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Your privacy is a PRIMARY consideration of AskDrSears.com. Your e-mail address is used ONLY by AskDrSears.com for the purpose of announcing news, events and special offers available only AskDrSears.com registered users. INTRODUCING TODDLER TO CRIB
"My question is how do I get my 14-month-old who has never slept without me or has never fallen asleep without nursing to start out in her own crib at night and during the day for naps? During the day for naps I would nurse her to sleep or she would go to sleep in the car and then I would either place her (when she was really small) on the sofa or I would take a nap with her. Now because of safety reasons I need to put her in a crib when she naps if I can't sleep with her. At night I would nurse her to sleep and either my husband or I would hold her or fall asleep with her in our bed. The problem is we can't leave her in our bed as she falls or crawls out of it while we're not there. I just need to get her in her own crib for naps and to start out at night, other than that I love having her in our bed at night. We have tried to put her in her crib, before or after she has fallen asleep and this simply terrifies her. She cries and screams for us. I have tried everything, a bedtime routine since birth, picking her up rocking her to sleep then trying it again. Whenever she looks at her own bed now she screams, thinking we are going to abandon her. Help!"
Let’s see, it sounds like you have a great situation, where all three of you are enjoying enough sleep and enjoying each other’s company. But now you are worried about safety. Sure, switching to a crib is one solution, but most co-sleeping toddlers don’t go for that. They enjoy your company, and making a big change like this is tough at this age. If you are really ONLY concerned with her falling out of your bed, then it is time to make it safer. I generally recommend that parents make their bed as low as possible – by removing the frame. With just a box spring and mattress, the fall is not too far – and there WILL be falls. Then you just have to be sure that the room is baby-proofed, so that when she wakes up from a nap, she won’t get into trouble. Often the transition out of parent’s bed involves changing to a small mattress instead of a crib. This mattress can be placed near your bed, and then eventually moved into her own room. See my FAQ entitled “will my three-year old ever learn to sleep by herself?” for more discussion. Dr. Jim
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