Moving to the crib at night...

OH my gosh…I am so exhausted after a week of trying to get Micah Avery to sleep soundly in his crib at night. I guess he always woke up a little at night because he wanted his pacifier, but it is a much different story when you have to get up and go to the other room and give it to him. It is not very fun having your sleep interrupted every hour for three hours straight in the middle of the night. 
Oh, and I am also nursing him once during the night, which isn't bad, but it is another time I need to get up and go into his room. Some babies could go 12-13 hours without nursing, but not Micah. Micah can go eight, but not this week. This week he has decided to go from 5-7 hours. What did I expect? That he would transition well to his crib the first night? Maybe. 

He is an easy baby, so I thought that this would be an easy thing to do. 

On top of all the aforementioned, he cannot really soothe himself with his own fingers because he is swaddled. I feel like if he didn't have to still be swaddled, he may comfort himself by sucking on his fingers, but then he wouldn't sleep well at all without being swaddled. Has anyone had this problem? 

Anyway, for about three weeks prior to him sleeping in the crib at night, I started putting him down in his crib for every nap. This has been working pretty well actually. Some days he needs me to help him fall asleep, while other days he falls asleep all on his own. 

He is waking up more often in his crib. I have been trying to research why…is it because he is cold in that room? Teething? Do different noises wake him? Who knows. 

Why can he sleep for about five hours straight, and then suddenly decide he needs his pacifier? 

These are all things I try to ask myself. I will keep trying because I know it will be better for us all if he learns to sleep well in his room. I do miss having him right next to me at night though. 

I decided to try and get him to sleep well in his crib before he hit the four month mark next week. I can't believe that the time has gone by so quickly. 

Anyway, if you are crib training right now…or have just started putting your little one in the crib at night…DON'T GIVE UP! You aren't the only one who has a stubborn little cutie, and I feel for you. :)

Crib training & sleep

Have you co-slept with your baby, and had a hard time figuring out when to transition to the crib in the nursery? My husband and I have been realizing that Micah has been more and more aware lately (at 11 weeks), and it is probably time to start trying. Since we FINALLY received the crib a couple of weeks ago, I have been laying Micah in it while awake every morning when I'm getting things ready for the day. I just started last week trying to put him down in his crib for naps. As I type, I'm rocking eagerly back and forth in the nursery rocking chair, just waiting for him to wake up. Of course, I put him down while he is sleepy, but awake because he has learned to fall asleep on his own in his co-sleeper, so I want him to get used to it in his crib, as well (it makes for easy nights). I am happy to say he has been asleep for 35 minutes now!

I don't swaddle him for naps, and I know I am supposed to, according to research, but I don't want him to only be able to sleep with a swaddle. Plus, we are mostly on the go at least half of the week, so he sleeps in car seats a lot of times. I am sorry to inform you that we don't have set nap schedules, which is completely fine with me. And this has been fine because he has been pretty easy to put down at night (knock on wood) and that is what I care most about. For example, our friends were over a lot last week, and I have been able to feed Micah, burp him, put him down awake, and attend to our guests right after...it takes me about 15 minutes! I watch him on the monitor the entire time I'm away from him though! :)

I am nervous about having him sleep five miles away from me (a slight exaggeration ;) ), but I know that it is for the best...for all of us! 

So I will continue putting him down in his room for naps at least once a day to get him comfortable with it. 

Anyway, Micah is starting to wake up because it is close to his feeding time, so I will talk to you soon!