“Better get your sleep now”
Said literally everyone after we told them we’re about to have a baby. I guess people never read this book
before they had one. Pia turned four months this week and has literally outgrown her bassinet, thus the transition to the crib. DON DON DONNNN! *insert dramatic life ending music here* No it hasn’t been that bad and we can thank Suzy Giordano for that. Pia was either born a great sleeper, or the magical teachings of Suzy’s book
The transition to the crib started on a Friday to make sure we had plenty of time the next day to catch up on the sleep we assumed we’d lose that night. First night, put her down at 8pm around 11:30pm I heard her rustling around (not crying or fussing) just moving, and ran in there and picked her up. We failed day one. Matthew just rolled his eyes at me. The next day we put her in her crib and she slept the whole night. I walked into her room at 7am and picked her up just to make sure she was still breathing, we couldn’t believe it! We’re going on day 6 now and she wakes up at her usual time for her “dream feed” and sleeps peacefully. Am I sleeping peacefully? Well that’s up for debate (worried mom for life). There are a ton of amazing tips from the book but below are just a few key tips from the book
From Bassinet to Crib:
Full Feedings:
The book
No Co-Sleeping:
I now see why this was such a struggle for most people we talked to. When we would tell people we don’t want her to sleep in our bed they would reply, “Oh you say that now… ” She loves the cuddle, the warmth of our bodies and smell of us… she sleeps SO good next to us. But everyone I knew that let this happen, were still letting it happen 5 years later! We love her, but mommy and daddy need love too.
No Sleeping Aids:
We had received SO many sleeping aids from our baby showers and we were excited to try all of them… until I read NOT to in the book. She needed to develop ways to self sooth herself to sleep. Aside from a pacifier, nothing else should be helping her fall asleep.
Loud Noises:
One thing we are not is quiet. We wanted to avoid Pia becoming such a light sleeper and having to tip-toe around her all the time. Therefore, we made sure to do/ be our normal volume during her naps so that she’d learn to sleep through anything. Now we could vacuum 1 foot away from that baby and she won’t even bat an eyelash.
Daytime Activity:
Obviously if she’s taking super long naps or frequent naps during the day she will not sleep at night. Putting her down for naps in her crib and keeping her awake and stimulated outside of the nursery helped her distinguish between sleeping/ resting place (nursery) and awake / play areas (living room). We try to keep her up between the 3rd and 4th feedings of the day to help her fall asleep closer to her bedtime.
I must say that it is tough to keep her on a schedule with my Mother-in-law watching her while away at work. Just a tip to everyone out there, make sure EVERYONE is on board with your sleeping plan for your baby to keep to a strict and seamless routine. Suzy’s Giordano’s book, The Baby Sleep Solution helped us SO much… it’s a must buy for new parents or the perfect gift for baby showers!
*Special Thank you to Micaela for telling us about this book… you gave us the gift of sleep! We owe you!
What other types of advice have you heard of to help with the transition to the crib? Have any of you read The Baby Sleep Solution
P.S. Here are more tips for transitioning baby and cute easy pictures to take with baby when you just wake up.
