Our bed to cot....

[newmummy8789]

It's been nearly 8 months where by beautiful boy has slept next to me in bed. I have loved it, he has loved it, my husband has complained more and more about being on the edge of the bed.
So I have decided it is time to move...he is a chunky boy and likes to spread out in bed...a lot!

I'm breastfeeding and feed him to sleep, he's never slept anywhere but our bed and his pram (not because I haven't tried)

I guess what I want is positive stories of people doing the same and lots of tips!

Thanks

P.s controlled crying is a no go for us

Anyone?

We did it successfully. Lockdown helped loads because we established a really good routine.

8 months old co-sleeper as well. We set him up in his own room and set up a bedtime routine. Bath, everyone says good night, milk, story. We then popped him in the cot awake and sat next to him stroking his back. We had tears but as we never left him it never got too bad. We also started doing naps the same way. A week in he improved. A month in he started sleeping through the night (never before) and he goes to sleep within 5 minutes without tears, he just plays with his little stuffed toy and eventually sleeps.

Forgot to add that we also have a white noise machine which he loves now.

We read the gentle sleep book but then adapted it to our style.

Good luck!

Both of mine were more like 18 months when they went to their own bed sorry so not much help. It was a good age for us as I was trying to night wean them and they were old enough to kind of be excited about a new big kids bed...
We got a king size bed. Made all the difference. Room for us all.

How big is your bedroom? Can you take the side off his cot then attach it to your bed to create more sleeping space? There are videos on YouTube showing how to do this.

@Dogsandbabies how long did it take your lo to go to sleep the first night?

At 8.5 months I started feeding my lo in a chair in her room, then put her in the cot. She's 11 months now.

Mostly been sleeping through or 1 wake up. Until this heat hit 😬.

I'm planning on weaning soon. Not sure how I'll get her to sleep without boob

@ForTheLoveOfDoughnuts

First few nights were around an hour. And the naps were the same and then he only slept for 20 minutes. Within a couple of weeks though he was doing 2 hour naps and only waking up once at night.

In retrospect I wish I had done it sooner. He really enjoys bedtime now and seems really well rested.

With my first I never attempted anything like this and she co-slept for years. She also didn't sleep through and look and feel rested until she was over 2 years.

I am not saying it was easy, it took a lot of perseverance and I almost caved a few times but I am so pleased with where we got to. He is much happier and so am I.

I would carry on feeding to sleep if that works for you, then just plonk him in the cot once comatose. Try the cot next to your bed first, then across the room, then in his room. Worked for us! She still gets in from about 3am each night though.

Sidecar cot or king size bed if you like having him in with you. I love DD in with us because she snuggles me and kicks DP in the ear

We have a snuzpod which he has never slept in, put him in it again recently and he literally clung to our mattress! 😆 he needs his own space especially in this heat! We have been in the spare room, he is sprawled out and sleeping so much better! We do have a king size bed but we're not the smallest of people!

We've both worked through lockdown and have a week off in July so have set a moving date for him!

Thanks for everyone who has replied! X

How does he get to sleep now? DD fed to sleep for ages, and i just breastfed until she was out and then popped her in her own room. At about 6m she stopped falling asleep on the boob so we started putting her down awake, and she managed pretty well!

I feed him to sleep with us both laying down...when I put him in his cot asleep his eyes shoot open straight away...doesn't seem to matter how long he's been asleep....

What happens if you then just give him a little shhh and a pat and leave him to it for a bit?

He either thinks it's play time and tries to sit up, laughs etc or if he's really tired he screams

Like a full on distressed scream or a grumpy shout? DD often falls asleep on the boob when i do the 2am feed, and sometimes she'll wake when i put her down and have a bit of a yell, i tend to just leave her to it unless she's hysterical (for more than about 30 seconds, sometimes she'll have one ginormous screamy paddy and then be like "oh im actually fine" after half a minute and then just grumble about the fact that she's not asleep until she falls asleep).

If i were you, I'd start feeding sitting up, keep him awake and then put him down awake in the cot and try shhh patting him off to sleep. Might take an hour the first night, but consistency is key. The issue is that you're moving him - he needs to fall asleep where he'll be sleeping, otherwise when he wakes up he'll be super distressed.

Nope full on starts coughing and gagging screaming before too long!

@SomeoneElseEntirelyNow thanks! I have ordered a black out blind...my plan is for him to have a bath, go into his room to get dry and dressed, stories, feed and not come out until the morning! How many of us will be held up in there until the morning is a different question 😆

Just following with interest really.

DS is 7 months (just) we’ve co-slept until now but DP really doesn’t want to now (never has tbh). We’ve negotiated that we try a cot in our room to begin with as he’s still up multiple times a night for feeding. So I’ve set up a travel cot (with a proper mattress in).
This evening is the first time we’ve tried to put him in it. I fed him to sleep as usual and popped him in asleep. He has actually stayed asleep every time but he’s woken every 45 mins so far and is a bit restless / rolling around.

I’m absolutely dead set against any kind of sleep training (no judgement - it’s just not for me).

I’m hopeful that he’ll get used to the cot and start longer stretches after a while. I’ve kind of agreed with DP that he can come into our bed later on in the night if need be - atleast we can have a baby free evening but I’m undecided about this. I think perhaps he needs to get used to the fact he sleeps in a cot.

Once he’s sorted I planned to move him into his own room.

I invested in an owlet to try and get over some of my anxiety.

I can’t help feeling guilty he’s on his own / he won’t get to sleep next to me anymore. I’m going to miss it. If I had my way I think I’d have continued co-sleeping for the first couple of years, but my relationship needs a bit of compromise.

Oh - and I’ve put a routine in place before this. We bath, PJS, story, relaxing music; feed/sleep.

A routine really helps I think. And some sort of comforter - I use a quarter of a cellular blanket with satin tape sewed round to edge it. One thing that my friend suggested was feeding to sleep, then waking baby up before putting in the cot. Didn't work for me but might for you, it did for her 😊

The thing I read somewhere that really resonated with me is that babies remember where they fall asleep and if you put your baby in a cot after they have fallen asleep then they apparently become disoriented and upset when they wake. And are unable to go back to sleep by themselves.

For me it has been very important and positive that my son has learnt to love his cot. He has associated it with sleep and as soon as he sees it when he is tired he smiles grabs his stuffed animal and is ready for sleep.

He also doesn't wake up crying. He wakes up and sits and plays. So I go get him. It has made sleep time (for him mostly) a very positive part of his life.

Just an update if anyone is remotely interested 😆
My mum babysat last night, gave him a bottle read him a book and put him in his cot...she said it took an hour to get him to sleep but he went off eventually!!!!
He woke up two hours later when we were home, we went in and shhh'd him and he whined for a little bit but he went back to sleep at half 10 and slept through!! My boobs feel like they might explode but long may it last!!!