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amyable
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I think my 7 month old has finally gotten mobile to the point where she is dangerous to herself alone unless in a crib for naps. Up until now, she has slept in her carseat (  it's the only place she could be transfered to after falling asleep nursing -- the only place she would sleep more than a few minutes, I can get a whopping 20 out of her in the seat, lol). Carseat for naps, then at night I lie down with her and slip out for a few minutes of time with dh or older kids.
She can now flip herself out of the carseat (on the floor, the fall is all of 4 inches, but still!) and crawl around the room. She is so quiet about this that I have started finding her getting into things. Same thing at night if I leave for a bit - she's a bad sleeper and I'm starting to fear for her safety on the bed.
Soooooo... first of all I'd love prayers for this. I know she is going to cry, probably a lot.  I want to do this as gently and lovingly as possible but still do it as quickly as possible for safety reasons. I just don't feel like I have other options. I don't have an older child who can be freed to sit quietly with her during a nap, and when she sleeps - what little she does - I have other family members to take care of (I'm sure many of you understand!).
Any advice is welcome, but really I just need prayers, and wisdom. And chocolate. Yeah, that's it.  Thanks!
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Amy
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JennGM
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| Posted: Dec 13 2005 at 3:27pm | IP Logged
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Oooh, have some Godiva dark chocolate truffles on me! My dh gave me a treat last week and I just savoured the last piece today! Yummy! 
I moved my son to a crib about that age for the same reason. He had reflux and food allergies and would only sleep in the car seat next to my bed, but it was not working out. I think the move to a crib is harder on the parents than the child...really!
My son loved the crib. I picked a few nights when dh was out of town...but he was our only child. I had some crying. I followed the "No-Cry Sleep Solution" in part, because I didn't like the crying. I also got a nice comfy chair for his room, and spent a lot of time holding rocking at night until he was asleep and then put him in his crib. He sleeps well on his own...no permanent damage.
Is the crib his own room, or does he share it? My one sister has 4 children, and as each child comes, they seem to relish their crib and time in their crib. She thinks they like having "their space"...with lots of action around the house, this is their little sanctuary.
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amyable
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| Posted: Dec 13 2005 at 3:49pm | IP Logged
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The crib is in our bedroom, smashed between the bed and the wall (small house, small rooms  ) I'm hoping this will be convenient for the middle of the night snuggle/snack fest still. 
I have the No Cry Sleep Solution around here somewhere - I'd better dig it out again. Glad to hear it went well at your house!
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Meredith
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Hi Amy, my Gabriel is 8 months next Tuesday and he JUST started crawling last night as we were decorating our tree He's actually kind of pulling himself along, but he does manage to get pretty much wherever he wants by rolling or scooching....so my life is over as I know it until the next little one comes along to be complacement and stay in one place  On to your question about cribs, it's so different for each child, and I'd have to agree with Jenn, I think it's harder on the parents
Try a little at a time and she'll probably surprise you and do just fine, I'll be praying for you during this transition stage.
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Meredith
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Elizabeth
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Looking back with fond memories to the times when I crawled into the crib with Michael to nurse him to sleep and then climbed out without waking him. I was much lighter then ...
You have my heartfelt prayers!
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Elizabeth Foss is no longer a member of this forum. Discussions now reflect the current management & are not necessarily expressions of her book, *Real Learning*, her current work, or her philosophy. (posted by E. Foss, Jan 2011)
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MaryM
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Elizabeth wrote:
| Looking back with fond memories to the times when I crawled into the crib with Michael to nurse him to sleep and then climbed out without waking him. |
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I just read your entry, Elizabeth, without remembering this was about a baby cribs. I came from a Christmas thread mentality and was thinking you climbed in to a nativity scene to nurse Michael - my mistake, but a funny picture.
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Tina P.
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Elizabeth wrote:
Looking back with fond memories to the times when I crawled into the crib with Michael to nurse him to sleep and then climbed out without waking him. I was much lighter then ...
