Sleeping in bouncers/car seats

My babies are 4 months and a couple weeks old. My boy sleeps in his bouncy seat, swaddled, and my girl sleeps in her carseat, in a sleep sack. They both nap in their cribs most of the time, though they nap a lot longer in their seats. We have tried to put them down in their cribs for nighttime sleep, but they end up waking more often and needing to be patted down and soothed, whereas, in their respective seats they sleep from 7:00 until 1ish, when they wake for a few ounces, then they sleep until 6 or 7am, consistently. I love this sleeping schedule and have a very hard time convincing my husband and myself that we should mess with it by imposing cribs on them. And I can't think of any reason to move them except that it's so much cuter when they sleep in their cribs . Our pedi didn't seem to have a problem with it either.

Is there any reason that might be alluding me that I should be enforcing crib sleep on them? Have any of you had experience with moving babies from seats to cribs at some point? How did you do it? Any general advice?

Thanks!
AJ

 

Mine always slept in the cribs at night (well, at least from about 2 months on), but for naps I let them sleep in a bouncy and a swing until they were probably 5 months or so. Then one day I decided they were getting too big for it so I brought the bouncy/swing into their room and let them sleep in them in there first for a few days (before that they were napping in the family room...mostly for my sanity I think, less trips up and down the stairs!), and then once they were ok with that, I started putting them in the cribs. The first day they took very short naps, but by the third day, you could see they were so much more comfortable and they even started napping longer for me! So for us, the transistion was pretty smooth...probably about 3 days to adjust fully.

If it's making it so everyone is happy and sleeping, I think you're doing fine! I think pretty soon they'll let you know it's time to transition because they'll be restless confined in their chairs. In the next few months they will get so active that no chair will hold them anyway! Mine were very happy to have the freedom to roll around once they got used to it! If it's working for now, I say go with it and let them lead the way. Good luck!

 

We let our babes nap in the boucy chairs during the day when we were in the same room as them, but at night they were in either a crib, playpen, or with me in bed. We knew somone who, just weeks after our toddler died, lost their infant son during the night because he was asleep in his carseat. He was 4 months old and didnt have the ability to move his head well enough to open his airway. His head tilted to the side (the way they do in carseats and bouncy chairs) and cut off his oxygen supply. Because he was asleep, he didnt struggle or try to cry. He was declared dead at the hospital after 1 hour of resuscitation between the paramedics and the ER doc. Of course, I would worry more because we lost our 2.5 year old in a tragic "sleep" accident, and then this couple lost their baby. I would just urge you to sleep them in the crib or playpen for longer sleep periods. Is there a chance that they are suffering from reflux? Our babes slept way better in the cribs once we propped the mattress up a bit on one end. I dont mean to worry you, I just would feel awful if something happened and i hadnt said anything.

and another thing too, the more habits you start now, the more you have to fight with them to break down the road.

 

My two spent quite a bit of time in bouncies and swings when they were under 4 months. At that point, we were worried they were developing flat spots on their heads, and so we switched to lots-o-tummy time, and cribs for sleeping. Also, at some point, usually around 4 months, they start rolling, so they really do need to spend more time on a flat surface to start practicing that skill.

As for the transitioning, I did naps first, and then nighttime.

 

Same here but we just went cold turkey into the cribs. We had a couple of rough nights but they worked it out.

 

My boys napped and slept at night in their bouncies and carriers until about 4 months. I then started the transition to the crib by doing naptime first (with a crib wedge). For nighttime, we would start in the crib and if I couldn't get them back to sleep after the first night feeding they would go into the carrier. I should clarify (though I'm not sure it makes a difference) that we transitioned to the Pack N Play first b/c we were living with my parents during that time. When we got home, we stopped cold turkey and went to their mini cribs. I do have to admit to leaving a swing in their room for desperate nights!

 

Thanks all. I really want them in their cribs, but it's so much easier to put them in their seats, though last night they had a crappy night in their seats anyway, so maybe we should just do it. Crib or nothing. It's hard to willingly sacrifice a couple night's sleep, but as someone pointed out, these habits will only be more difficult to break. Now to get DH on board, so he doesn't move them back to their seats in the middle of the night.

angelmasonsmom - What a sad and terrifying story. I am so sorry for your friend and for your loss also. I can't even imagine.

Just spoke to DH. We're going to start this tomorrow night, since I don't have to come into the office Thursday or Friday, so can deal with a couple nights of sleep loss. We'll see how it goes. I'm ready to get some use out of our cribs!

 

I was gonna say maybe there's something about the incline that they prefer. Like PP mentioned, do they have a relux issue? That is the only thing I'm wondering.

As for napping. At that age, mine would nap anywhere.. glider, bouncy, car seat, cradle, crib, etc.. We had them sleeping in cradles until they were about 4.5 months old. Then I transistioned them to sleep in their crib at all times [naps and during the night].

 

We are currently battling with this problem! Eli will sleep in his little crib beside our bed at night but Emma refuses! She has to sleep in her car seat. I would love to get her to sleep in her crib but she wants none of it!