it's time to get mean...

alright people, my girls have ben sleeping in the swngs for like 7 weeks now, and won't go in their cribs (unless they're totally asleep during the day and i transfer them there, tho most of the time even then they wake up within minutes). i NEED to start getting a whole new routine going at bedtime. DH started this HORRIBLE habit, where they sit in the swing and he feeds them from there until they fall asleep. how the heck can i undo everything and start over? i need suggestions, ladies. please help!

 

Honestly, I would hold off on the tranistion, I tried to move mine to cribs before they were ready and all it caused was lots of crying and frustration. It was just at the 3 month mark that we got them in cribs and night, and in the last week that they are napping in their cribs. They will transition easily when they are ready. If you want them to get used to their room, you could always put the swings up there, and not put them in the swings while they are eating.

 

we didn't transition out of swings until 4 months - at this point you're still in survival mode - if they're waking up as soon as you put them in the crib they may not be ready yet...

 

We did what the previous poster suggested...and moved the baby swing into their room, the room with the cribs.
And considering we only have ONE swing and TWO babies...they couldn't always spend their entire day in the swings to sleep!! Which works well so far...

Honestly, though, my boys are six months old now and hefty babies at that..and they are STILL happy with their "swing time"....
At the same time, they sleep through the night and sleep well during their "naps"...

The only method we use is this: when it's time for naps, when they seem like they're ready to go to sleep...we lay them down in their cribs, if one is fussier than the other or doesn't want to settle down in the crib..he's the one that gets to swing...and it works well for us this way!!

At first they both had swings, and lived in them except for at feeding time...since they are starting to get more mobile, their swing time is decreasing...and they are transitioning beautifully *knock on wood*

Hope that helps!

 

mine slept in carseats until they were about 4 mos. Then it was a pretty easy transisiton. Wait until they are ready ... or "wean" them ... like stopping the swing when they fall asleep ... then when they sleep well in the swing while it is stopped, then move them in the middle of the night ... earlier and earlier ... so on and so forth. When they are ready, the transision won't be as hard as you think. My Hannah napped in a swing until a few weeks ago and they are almost 6 mos.

When we went from carseats to crib, we just went cold-turkey. Some say to do one at a time so you aren't waking a lot with both ... and that is an idea ... but we didn't end up having to do that ... several nights one ended up back in the carseat by the middle of the night ... but every night I started them in the cribs ... also this is about the time (4 mos) that I stopped nursing them to sleep ...

 

We did the transition at 4 1/2 months. I was so nervous about it but they did farely well. At that time, we also began slepp training (patting and humming).

 

First of all the swing is NOT your enemy. Neither is the bouncy seat or the car seat or any object where the baby WILL sleep. Sleep is what is important not the WHERE at this age. The babies have been used to movement in utero for 9 months and the crib is a very NONMOBILE environment. Put them in the swing, relax, and watch them sleep.

 

QUOTE
First of all the swing is NOT your enemy. Neither is the bouncy seat or the car seat or any object where the baby WILL sleep. Sleep is what is important not the WHERE at this age.


Yes! Ditto all the pps - just let them sleep where they'll sleep. They're too young to be forming habits yet. And yes, it is survival mode right now. If the swing works, don't fix it!

 

We put the girls in their cribs at 7 weeks, and ended up with them sleeping on our chests night after night. I agree with everyone, just do what you can to get them to sleep right now.

 

One thing you can try is putting them in their cribs when they are awake and happy, just to get used to being in there.
Wen you do put them in their swings (for now) to sleep, don't set the swing in motion. It will help thme get used to sleeping wwithout the motions.
Have you tried putting them intheir car seats in the crib? Some people have had a lot of success wiht this.

These are all things I'm just throwing out there :icon_biggrin: ....Good luck! I'm in the same boat and am not ready to start the transition.

 

im in the middle of moving.. i moved ds and hes doing great.. then they got pneumonia ant we took a step backwards.. now i have move ds again and hes doing great.. i let him cio. dd i will move in a week or so when she gets over her cold.. i will let her cio too

 

I had to make that transition for naps when my boys were about 12 weeks old and I expected the worst. Since my boys were swaddled, we had that to keep them feeling somewhat secure, even in their cribs. Evan had a bit of difficulty and we had to let him sleep in his swing BESIDE his crib for a few days, but he was okay after that. I know some people have even lowered their cribs and put the bouncy seats into the cribs for a few days to get their babies used to the new environment.

Personally, I was very glad to pack away our swings. I can see why you want to make the transition. I know that you can always break a habit down the road, but I think it's easier to do it before the 3-month-mark hits. Just don't beat yourself up. Try one nap a day at first (their best nap - ours was the morning) and then add a nap every few days until you get there. Keep the bedroom dark, warm (but not too warm), and have a white-noise machine running to facilitate sleep and that cozy feeling.

 

QUOTE(AmynTony @ Jan 6 2008, 04:45 PM) [snapback]560012[/snapback]
we didn't transition out of swings until 4 months - at this point you're still in survival mode - if they're waking up as soon as you put them in the crib they may not be ready yet...