You have my heartfelt prayers! |
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Even when I was much lighter, I couldn't have crawled into the crib with one of mine. I'm a little nervous that my almost 3 yo bounces around in his. We have a crib that my almost-48-yob used. Jacob, my almost 3yo, says his favorite place is his bed (hearkening back to Jenn's statement) which is one reason he's still in it. The other reason is that when we move back to the states in March or thereabouts, that's when Jacob will give up his crib to Celia. It will be a new start for both of them.
Celia sleeps with us. She's a little trooper. I've put her in the Graco a couple of times, but it's so cold and drafty in our house that her little extremities get frozen without our body heat to keep her warm. I might be writing a post like yours in four or five months!
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I waffled a lot with the last one since my husband was gone, but in the end I used Babywise which we had used with all the kids. I would let her cry 5 min before checking, then 10, the 15, but my comfort level was to never let her cry longer than that.
The best reminder was from our neighbor, a pediatrician and father 7. He said that it would take more than one night to get her used to it but that at her age and size there was NO REASON that she NEEDED to nurse at night anymore. After 3 nights, she slept from 10-7 without waking at all adn she retained her sweet disposition.
I did find that when we moved months later and we shared a room again, she would wake and want me even though she didn't nurse anymore. That was the worst.
BTW, I can not even imagine getting my body to bend in a way that it would fit into a crib. I'm impressed!
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JSchaaf
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Could you put her in the carseat and place the carseat in the crib so she'll be in a safe place if/when she wakes and gets out??
Jennifer
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MaryM
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JSchaaf wrote:
Could you put her in the carseat and place the carseat in the crib so she'll be in a safe place if/when she wakes and gets out??
Jennifer |
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Great suggestion for naptimes, Jennifer!
amyable wrote:
| Same thing at night if I leave for a bit - she's a bad sleeper and I'm starting to fear for her safety on the bed. |
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Bed rails, crib sidecar to bed, or a mattress on the floor could be alternatives for that time in the evening when you are attending to other little ones before you are back in the bed. At night in the dark they aren't too prone to wander around and get into anything - mine always wimpered/cried when they were waking up at night so I could hear them and get in there. Those options can help for safety issues.
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Angie Mc
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Hi Amy,
Never a dull moment, huh? In addition to some great suggestions already posted, (although I respectfully disagree with your neighbor's blanket statement, Rachel...perhaps it wasn't a blanket statment but meant specifically for your child) I'll share an article that gives options. I'm a big fan of sleep and am all for finding ways to meet each family members' sleeping needs 
Sleeping Like a Baby?
I'm praying for a smooth transition and just the right solution for your family, Amy.
Subject to change but currently using a bed rail with our CA King mattress set on the floor and a baby monitor....
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MaryM
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Angie Mc wrote:
| ...(although I respectfully disagree with your neighbor's blanket statement, Rachel...perhaps it wasn't a blanket statment but meant specifically for your child) .... |
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I second Angie's comment - a very well-known and published pediatrician and father of eight (Dr. William Sears) has a different opinion of babies' need to wake and nurse at night. For many babies/toddlers there really is a need for a much longer period of time and they are getting a signifcant percentage of their calories (as well as brain growth) with night nursing.
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Chari
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MaryM wrote:
Elizabeth wrote:
| Looking back with fond memories to the times when I crawled into the crib with Michael to nurse him to sleep and then climbed out without waking him. |
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I just read your entry, Elizabeth, without remembering this was about a baby cribs. I came from a Christmas thread mentality and was thinking you climbed in to a nativity scene to nurse Michael - my mistake, but a funny picture. |
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well, I have to admit an even FUNNIER picture
I visualized Elizabeth caring for Michael....except, my mind imagined him as I have seen him......a grown boy of almost 16 yrs old.........eek!
btw.........elizabeth is a tiny person....that is why she could fit
hey.......please say a hail Mary for me tomorrow.....I could use a little help.....thanks!
Angie.......loved your link! Brought back so many memories.......caring for my first baby, with DRs. Sears and Gordon......and LLL! also....loved our chat!
