I can count the number of days my daughter has slept in my bed. And that was during the first weeks of her life when I would wake up 10 times a night to check if she was breathing. But when I felt sleep deprived and the fear of smothering baby in my sleep became real, we moved her to her own bed.
See Also:
Ladies, donât lose sleep over text messages, men are not as complicated as you think
As much as it was tiring to keep on picking her up and putting her back after night time feedings, it was important to me that she got used to sleeping on her own. Very soon it paid off, and she could sleep through the night.
But every time we travel to another place, we co-sleep and once we are back home, the process of getting her back to her bed takes a few days. She keeps on waking up throughout the night and will only go back to sleep after nursing or being rocked.
We recently relocated to another country with a different time zone and I slept with her for a week to help with the transition.
It has been more than a month and I regret that decision to this day. We are currently dealing with sleep deprivation and extreme nursing until my nipples hurt. I have tried all the tricks I have used before to get her used to sleeping in her bed again but all in vain.
However, we are finally seeing some positive changes and I am hopeful that she will go back to her old routine in a few weeks. The following steps have been very useful.
Weaning baby off night nursing – Breastfeeding shouldnât be a solution to every cry or whimper. Yes, it works like magic but the consequences are worse. I make sure she has a full bottle of milk before she sleeps and breastfeed her a little. I then replaced nursing with cuddling and rocking.
Soothing baby in her own bed. Once she was used to being cuddled every time she woke up, I moved to rubbing her back and singing to her to soothe her back to sleep.
Get help. My husband sometimes goes to soothe her and though it takes time, she actually does go back to sleep. It also helps to have the bed far from you.
Be patient. We have been doing all these steps for weeks but it only began showing signs of success these last few days.
Co-sleeping is not wrong. It is actually good for creating attachment and some even recommend it for better sleep but it doesnât work for everyone.
Whether you are for co-sleeping or not, at some point babies have to move to their bed and the transition can be difficult. You can use these tricks or others that may work for you.