

Btw moving a baby into their own room won't stop them from being clingy
And keeping them in with you won't make them clingy...
just saying

Original poster

Sunday89 · 17/02/2018 09:01

Nickmylipple we’re using the angelcare sensor pad under the sleepyhead at the moment as DS goes down for the night around 7pm so we have the monitor turned on. It seems to work as I often pick the baby up and forget to switch the monitor off and the alarm goes off pretty quickly
Might try the ear plugs idea for a few weeks and see how that goes but I think by the time he gets to 5 months at the beginning of March he’s just going to be too big for the next2me and sleepyhead combo!

OP posts:

monkeyted · 17/02/2018 16:06

I moved DD into her cot in her room at 3 months. We were lucky enough her bedroom was big enough that I could sleep in there too, which I did until she was 6 months. She needed to go in her cot as was in a Moses basket that was just getting too small. I felt glad I'd moved her early as she settled into the cot straight away and I wonder if it might have been more tricky when she was older and more aware of her surroundings (though I'll never know, might also have been fine!). I've always used earplugs though, both when she was in our room and when I slept in her room with her, as I'm a really light sleeper too and she was endlessly making noises and fussing around meaning I'd get no sleep despite the fact was was actually sleeping!

RedPandaMama · 17/02/2018 16:08

Our DD is 6 months now but we've been doing naps since 4 months then moved her at 5. She sleeps so much better as a result, think DP's snoring and my tossing and turning woke her up in the next 2 me. Also as soon as she smells me she desperately wants milk, whether she's hungry or not.

If it's right for your family go for it. Everyone is different but you know what feels best for your family.

Keepingupwiththejonesys · 17/02/2018 16:16

Lol at danTDM. How do you know that your child is a good sleeper 'as a result' of them being in their own room from birth. I've done the exact same thing with all mine and I've had two good sleepers, one shocking.

Anyway, op, its recommended to keep baby in with you until 6 months at least, I personally really don't think its worth the risk moving them sooner. With mine I just moved them in, no real transition and it was fine with my first, not so much with the secondbut her sleep was bad anyway. She is 3 and only now sleeping through though. Always settled down fine but woke in the night. Ds has just turned one and slept through from around 4 weeks old. When he moved from the co-sleeper to the big cot it didn't effect his sleep at all.

Keepingupwiththejonesys · 17/02/2018 16:18

I'm also wondering why the face at a 2 year old in their parents room. That really isn't 'to old' you know. I like mine in their own room before then but wouldn't be shocked at all at others having a two year old in their room. I'd also like to know how you know they never pick their child up...and why you think their child will magically stop crying in their own room. How many kids do you have?

Original poster

Sunday89 · 17/02/2018 17:48

I can’t believe I never thought of using ear plugs! I think I worry that I wouldn’t hear him when he wakes up but I definitely would even with ear plugs in. This could be a game changer!

OP posts:

newmum7369 · 17/02/2018 17:54

DS went in his own room at about 2.5 months for exactly the reason you've said. He was a champion sleeper from day 1 but very noisy so we were constantly disturbed. His door and our door are exactly opposite, our house isn't huge so he isn't far away and we have a good video monitor but to be honest we don't need it because we can hear him if he starts stirring, we just can't hear every tiny noise like we did when he was in our room.

Did exactly as you said, Sleepyhead into the big cot. I swear he didn't notice he'd moved rooms and he slept even better.

He the hit the 4 month sleep regression hard and I managed to keep him in his own room. I'm glad we established him sleeping in his own room when he was such a good sleeper because he's never slept as well since and I'm relieved to not have to move him now he's a bit more aware!

Usernamqwerty · 18/02/2018 15:17

We moved our little man into his own room in the cot from 4.5 months after he outgrew the bedside crib. We all slept much better as a result!

All my NCT friends waited until 6 months+ to move their babies; however most of them didn't sleep through until much later x

Original poster

Sunday89 · 19/02/2018 07:15

Just a quick update - tried the earplugs suggestion last night and it was a success! Still woke up when DS wanted a feed at 3.30 but otherwise slept really well. Fitbit tells me 7hr 30mins of sleep in fact
Can definitely cope with keeping him in our room a bit longer if this carries on, thanks again for the suggestion!

OP posts:

welshweasel · 19/02/2018 08:56

Yay glad it worked for you! It’s one of my favourite parenting tips! I was complaining to a friend about never being able to sleep due the warthog mimicking newborn beside me and she was incredulous that I wasn’t wearing earplugs. At her mothers group meeting in Australia they’d recommended them to everyone!

Original poster

Sunday89 · 19/02/2018 09:39

I think I was worried I wouldn’t hear him but they actually fell out at some point during the night so no risk of that! And we have the angelcare sensor pad switched on so that would alarm if he was to stop breathing for any reason feel so much better today, amazing the difference a decent sleep can make!!

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