Oh yeah! That was us ...totally in survival mode! My girls were in swings until 3+ months and now sleep well in their cribs!

 

Danielle, I had mine falling asleep in the swing till they were 9 mos. old!! I would then take them UPstairs and put them in their cribs. They would cry for 10 min. and go to sleep. I had champion infant sleepers.

I don't think you need to worry yet!!! I think you are FINE! My DS slept in the swing till 3.5 mos!

 

Ours slept in bouncy seats in the living room until their monitors came off at 4 1/2 months. It only took a few nights to adjust to the cribs and they've done fine. Don't panic--you're doing great and your kids will be perfectly normal even if they sleep in swings.

 

QUOTE(CHJH @ Jan 6 2008, 08:25 PM) [snapback]560262[/snapback]
I had to make that transition for naps when my boys were about 12 weeks old and I expected the worst. Since my boys were swaddled, we had that to keep them feeling somewhat secure, even in their cribs. Evan had a bit of difficulty and we had to let him sleep in his swing BESIDE his crib for a few days, but he was okay after that. I know some people have even lowered their cribs and put the bouncy seats into the cribs for a few days to get their babies used to the new environment.

Personally, I was very glad to pack away our swings. I can see why you want to make the transition. I know that you can always break a habit down the road, but I think it's easier to do it before the 3-month-mark hits. Just don't beat yourself up. Try one nap a day at first (their best nap - ours was the morning) and then add a nap every few days until you get there. Keep the bedroom dark, warm (but not too warm), and have a white-noise machine running to facilitate sleep and that cozy feeling.


Ditto all this!!
My girls have slept in their crib at night since the beginning but not for naps. I just started working with Maia (my sleep fighter) last week for napping in the cribs. I started with the morning nap and it only took a couple days to master it then I added the next nap until it was good and so on. Today we did all 3 naps in the crib! She will actually put her arms by her side now for me to swaddle her.
I am going to give it a couple more days then I will add Sofia into the mix. I am hoping she will transistion easily since she is my good sleeper.
I am hoping to have them both napping in the crib by 3 months so I could start on the next 'phase' of sleep and soothing.

I would try one nap at a time and if one girl is resisting more than the other, work with just one until she is compliant then work with the other. This way you dont have 2 fussy overtired babies.

Good luck Dannielle!

 

i would feed them wherever and when they start getting drowsy you can put them in their cribs ... but when mine were 8-12 wks I did put them in the swing alot and if they slept there that was fine... I laid down on the couch next to them and waited for them to wake up screaming! LOL. I could have gone to bed for 3 hrs instead. anyhow, I agree with PP-- you are in a time of transition and their schedule and eating habits will be changing quite a bit over the next 2-3 months. The main thing to establish is a consistent wake up and bedtime.

 

I think you need to wait till at least 4 mos. for consistent anything

 

I do not agree with what everyone said. I think the sooner you switch the better. The older they get the more they want what they have always had. In the long run it will be better if you switch them now.

 

Mine also slept in bouncy chairs in living room for first 7 weeks, then we transitioned to the swings until about 10 weeks. I got tired of sleeping on the sofa! My daughter has reflux, so we elevated one end of the mattress with pillows *under the mattres* and made a "nest" like they do in the hospital. Basically you take towels and roll them up and make a U-shaped nest, the bottom of the U keeps her from sliding down the mattress. Then we put a fleece blanket over that and tucked it in on the sides of the mattress.

A fleece blanket is not cold to the touch like a regular sheet and will not startle them when you lay them down. I also use an herbal neck wrap that you put in the microwave, heat it up, put in on their beds, with blanket on top. I do this right before I feed them their last bottle of the night.

My daughter loves her bed, LOVES IT. She would rather lay in it to go to sleep than me hold her. I had one night of crying (for 2 1/2 hours!) from my son. But that was it, and he is very fussy. Just make it comfortable for them.

OH, I also have the Fisher PRice aquarium attached to one of their cribs and the Rainforest one on the other crib. They loved those as early as 10-11 weeks.

 

We transitioned them cold turkey at 4 months after we learned that sleeping in car seats had left Kellen with a flat spot on his head. The pedi said to stop the car seat sleeping asap so that's what we did. Honestly, it went a lot better than we'd thought. We had no trouble with it at that point. We got them sleep positioners that I didn't love using, but kept them still enough in their giant cribs that they were able to sleep.

regardless of when you decide to switch them to cribs: if you are going to go cold turkey (which i would recommend), decide on a nighttime routine and then just start with it. The first few times may be tough but the babies will learn. Before we started solids we were doing a bath followed immediately by a bottle in a dimly lit room, swaddle and sleep. They had NO trouble getting to sleep after this. Staying asleep through the night . . . well, that's another story but we finally got there at 6 months after 2 not-so-bad nights of CIO. you've got a long way to go til then, though!

good luck!

 

Yup! Swing lovers over here, too! Our boys didn't sleep consistently in their cribs until 5 or 6 months! Now they sleep like champs in their cribs.