 I think we have reached a milestone that I was dreading. Not dreading in a bad way, but dreading because it means my baby girl is getting big and growing up!! And that is.. moving into her big cot in her OWN room!
Okay, so little background of Maddison’s sleep pattern.. and I feel we have had quite a journey. From about 5/6 weeks old, till about 4 months, she would sleep a glorious and ridiculously satisfying 8-10 hours at night! (Click here to read about our bedtime routine). This then changed at about 17 weeks old, when we hit the dreaded 4th leap – which for us personally was the worst! I barely noticed any of the other leaps, but this one was draining! Maddison started to wake anywhere between 2-4 times a night, which I know isn’t horrendous, I know there are some mama’s that have babies who refuse to sleep at all! But it was definitely a shock to the system for me! After that, it had calmed down to waking only once in the night (minus the week when Maddie had an ear infection – that wasn’t fun at all!) which is fine! Once in the night is still good, she’ll sleep about 6 hours, wake for a feed then sleep another 2-3 hours, so I’m still grateful for that!! This past week though, Maddison’s woken up for the feed like normal, then absolutely refuses, despite how ever much I try, to go back to sleep in her crib. She will only sleep in our bed. She tries to settle bless her, but just lets off this squeaky cry! But as soon as I pull her next to me in our bed, she’s fine! It’s like she wants to sleep, but just isn’t comfortable in her crib!?! Co-sleeping is something that I never really imaged doing much, but when you are so desperate to get back to sleep.. you’ll do anything!! So not only is Maddison preferring to sleep in our bed at night, but she always seems to have the BEST and longest naps on our bed too! (Which is great for me so I can actually get some housework done haha!) But it got me thinking.. maybe she’s enjoying having the space? Up until this point, Maddison has been sleeping in a crib next to my side of the bed in our room. It was actually my cot I had when I was a baby – so special! But I have noticed her head and feet getting closer and closer to the ends.. she never looks squished, but she does tend to spread out and sleep like a starfish haha! So with her ever growing long limbs, maybe she just needs that bit more space now? The problem that I’m having is, I want to give her more room, but don’t feel ready to let her sleep in her own room yet! Unfortunately, we live in quite a little house, and there is just no room for her big cot in our room with us, so that’s not an option! Do I just need to relax and give it a try? Is this just one of the many times I’ll have to learn to let it go as a mummy? I’m not being clingy am I? At the end of the day, obviously I want what’s best and most comfortable for her (plus I’d love to have a good nights sleep myself again haha!) I guess the worry is not hearing her wake in the night before it turns into proper hysterical cry and needs me for whatever reason, also I find it so relaxing hearing her squeaky dream snores! But I think that’s normal and what every mum goes through, right? So I’ve come up with a plan to try and meet in the middle! A transition point I guess… The other weekend, I went to stay at my mum’s house. Rather than taking the crib with me, we bought a travel cot for Maddison to sleep in. Which seems huge compared to her crib, but still not quite as big as her cot! And Maddie actually slept really well in it! So the plan is, to set that up by our bed in our bedroom (which JUST about fits!) so she’ll have more space to sleep, but still be next to me. I think that’s a good meet in the middle point for now! IF that goes smoothly, I will then just suck it up and take the proper plunge of putting her in her own room, maybe in the new year once she’s just turned 6 months! Will keep you posted on how it goes, but hopefully that’s the answer to our sleep woes right now! Can’t believe how fast she is growing!! How did you cope with baby going into their own room? Did you try a transition like I’m trying? Any tips or advice? I’d love to hear as always! Lots of love Bethany x
6 Comments
Jessica
8/12/2017 20:55:40
It was so hard for me to be comfortable with the idea of my daughter in her own room! But at 6 Months my hubby finally convinced me. We set up a baby monitor so I could hear if she made even the smallest peep which helped my peace of mind a lot. The first couple of nights I got up multiple times to check in her but I stopped eventually as she was always fine! Even now, she’s 2 1/2 and I still miss her being close to me, but it had to happen sometime, and the great sleep ended up being worth it!💗
Jess
8/12/2017 21:15:28
My 5 month old is the exact same with sleeping! The only difference is she’s not waking for a feed, she’s only waking because I’ve got her in the habit of getting into our bed! I’m desperate to break this habit but every time try, it gets to the point my eyes sting I’m so tired and I give in! I’m putting harper into her cot after Christmas so I’m hoping I can break this habit before then. (Fingers and toes crossed)
Samantha
8/12/2017 21:47:12
We moved our LO into her own room during the 4 month leap and it was the best decision we could have made. For us, we discovered that we were waking each other up. So she went from waking up 4-5 times each night to only waking up once and maaaaybe twice here and there. I was definitely nervous, but it went smoothly. We keep her camera monitor on all night and sleep with it on a volume loud enough to wake us if she cries. We try to give her a few moments to settle herself before going in to help, though. Best wishes on making the transition! It’s whatever works best for you and your family <3
Kirsty
8/12/2017 22:17:06
Ahh it really is the hardest thing, I really didn't want my little one to move into his own room, but I decided the day he turned 6 months was the night I was gonna do it, just so I wouldn't keep putting it off really haha! He's been an amazing sleeper since being 4 weeks old and he had no problem settling in his big cot. I do keep his baby monitor plugged in next to our bed so I can hear him and keep having a look to make sure he's okay and that puts my mind at rest but I didn't sleep a wink the first few nights haha! Good luck! I'm sure Maddie will be fine, it's always us that take these things the worst and be baba's tend to be fine! Xxx
Lucy
8/12/2017 23:00:03
My little girl is exactly the same age as yours. We put her into her own room last week. She is our second baby and I was desperately trying to cling on to keeping her in with us for longer (I could weep now!) but she was becoming less settled, waking more, getting too big for her crib and loving our bed far too much! Now In her cot, she has the space to starfish and looks far more comfortable. Having said that though she also cut her two bottom teeth last week within 3 days of each other so perhaps that has helped settle her?! I started putting her in her cot for daytime naps a couple of weeks back and then nightimes last week. Olivia is generally in bed for 7pm and I (dreamfeed her at around 10-11pm) She has been just waking once for a feed around 4am before dozing again until around 8am. This has given us some welcome catch up and I’ll take it while she is offering it! xx
Melissa
12/12/2017 04:31:35
You are allowed to be clingy!!! She’s your first baby girl and you are enjoying it!!! I wouldn’t let her sleep in your bed much more at all, she I’ll get use to that. And I felt the same about going from the bassinet next to my bed. Into her crib all the way in her room. It was really hard but THE BEST thing I did. She went right to it and never looked back. I bought myself a video monitor so I could lay in bed and stare at her still. It now toggles with my 5 year olds monitor. I never ever will get tired of watching either of my babies sleep!!! Be brave and do it!!! You’ve got this, Mama!!!! She might sleep better also because she won’t be waken up by any noises you or hubby make. My daughter woke up every single time my husband sneezed. That’s when I knew it was time to go. She sleeps the better part of 10 hours!!! Can’t wait to hear how it goes. Xoxo Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
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