This week Allison Charleston of New York, USA asks,
“Where does your little one sleep? Do you co-sleep?
When did you transition your child to their own crib or bed?”
Here’s how our World Moms Blog writers answered…
Margie Bryant of Arkansas, USA states:
“My kids are older so thankfully, my 15-year-old sleeps in his own bed. Clearly, we would have a problem if he was still co-sleeping! My 9-year-old, who loves scary movies, tends to find his way to my bed in the middle of the night. I have had to restrict him from all things scary now!”
Kirsten Jessiman of Toronto, Canada writes:
“We’re very laid back about the kids’ sleeping habits. Our only rule is that they have to start the night in their own beds. If they wake up in the middle of the night and migrate to our bed, we’re OK with that.”
Galit Breen of Minnesota, USA exclaims:
“Oh, sleep. You have not been my friend for a very, very long time now! We have always started kids in their own cribs in their own rooms. BUT if anyone gets up in the middle of the night, we just bring them to bed with us. Why? Because it’s cozy and easy and honestly? We’re too lazy and weak to try anything differently.”
Veronica Samuels of New Jersey, USA writes:
“Sarah’s in her own bed, but it wasn’t always that way. It took a VERY long time to get her to sleep the night. And, when she wouldn’t she’d coming into our room looking for a party,…and if we were too tired, she climbed in with us.
We moved her into her own bed from a crib when she was 2-years old. She became really miserable in her crib at that time. Now, at 3 and 1/2-years-old she has a digital clock in her room, and she knows to wait and play until she sees 7:00am on the clock before she comes tearing into our room!”
Eva Fannon of Washington, USA says:
“Sleep? What’s that? (LOL!) Although our babies always started their night’s sleep in the crib, once they woke up crying, we let them co-sleep with us thinking this meant more sleep for everyone.
Once we knew #2 was coming, we started working on getting #1 to stay in her own bed by using a reward system. (A queen size bed is not big enough for 4!) It was a process that took several months, but now she does stay in her own bed. Now, I just need to start weaning #2 off of those middle-of-the-night nursings…any suggestions?”
Courtney Cappallo of Massachusetts, USA chimes in:
“Both of my daughters were out of their crib and into a transition bed on their second birthdays.
My youngest daughter slept on my chest at night for the first four weeks of her life; it is one of my most cherished experiences in my life!”
And, Allison Charleston of New York, USA explains:
“Chase was in our room in a cradle for the first 12 weeks (lots of time sleeping on me in the rocking chair, though!), then a crib in his own room until he was 2.5. He slept through the night from 5.5 months until 2.5 years when he decided to climb out of his crib (that earned him a toddler bed)!! We had a really hard time keeping him out of our room once he was in his own bed.
So, after weeks of trying rewards, silent return to sleep at 3AM, etc., we decided to get him a gate for his door. He didn’t love it at first, but after one night of some complaining, he is fine with it. It keeps him in his own room, and he’s getting great sleep again. He is still an early riser, think 5:30am! But, he goes to bed at bedtime–around 7:30–and doesn’t come visiting at all hours anymore!”
What about your children? ย How are their sleeping habits?
Catch us back on the blog on Sunday when we post the World Moms Blog “Travel Itinerary” for next week!
Photo credit toย http://www.flickr.com/photos/namibnat/5292163543/. ย This photo has a creative commons attribution license.
I will definetly get the terminology wrong here… I am not exactly sure what the difference is between a crib, a cot, a cotbed and a cradle… Anyway. My boy slept in his own crib/cot/cotbed/cradle from he was born, first in our room, and from he was 4 months old, once he started sleeping through the night, we moved him into his own room. Occationaly he would sleep in our bed, but I would be so worried about crushing him that I didn’t get any sleep of my own!
(I think he slept in a cot – according to this website anway: http://www.johnlewis.com/231068115/Product.aspx)
Hi Asta,
I always find crib/cot/cotbed/cradle confusing between US and UK English! Throw in Moses basket and bassinet, too!
In the US a crib is what you’ve linked to above. A cot in the US is like a toddler bed (another term!), which is a small regular bed for a child. A cot in the UK is the same as a crib in the US.
A cradle is like a bassinet, something smaller with sides that you can move from room to room. Cradles can rock, too! A Moses basket is a weaved basket that is like a bassinet, but without legs.
There are also co-sleeping devices that attach to the parent’s bed, too, for ease of nursing and so that you won’t worry about sleeping on the baby. So many options!!
At least we can all agree on the term “bed”! ๐
(and please, anybody correct me if I’m wrong on any of these!)
Veronica Samuels ๐
Veronica, thank you for clarifying! It is all very confusing and I am looking forward to when he is old enough for a normal bed, then we avoid all the confusion ๐
(Maybe next week you can explain the difference between pram, buggy, stroller and pushchair ๐ )
Have a nice weekend, with lots of sleep ๐
Asta
@Galit – I think that’s the truth, we too are too lazy and weak to try forcing them to stay in their own beds. @Courtney – I do so cherish those moments when my babies would sleep on my chest.
I had both my babies in a pack n’ play in my room for just their first month or so and then had them sleeping in their cribs in their rooms from then on. Now, I was up constantly with them, but I did the soothing and feedings in their rooms. There was a moment with my older son before we moved him to his crib where I was super sleep deprived and woke up to find I was already holding him and breastfeeding. I wasn’t even awake yet and didn’t remember picking him up out of the bassinet! It freaked me out, so I decided I would rather make the trek across the hall to feed in the middle of the night, if for no other reason than I would be more safe in handling him if I was awake. Also, I became a super light sleeper once I had kids, so I would wake constantly if the baby was next to me (even though I just told a story to the contrary!). Everytime the baby sighed, coughed, or wiggled in his sleep, I was up. In order to even get into any kind of deeper sleep, I found that I needed to be a room away. But this is just worked for me. I completely understand why people co-sleep, and if I had been a better sleeper myself, I am sure I would be doing it. But I will add that having my older son sleep in his own room so early on did not in any way make him an independent, great sleeper. It took til he was about 3 1/2 before he was good about going to bed on his own and sleeping without us checking on him constantly. We bribed him with loft bed and explained we couldn’t get it in with him or sit next to him, etc. It totally worked! He is a great sleeper now.
My mom had me so paranoid about co-sleeping – that we would roll over onto the baby – that we never considered it. Big girl slept in a Moses basket for the first month, then a crib in the converted laundry room, and a bed at 3. Little girl slept in a mini-crib (@ Asta – there is another word for you!) in our room like the one in the link below b/c we were in a 1-bedroom flat with two babes. Now we live in a bigger home and everyone is in there own rooms ๐
http://www.bloombaby.com/collection/main.php?sID=83