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803938 tn?1403748253

Transition bassinet --> baby bed?

We're soon going to transition our son from a bassinet to a baby bed - he is 4 months and a half. He is unable to fall asleep on his own, we are used to rocking him to make him fall asleep so I am worried about this transition. Added to that he already has serious problems napping and won't nap for more than 40 minutes at a time, often as little as 25 minutes (3 naps a day in general and he is tired and rubs his eyes but is unable to sleep more).

How did this transition work for your babies?
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803938 tn?1403748253
Update: we had bought a playard/bassinet, Benoit napped twice in it but I got giant asthma attacks each time he slept in it that we quickly brought it back. I don't know which types of plastic they use to make this playard but it can't be good for the babies if I react to it so badly!

He kept sleeping in his bassinet but he is now 28" (72cms), too tall for the bassinet so yesterday evening we took the big step and had him sleep in his crib!  Surprise: he slept through the night without waking up! He also took 2 30 minutes naps there this morning.

That's good news! But we need to work on helping him fall asleep on his own because right now he needs to be rocked to sleep first in our arms...
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377493 tn?1356502149
Aw, don't say shame on you.  You know, at the end of the day, no one knows our babies like we do.  If this is what you think is best, then it's what's best.  You'll sort it all out, and at the end of the day he will still be a healthy happy little boy and hopefully you will be a more rested momma!!!  good luck!!
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803938 tn?1403748253
I gave up on the crib (shame on me)... My mom suggested we buy a bigger bassinet, that does not exist but we decided to buy one of these playard/bassinet: it's possible to rock some of them a little bit and rocking him is the only thing that makes him sleep right now. So we bought one - good thing we did not already have a playard, should allow him to sleep there for a few more months once he is out of his little bassinet.

I know it's only postponing the inevitable: sleeping in his crib - but we hope it will be easier once he is a little bit older (says the naive mom)! We really need to teach him to fall asleep without being rocked.

Yes sleep is a very tough issue with some babies!!
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377493 tn?1356502149
Oh, they are alike!!  Same with Ryder...getting him down for naps was so hard. Your a smart lady to be working on the issue now  I didn't work on the nap issue until much later and of course it just got harder.  I do think that book might help.  The other one is the "no cry sleep solution".  You can get a different one for naps and bedtime, but I am not certain what the difference is?

Good luck...sleep is such a tough issue isn't it.  
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803938 tn?1403748253
Thanks for your experience!

We tried to make Benoit nap in his crib today and it was a complete failure: we spent 2 hours this morning, he never slept and was tired and cranky all day long, never really napped other than on me in the afternoon and it took 1 hour to make him sleep at night. Long day!

Benoit has been sleeping in his room for 3 weeks now. I wish I could have kept him by my bedside longer but he started to bang his legs on his mattress for over 30 minutes at times in the morning, eyes closed. Probably some gas or stomach pains. So he was switched to his own room. He generally sleeps OK at night but has shorter naps during the day.

Yes we have a good bedtime routine, I started it when he was a few weeks old: bath at 7:30, bottle, bed. I do read on a regular basis to him, only here and there, I need to read more to him.

He is used to falling asleep being rocked in our arms and then in the bassinet and that habit is going to be very hard to break. We need to hurry up because he is so big now (over 16 lbs) that he is not going to fit in the bassinet for very long.

I'll look if I can find the book you mention because we need help!
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377493 tn?1356502149
Oh does your son ever sound like mine.  He too hates to sleep.  I recently bought the book Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child and it has been very helpful to me.

As for transitioning.  What I did was sleep in his room with him for a few weeks.  I put him in his crib and slept on a cot next to it.  I think this helped a great deal as he was used to waking up and me being right there (btw, I did this around the same age as your little man is).  Also, putting him down drowsy as opposed to fully asleep helped.  He would cry, but I would sit next to his crib and rub his forhead gently and it helped a great deal.  I also have a CD player where I would play lullabyes very low and I think it soothed him.

One last thing...not certain if you are already doing this, but a good bedtime routine has also helped a great deal.  Every night at 7 we do bath, bottle, book and bed.  I bathe him in lavender baby bodywash and it really seems to calm him down and help.

Hope this helps a bit.  Good luck..the first few nights were a bit tough, but then it was ok.
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