Transitioning Baby to Their Own Room

How many of you actually transitioned your baby to their room when you thought you would? I sure didn't. I was sure I would be ready at 8 weeks! We would have a monitor in her room - what could go wrong?

At the 8 week mark, despite tummy issues,my daughter was becoming a great sleeper & I couldn't get any sleep. She would grunt and grown in the middle of the night & I would wake up often panicking that she wasn't breathing because of acid reflux. I was sure she was ready to sleep in her own room, but as time went on, my daughters uncontrollable vomiting started to really interfere with her sleep. It would wake her up out of a dead sleep & in turn make my husband and I panic. There were a couple of times where her breathing was so inhibited, I was ready to call 911. I was in NO WAY ready for her to sleep away from us at 8 weeks.

Fast forward to 13 weeks - I was REALLY ready this time to start the transition. I had read that transiting after the 4 month mark makes it much harder & her vomiting had become much less worrisome.

A number of things needed to happen for this transition to take place:

1. Transition her to a flat surface

2. Introduce her to a new space

3. Introduce her to a new bed

So, what did I do to help make the transition?

1. Started all day-time naps in her crib

Emily had been sleeping in her Rock N Play for day-time naps and her night sleep. It kept us sane knowing if she vomited she wouldn't struggle to get it out, as much. So, she needed to become familiar with sleeping on a flat surface. At the beginning of this transition, Emily was still swaddled. We soon found out she could roll from her back to tummy very easily on a flat surface. So, now not only did she need to get familiar with a flat surface but she needed to be transitioned to either arms out swaddling or an alternative. We chose an alternative. We started using the Magic Merlin Sleep Suit. Emily took to the Merlin Suit well, so we were then left to focus on the crib.

We decided to just go for it. We started all day-time naps in her crib right at 13 weeks. The first couple days were rough. She didn't take naps longer than 20-30 minutes, but eventually the naps became longer and longer and were right back up to her two hour naps.

2. Made sure to spend time in her room each day

I wanted to make sure Emily felt comfortable and familiar with her "new" space - so I made an effort to do a couple of things each day to familiarize her with the room.

- I would change her in the room

- I would rock her to sleep in the room

- I placed her activity mat in there for play time

3. Placed her Pack N Play in her room for the first full night

Finally, because we had taken Emily on vacation & she was "forced" to sleep in a Pack N Play for the entire trip around week 16, she was already familiar with that "bed" for night sleeping. When we returned from vacation, we placed her Pack N Play in her room, for the first couple nights. On the third night we placed her in the crib. She has since, slept great (Well, not always, but its not because she's not in the room with us :). Another suggestion would be, while transitioning day-time sleep to the crib, transition the night-time sleep to the Pack N Play in your room & then eventually to their room.

Until next time, much love,