tips on moving baby from sleeping in car seat to crib??

Carisa - posted on 07/26/2010

Although my daughter slept in her crib at night from day one, for the first six months or so she napped in her baby swing. I don't remember having much trouble switching to taking naps in the crib. Our Dr always has us put a pillow underneath the mattress in the crib to elevate it when she has a cold.

Audrey - posted on 07/26/2010

my mother told me i slept in the carseat for the first 6 months of my life, due to colic and reflux. some of the "rules" these days are just beyond insane. whatever works works, my mother also put me in a bassinet by her bed when she was afraid to put me in the crib and slightly elevated it by putting a book or two up under the bassinet. just enough to give it a slight elevation. =) good luck with your little guy. and forget about the criticism of what you're doing. you're doing a great job.

Shannon - posted on 07/26/2010

Wow Yvonne, this is supposed to be a place for advice, not criticism. Guess you have never dealt with a child that wouldn't sleep and had reflux because you simply do what you have to do to get by. My child's doctor is well aware of the car seat sleeping and is fine with it. I would rather him sleep in a car seat than choke like he does when we lay him flat. Next time, you could leave the criticism to yourself and just offer advice. I know many a mother whose child slept in the car seat. I will honestly say you DID UPSET ME because I came to this site for advice out of severe frustration. Thanks for everyone else for your kind words and advice. It helps to know these helpful tips and know that people survived all these scary parenting things.

Christina - posted on 07/11/2010

My son had some scarry breathing issues when he was around your sons age... and had to be elevated as well, we found a wedge that went under the mattress at Babies R Us and it was just enough to help him breath and was completely safe! and instead of having loose car seat cushions in the crib try a crib sheet that was in bed with you the night before... mommy and daddy smells are comforting too good luck

Ink - posted on 07/09/2010

My boy dearly loved his car seat too. He spent "too much" time in his as well. (EYE ROLL)
It is portable.. it has a handle.. you can move him without waking him... it is small and cuddles him like the womb did. The base has a rocker built into it so you can rock him with one toe. If you have a really smart dog, you can teach the dog to rock the car seat. You can take him to the kitchen while you cook dinner and he can sit right there still safe while you are in the bathroom. My husband even used one of those giant industrial yellow tie straps like they use to tie heavy equipment to trailers to strap a second car seat base to the top of our dryer. He turned the dryer on it's side.. used the strap right where the seat belt should go and he strapped the base to the top of the dryer. I could put him on the dryer for some jiggle time and he dearly LOVED it. The whole family did. Some nights it was the only way he would settle to sleep.

The only idea I can come up with to add to what the other ladies have said is to move ALL the padding and blankets from his car seat to the crib so he can relate the familiar smell with the new bed. (Don't wash it before moving it.) I would try putting the car seat padding under the crib sheet. Try to find a balance here... between smell and safety. We don't want too much loose material in the crib, obviously.

Maybe you and hubbie could compromise... move the baby's crib into YOUR room and start trying the transition from there.

Brooke - posted on 07/09/2010

Hi there, you have done a good job to get this far and be managing the reflux well. I would get one of those cot wedges for under the mattress for the reflux. But you should also try and recreate the coziness of the car seat for bubby, as it is probably not the position that he would want now, it's the familiar surroundings. Do you use a little head protector in the car seat, as you could put one of those in his bed.

Why not try one of those close and secure beds and have him sleep in that in his cot.

Goodluck
My daughter loved her car seat too, but we couldn't remove it being anchored in all the time. I say that if it works for you, just do it, and don't listen to anyone elses bullshit preaching about sleeping in carseats.

Lydia - posted on 07/09/2010

my doc suggested to put some book underneath the head side of the matrass in the crib so it has a little angle.

i hope the transition goes well, because the car seat isn't very healthy for the little babies back! i think they even suggest to have a baby sit maximum 2 hours in the seat than take a break when traveling longer.

Jane - posted on 07/09/2010

you can buy a crib wedge to put under his crib mattress. it elevates the mattress just a bit. it's good for digestion and when they have colds, so they can breath easier. he's young enough that he should transition after a few times. you can always put him in a portable crib in your room, the wedge will *just* fit in a portable crib as well. (your husband can wait a bit if you aren't ready. i hate putting my kids in another room. i literally never put our 1st down for about 8 months straight, i held her constantly.)

good luck!

Andrea - posted on 07/08/2010

Yvonne my best friends daughter had acid reflux when she was a baby she screamed night and day for the first 4 months. The only way she would sleep was in her car seat. I think she had her in from a month to four months I know for a fact that she spoke to the Dr about this and he said if it how she wants to sleep let her.



I just checked out that nap nanny, I love it why could someone told me about this 10 months ago when I had my daughter that had acid reflux lol

Vicki - posted on 07/08/2010

Well honestly I'm not a whole lot of help to you. My daughter slept on our chest most of the time til she was 4 months or so. Then we transitioned into laying her on her back in our bed. She always slept better with me by her side. You do have to be very careful of cosleeping but for me it worked well. IMO its only natural for them to want to sleep with you. I have heard wonderful things about the recliners though. Maybe try that. Or try putting his carseat in the crib first, then putting him in the crib without it but with the mattress propped up.

Kandace - posted on 07/08/2010

You can prop up the mattress with a towel underneath that might help. Not that this is much better but we would put the baby in a swing to sleep at times.

Yvonne - posted on 07/06/2010

Hi Shannon,

I must confess that when I read you post I was flabbergasted, have you spoken to your health visitor or gp about this, my h/v would have severely wrapped my knuckles if one of my babies was sleeping in a car seat at nearly 4 months old, a car seat does what it says on the tin, its for transporting baby in the car I take all of mine out of the car seat even when out and put them in a pushchair or pram, the car seat stays in the car at all times the only time baby stays in the car seat is when I go to the supermarket and that's usually because I have 2 babies to look after.



Having had my vent at you (sorry!!) my advice would be to either pop a pillow under the mattress in his cot (i would dispense with a crib because it won't be long before he's too big for it anyway) that would elevate him enough not to choke,(but they very rarely do because they will turn their heads to one side) or to swaddle him and lay him on his side changing sides at each sleep time so that he doesn't get a flat head,I know its not recommended but I have had many babies sleep this way and they seem so much happier and more settled. But do talk to your H/V she should be able to give you better advice as well.



Sorry about the venting hope i didn't upset you good luck. xx

Majaliwa - posted on 07/04/2010

when my little guy had reflux i found that burping him intermittedly while feeding eliminated it altogether. so i would let him feed for a minute and then sit him up and burp, then feed a little more and sit him up and burp. it extended feeding time a little longer but when i went to lay him down afterwards he didn't have reflux and i could sleep a lot easier.

Gloria - posted on 07/04/2010

Go to www.napnanny.com and get a portable recliner for baby to sleep in. You can even leave it in the crib if you want. It was designed for babies with reflux. My friend has one and LOVES it. Also, the sooner you move your LO (little one) to his room the easier it will be on all of you. Both my children went straight to their nurseries from the hospital. We skipped putting them in our room. If you've got a monitor then no worries, promise!



Good Luck.