But at one point can you start to develop bad habits? LO is 8 weeks old and we still put her to sleep in the swing, full motion, for every single nap and night time sleep. She will not sleep anywhere else, we try everyday and every night. She used to be able to sleep in the swing without it even turned on. Now she needs that motion. Am I setting her up (and myself!) and creating a horrible habit?
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I can't say exactly when it became a problem, but we definitely instilled bad sleep habits in DS. We were rocking/bouncing/nursing to sleep until 7 months or so, when I just couldn't take it anymore and we did a sleep consult. Once I stopped doing those things, he started sleeping much better. I think I will try to limit the negative sleep associations earlier this time, probably around 4.5-5 months.
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I noticed "habits" forming after he was ~4 months. I don't think you need to worry about anything until after 4 months.
Honestly, the first 4 months (for me) were about complete survival. Any "habits" that are possibly created in those months can be broken easily. Just try to get through it the best you can, however you can! If that means sleeping in a swing, DO IT.
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No.
My DD slept in the swing at night from month 3-5.5 months. And she napped in the swing until 8 months. She's a superstar crib-sleeper now and has been pretty much since we first transferred her. Some babies just need motion.
This might be helpful for you: http://www.troublesometots.com/weaning-baby-off-swing/
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DS napped exclusively in the swing (not turned on) up until amost 5 months. The first three months were all about survival!
The trick that helped us was using a rolled towel in a horseshoe shape underneath the crib sheet and snuggling it around ds to give him that extra support/coziness. (+swaddle, etc.)
He's been an amazing sleeper since 3 months and I think the first few months are def about survival!
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Oh, we were the masters of instilling habits that we had to break, so my number one thing was not have my son rely on motion for sleep. I probably stressed myself out over it and could have used it more the first three months, but by then, we were already doing so many more worse things.
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Our pediatrician said that you can't spoil them until they are 4 months old, but to start working on getting them to sleep "awake but drowsy". DD2 is 3 months old and still takes mist naps in the swing, but sleeps in her crib at night.
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C slept in the swing until she was like 4 months old. Lol. You're fine. She's a great sleeper and the crib transition was pretty painless.
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In my experience, around 4 months is kind of the magic age who you should try to start working toward how you want sleep to look like. Until then? Whatever works.
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Awesome! Thanks everyone. We will to transition her a bit later. @heartonastring: I love that website! It's the only reason we are all getting any sleep at all!!
The swing is truly a life saver for us! -
My son is in a swing for pretty much all sleep, too. It's basically the only way we could get him to nap for the first few weeks of his life, and we kept him there for night sleep because he slept soooo well...
He's 3 months next week, and I started noticing some changes in the past week or two (so at 9-10 weeks). He needs less bouncing to fall asleep now, and the motor burnt out on our swing (the horror -- we were traveling when this happened too), but he stayed asleep even once it stopped moving. So we've been starting to wean him from it.
He naps in his crib a couple times a day (not super successfully, but I figure it can't hurt to get him used to it), and we gradually reduced the speed on the swing until now, when he sleep with it still. We tried to keep him in the crib for night sleep, but only lasted two crappy nights. I'll come back to it again in a few weeks; my goal is to really get him out by around 4 months (this is partly because he's getting too long for the swing).
Anyway, a too-long reply to say that my LO is a few weeks older than yours, we're in the same spot, and I've been seeing changes in him that lead me to believe he's growing out of it. So I think we're both okay!
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Not sure about spoiling, but our baby would only nap in the swing, the Ergo, the carseat, or the stroller for a super long time. She was a true motion junkie for her naps (luckily, nighttime was ok). I beat myself up about it, but looking back, it was fine. We transitioned her to the crib for naps at around 5 months, and it really wasn't that bad. I think she was ready for it at that point.
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@gilmoregirl: I would cry if the motor broke on our swing (especially when traveling, hooray to you guys for surviving!) but it gives me hope to see that your LO was okay without the movement! I think we will both be okay too! Good luck on the transition.
@catlady: I guess babies just love that movement. I am sure she will show me the signs when she's ready, just like your LO. -
I read to do what you have to do until they're 3-6mths old and then start to work on creating good habits
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Heck no! We did the swing until 10 weeks before even attempting the crib. We started putting him down in the crib to start out at night and transitioned to swing in the middle of the night until 3 months old, and did not do a full crib transition until 4 months old. We still used it on occasion if he was super fussy and just put it away in storage at 6 months.
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I don't know, I was ADAMANT about getting DS into his crib in his room from day #1 and I really think it helped shape his sleep habits. Sure, in those early days we would have done ANYTHING to get him to sleep, but the second we both had some rest or it was the weekend I was insistent that he go in his crib. He's still not a perfect sleeper but he started STTN pretty early and has never made a fuss about going into his crib.
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We had LO in the crib (in our room) from the beginning because I wanted to avoid the transition, but it didn't matter - after four months I couldn't get him to sleep in the crib anymore.
I'm now pretty convinced that it doesn't matter what you do before four months, so you should do whatever works. Four months and beyond I would avoid creating inconvenient sleep associations, if possible.
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Do what works. I was so obsessed with "setting up good habits" & I was pretty smug that it worked... until the 4 month regression when it all crumbled & she's been a crap sleeper since then. If I had it to do over, I'd do all the things you aren't supposed to from the start to make my life easier.
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