God bless
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amyable
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Thanks everyone! FWIW, I'm totally fine with her being in bed with me, nursing on and off during the night. It's just nap times, and right at bedtime where I'm fearing for her safety. Even though we have bedrails and the crib up next to the bed, she is quickly finding ways to travel around, even in the dark. She is silent until she gets into trouble! Never a dull moment is right!
I thought about putting the carseat in the crib, but she flings herself out of the carseat sometimes, which means she would fling herself right into the wall of the crib, most likely. She's a little acrobat!
I'm also hoping - though I doubt this will come to pass - that napping in the crib will lead to longer naps. I feel like I spend my entire day either trying to get her to sleep, or dealing with her crabbiness because she's too tired from her tiny nap. I really do want what is best for her but I also want what is best for my other children too - a mom who is available now and then (and not cranky from having spent the last hour bouncing a crabby baby on the edge of her bed while the toddler gets in trouble somewhere  ) would be nice, lol!
I'm sorry I'm complaining. This whole sleep thing has been the thorn in my flesh for 2.5 years now (my toddler was the same way - bad napper, up for hours at a time in the middle of the night) and I'm having trouble dealing in a rational manner with it.
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amyable
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Elizabeth wrote:
| Looking back with fond memories to the times when I crawled into the crib with Michael to nurse him to sleep and then climbed out without waking him... |
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Ugh, I did it!
Today was the first time I tried to get her to sleep in the crib. After an hour of crying even though I was alternately holding, rocking, patting, etc, I finally gave up and climbed right in the crib. I think she was so exhausted from the crying that she didn't wake up when I tried to leave, because I wasn't that graceful! LOL
If my husband finds out I'm going IN the crib...
Thanks for your thoughts and prayers. Keep the prayers coming! For some strange reason this whole 2.5 year sleep thing has become an obstacle between me and God. My own fault, I'm sure, but I don't know how to change.
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~Rachel~
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I just put DD down on a matress pad (for a twin bed) on our floor... she is a little older than your DD... but she would wake all the time from her crib... the mattress made so much noise! Now I have the mattress pad, I can lay down next to her and nurse her off...
Good Luck and God Bless with your transition!
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Amy,
For what it's worth, we had my youngest in a crib in our room at that age and he had a hard time staying asleep. In our bed he moved around so much that neither of us could get any sleep. It was when he was left alone in the room in his crib that he would get his deep sleep. I guess we're just too loud to sleep with!
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Mary G
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We have a 3 bedroom house -- a bedroom for the girls, a bedroom for the boys, and a bedroom for dh and me. We have bunk beds and a toddler bed in the kids' rooms; a queen in our room.
Why is it then that my 3 yos ALWAYS sleeps in Mom and Dad's bed? To the point where we had to put a futon matress on the floor next to our bed -- NOT, I hasten to add, for John-Paul, but for Mom or Dad (whichever gets kicked out of the queen bed by little boy!).
Now, we've got my 5 yod sleeping on the futon every night -- Rick ws gone to Rome for 10 days and she's still making sure he's home --
Is this attachment parenting, or what?
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My DD loves to come in the bed with us... but she too kicks one of us out... usually DH!! He has started taking DS up on his standing offer for Daddy to share his bed if Mummy and Lenore kick him out of it .
The mattress pad is much better option... last night she woke a number of times and I just fell asleep next to her while I nursed her
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ALmom
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Oh, how I identify with the lack of sleep. All our dc were motion sensitive so they woke up the minute they or you moved. I remember watching all these moms who could rock baby to sleep and then gently place them in a crib. It never worked for us - as soon as we went to move dc, they were awake and just enough rested to get another wind, while we were getting crankier by the minute. We drove around the block to put one dc to sleep and then dh pulled the whole carseat out and placed that in the crib - but we didn't have the safety concerns - a mattress on the floor, putting a blanket down in the middle of activities for nap. Of course none of ours ever napped much either. I do wonder now if some soothing classical music as background noise would have helped. Wish I had ideas for you - but I will say a prayer - ask dc guardian angel to help you come up with a good solution for everyone.
Janet
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4Real Forums : Mothering and Family Life
Topic: Moving baby to crib
