My neighbors DD is 6 months old and will not sleep in her crib. She is still in their room in her basinete (sp?). She is all scrunched up almost. She has tried swadling her in her crib and letting her cry and neither one is working. I told her that she could sleep in the room with her so that her DD knows that someone is near and slowly move out. She said that she did that one night and it didn't work. Does anyone have any suggestions to get her daughter to sleep in her crib?

By Pamt on Saturday, April 10, 2004 - 08:56 pm:

First of all, she HAS to get her out of the bassinet ASAP. For a 6 month old to be in a bassinet is very dangerous!! Why did she wait so long to transition her? Anyway, same goes for swaddling. 6 months is too old to be swaddled. They should have free movement of their limbs and be able to explore and move around (same reason the bassinet is dangerous). Her DD has probably gotten used to the close quarters of the bassinet, so she could try putting her down in the corner of the crib. She could also rock her to sleep and put her into the crib asleep. Or...suck it up for 3-5 days and let her CIO. Whatever she decides, she needs to do it soon.

P.S. "She said that she did that one night and it didn't work." Trying anything for 1 night won't work. They will have to tough it out for a few days. The older babies get the more set in their ways and stubborn they can be.

By Rayanne on Saturday, April 10, 2004 - 09:19 pm:

I think she waited so long because she knows this is her last one. I will tell her what you said. PamT. Thank you very much.

By Andi on Saturday, April 10, 2004 - 09:56 pm:

I agree with Pam, I think she needs to let her CIO.
Although, I think rocking her to sleep is a bad idea only because she will be stuck doing that every time she wants to put her down.
If the baby has a Binky she can buy a whole bunch and put them in the crib so her little one can always find one.
Maybe let her have a little playtime in the crib so she can get used to it and see that it's not such a bad place to be.

By Trina~moderator on Saturday, April 10, 2004 - 10:06 pm:

I agree a bassinette is not safe for a 6 mos. old. They are designed for newborns who are not able to roll over. Perhaps the vastness of the crib is scary for your friend's baby. How about a crib spacer like this? She could gradually make the crib space bigger over time until the spacer isn't needed any longer.

By Colette on Saturday, April 10, 2004 - 10:13 pm:

White noise did wonders for us. I wish someone had told me about it with dd #1. Now all 5 of us have a fan in our bedrooms running at night. With my youngest, I used one of those fetal heartbeat sound imitators and she was sleeping at least 6 hours straight since day 1.

By Ladypeacek on Sunday, April 11, 2004 - 01:27 am:

WE had the same problem, our ds would not go in to the crib either, we put him in his carseat to sleep and put the carseat in th crib, lol. Then we eventually too the car seat out of the crib! I know that sounds strange but it worked for us! He just like the closeness of the bassinet and the carseat wan formed around him so it worked!

By Dawnk777 on Sunday, April 11, 2004 - 10:50 am:

My friend's youngest daughter never would sleep in her crib. Sometimes they would put her in the carseat in the crib and at night, in the middle of a queen-sized mattress that was on the floor. She just never liked the crib. That was a long time ago, She is almost 13 now.

By Mommyathome on Sunday, April 11, 2004 - 08:33 pm:

Ditto the bassinet comments. That is *very* unsafe. As soon as the baby can roll over they should be out of the bassinet. That is scary.

I've heard that the fan in the bedroom can be a big help. I would give her that idea to try.

The picture that Trina posted looks pretty cool too!

Hope she is able to make the transition happily.

By Kaye on Sunday, April 11, 2004 - 09:48 pm:

One of the things that I had to do for my babies was warm up the space! I would put a heating pad in the crib about 30 minutes before bedtime, then when my baby was asleep I would remove the pad and lay the baby down. I guess it made the transistion from warm and coxy mommy easier!

By Rayanne on Tuesday, April 13, 2004 - 09:22 pm:

Thank you for all your advice. My neighbors DD has slept in her crib for 2 whole nights now. The heating pad worked!!!!!

By Vicki on Tuesday, April 13, 2004 - 09:46 pm:

Some how I missed this post! My dd was born in December and she would be sound asleep and the second we put her into the crib (we never used a bassinet) she would wake up and scream!! I was telling my SIL about it and she mentioned the heating pad trick. Worked like a charm for us! I put it under the sheet and turned it on before giving her a bottle and by the time she was ready to go into the bed it was all warmed up! I always turned it off when I layed her down!!