Using the swing to get to sleep at night - yay or nay?

My boys are 3 week old preemies and one has terrible reflux. Tonight I decided to put him in the swing so he could sit up and fall asleep instead of spitting-up all over himself in the crib. Once he was soundly asleep, I transferred him to the crib. Meanwhile, my high maintenance son wouldn't fall asleep in the crib. He kept losing his pacifier and start fussing. So I decided to put him in the swing after his brother and let it rock him to sleep. Am I starting a terrible habit? Or is he so young it's ok? He's too little to let him cry it out in the crib, so I'm not sure what other option I have. Rocking him to sleep in the glider would be a similar bad habit, I think. Thoughts?

 

I think sometimes you just got to do what you got to do to survive. If you are worried about it, you could use the car seat as an alternative to sit them upright.

 

I never had one with reflux issues, so I can't comment on that. While I used bouncy chairs and swings to help with nap time when they were very young, I always used cribs at night, and I didn't rock them to sleep. We fed them right before putting them down, and we made sure they were sleepy and relaxed, but not asleep. We did that with all three boys, and all three slept through very early. However, they were all comfortable with that and fell asleep just fine. I would think that when reflux is involved, you probably have to do whatever makes your baby comfortable.

 

At that age, I say do whatever works!

For the first few months mine napped in bouncies/swings, I nursed them to sleep (sometimes in my bed), and I rocked when necessary ardon: I did what I had to do and worried that I was making terrible sleepers. In my case, it did the opposite - they became wonderful sleepers! I honestly agree with the idea that sleep begets sleep, so the better they napped, the more easily they went to sleep at night. I always put them to bed for the night in their cribs, though, just so they were comfortable in them. Long story short, when it came time to transition them to napping in their cribs, I was so worried...and they did fine! The first couple of days were tough, but by the 4th day they were napping like pros in the cribs! I really believe that most "bad habits" can be broken with 4 days of consistency. Every time I made a change, they fought it the first time, but then caught on to the new routine pretty quickly. So if the reflux makes them uncomfortable, go with the swings until the reflux gets better (mine didn't have it, but it goes away in time, right?). You're a better mama and they're happier babies when everybody has gotten some sleep IMO!

 

You might try the "Nap Nanny". We have one and it's really great, but pricey. Just a thought.

 

Ours slept in their swings or bouncies until they were about 4 months old. We had no issues getting them in their cribs to sleep. Do whatever it takes to get some rest!!!!!

 

I agree, do whatever it takes to get some rest right now. My DD could sleep in the crib easily but my DS needed to go in the bouncy for the first part of the night. After we did the first night feeding, he would go into the crib with no problem. Good luck!

 

My kids slept in swings a LOT until they were 7 months old. DD started STTN in her crib at 3 months. DS slept half the night in a swing until 7 months - all naps were in swings. CIO was easy, the transition to cribs was easy. Put them in swings!!!! I'm in the yay camp here. It's more important that they sleep than where they sleep.

 

My B/G twins still sleep a good deal of the time in their swings. They are four months old, and though I sometimes wonder about te habits I am creating, I still am very much in survival mode. If they are happy, I am happy. It's all about priorities right?

 

I am in the yay camp, but one of my LOs had reflux and I slept them both in papasan chairs (with vibration) in one of their cribs side by side. That kept their head more upright. They slept in those until 2 months old - transitioning to the crib from there was no problem. At 5 mos they still nap a lot in their swings! I also don't believe you are going to start a terrible habit that young by holding and rocking them to sleep, but that is just me. Although many books also state that. I do like the Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child book - it helps guide when you should start letting them learn how to sleep in their crib while drowsy. Good luck.