Co sleeping to cot transition

[Skye991422]

What’s the best way to go about this? I’ve been co sleeping with my son since he was a newborn (he’s now 7 months) but I’m going back to work soon and would like him to be able to sleep in a cot when I’m not there. He really likes to be close (as do I) and wakes a lot during the night for the breast or cuddles so think we’ll find this difficult. Any advice from those who’ve been there, done that?

We started around a similar age with the first stretch of sleep in the cot (baby transferred once asleep after feed).

Initially we would get up to 2 hours before his first wake, after which I would bring him into bed with me and he would continue to wake 2 hourly (fed to sleep). DP slept in spare room.

Around 9mo we decided DP would respond to the first wake if pre-11pm. It took a while to begin with, but DP was eventually able to rock DS back to sleep fairly quickly and put back in cot. Any wakeups after this would mean me bringing DS into bed with me. Around this age sleep stretches started getting longer.

At 10mo DS has started sleeping through to 5/6am on a regular basis. We haven't changed anything, but DS is on a fairly consistent 2 nap schedule and 3 meals a day as well as BF.

I honestly never expected to get to this place after months of sleep deprivation, but I'm glad I stuck it out and followed my baby's lead.

Thank you! I like the sound of this- will see if we are similarly successful 😁

I did similar to @Calphurnia88 First nap of the day I would put her down in her cot, and also the first bit of night sleep too. When she woke I would bring her in with me at night. Gradually that got longer. For naps I started with the first one and once we had nailed that I tried two naps a day in there and so on, and if she woke too early I would feed her back to sleep and cuddle her until the nap time was finished. Gradually they do it on their own with this sleep stuff

We're a week into doing this with my 6 month old. I put her down in her cot at start of the night and bring her into bed at some point. She actually managed a whole night in the cot(with wakeups) the other night!

I've been doing naps in the pram instead of contact naps to get her used to not sleeping on me.

I think she's actually quite enjoying the space, although lovely to have a snuggle again in the middle of the night.

Thanks everyone! I tried putting him down in the cot last night (asleep after a feed) but he wasn’t having it! Will keep trying 🥴

My kids were happy to sleep alone at nursery despite cosleeping at home so you don’t necessarily need to set yourself a deadline. If you want to transition to a cot for other reasons, the gradual retreat method worked for us. For a while we did cot until the first wakeup, cosleeping thereafter, it doesn’t have to be either or.

I tend to think with sleep it's a marathon, not a sprint.

Keep trying but don't feel disheartened if some nights don't quite go to plan ❤️