Tips and resources to support children birth to age five
How did you transition your toddler into a new sleeping situation?
My Seattle grandkids each have a bed at my home; for napping and sleepovers. A couple weeks ago, it became clear that the nearly-two-year-old had outgrown her pack-n-play which was serving as his crib at my place. So a toddler bed was set up for her. The question was: would this work?
Would she accept the new sleeping arrangement?
Would she immediately get up and start walking around?
Would she fall out?
Many parents I know have difficulty moving their infant from a co-sleeper or crib in their own room, to the shiny new (but unused) nursery down the hall – difficulty not so much from the baby, but difficulty accepting the change themselves.
Other parents and children struggle to sleep separately, with the toddler or preschooler preferring to snuggle in with mom and dad.
So, if you’re having issues at your house with the sleeping arrangements, you’re not alone.
The question is: what have you tried and how has this worked for you? What are the sleep issues you’re having right now?
Please share your experiences.
My granddaughter accepted the new bed without question, but she’s a pretty adaptable kid. And so far, her parents haven’t dared try the same thing at home.
You can discover more tips and resources at
http://www.earlylearningcommunity.org/page/tips-from-dr-patricia-nan
Answer the question for the chance to win a $25 Starbucks gift card! For more details, please click here.
Would she accept the new sleeping arrangement?
Would she immediately get up and start walking around?
Would she fall out?
Many parents I know have difficulty moving their infant from a co-sleeper or crib in their own room, to the shiny new (but unused) nursery down the hall – difficulty not so much from the baby, but difficulty accepting the change themselves. Other parents and children struggle to sleep separately, with the toddler or preschooler preferring to snuggle in with mom and dad.
So, if you’re having issues at your house with the sleeping arrangements, you’re not alone.
The question is: what have you tried and how has this worked for you? What are the sleep issues you’re having right now?
Please share your experiences.
My granddaughter accepted the new bed without question, but she’s a pretty adaptable kid. And so far, her parents haven’t dared try the same thing at home.
You can discover more tips and resources at
http://www.earlylearningcommunity.org/page/tips-from-dr-patricia-nan
Answer the question for the chance to win a $25 Starbucks gift card! For more details, please click here.
Tags: patricia, sleeping, dr, dr., tip
Views: 3
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by chris on -
With my first child, we transitioned for years!! she kept sneaking back in. My second child stayed in a basinette for a month and then we moved the basinette out of our room into her own room till she outgrew it then into crib and then to a twin, we skipped the todler bed and bought bunks because we were already due with number 3! It was a much easier transition with siblings in room.
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Permalink Reply by Erin Okuno on -
This is a very timely question, we just had to retransition our child back to his crib. At 9 mo. he could start the night in his own crib but around 10.00-12.00 he would wake up and we would bring him to our bed. Around 12 mo got to big to co-sleep with us so we started keeping him in his own crib. It took a lot of patience and steel nerves to work on keeping him in his own crib.
We also learned the hard way that he can never regress back to our bed. I made that mistake Fourth of July by allowing him to sleep with us that night since the fireworks kept waking him up... oh boy we spent the next four nights undoing that.
Now we're working on figuring out how to convince him not to wake up at 5.30 AM...
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Permalink Reply by mel thompson on
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First, the question is the child a boy or girl, as you did refer to either or in one sentence. I feel, each gender takes different care in as you put it "will this work". Any change of this sort is HUGE for a small child. Common sense people!! You may not remember, but guaranteed, a first life experience is BIG! NOW, just don't don't kick the dog because he wont remember in the a.m. (get it)!!
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Permalink Reply by Patricia on -
My daughter is 10 mos old and I have now resorted to sleeping with her on an air bed in her room. I have tried to sleep train her but continue to get the same result; she vomits. Not within very a long period of time either, within ten minutes of letting her cry, with visiting intervals or not. I am losing the support of family and friends on this issue. My understanding is that this is a physical problem with her stomach's spinchter muscle not being strong enough to hold down it's contents when she cries. She never cries a little bit when she cries, sweet girl. She will also throw up in the car seat after a few minutes when she is hungry. As soon she starts to cry in the car, I will tell her I will pull over when it is safe and find an appropriate place to nurse. She usually vomits before I stop the car. When the vomitting happens at night, I get her cleaned up and soothed, she ends up waking up again soon because she seems to be hungry, and we start all over again.
With my new temporary solution we are all getting some much needed rest. She is responding well with less nursing at night, and longer more regular napping. All would seem well if I didn't have to admit to myself this was only a temporary solution!
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Permalink Reply by Foundation for Early Learning on -
Congratulations to Patricia of Shoreline, winner of our $25 Starbucks gift card give-away. Add a comment in our forum for the chance to win next week.
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Permalink Reply by Meggan on -
We spent days if not months picking out the perfect baby bed and setting up the most peaceful nursery. My daughter is now sleeping in a toddler bed and never ended up sleeping in her beautiful nursery and only slept a few nights in her baby bed. So here is our sleep story:
Upon coming home from the hospital I realized she was much too little to sleep all the way across the hall. So she slept next to me in her little cradle. At night she would stick her little hands through the railing & I would hold her hand while she slept. I would often wake just to find her laying there staring at me.
When she outgrew the cradle, we decided to try her crib in her room. She was fine. My husband and I layed in bed missing her. We somehow felt incomplete without her near us. So we went & got her. The next day we moved her crib to our room. She slept in her crib for about two weeks, then she got a really severe cold & needed to be propped up at night. I was so afriad she would suffocate against the pillow she was propped on, I let her sleep with us. She never slept in her bed again. It just felt right for all of us to snuggle there together and she always slept much sounder cuddled against her daddy.
At about a 11/2 years we got her a toddler bed. She was so excited to have her own little place to sleep, she hasn't looked back. There are still times though rarely that she wakes up in the middle of the night & gets in bed with us or nights when she wants to go to bed in mommy & daddy's bed, but that is fine. She is my little one and I am enjoying all these cuddles while I can. As I already know, they will be gone too soon.
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Permalink Reply by Patricia on
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Love your story. It is like I am seriously missing something when I am not sleeping with my sweet girl. I, too, feel like these days will be gone before we know it and I can't think of a mom who thought they held their child too much!! Good for you for following your heart!!
Meggan said:We spent days if not months picking out the perfect baby bed and setting up the most peaceful nursery. My daughter is now sleeping in a toddler bed and never ended up sleeping in her beautiful nursery and only slept a few nights in her baby bed. So here is our sleep story:
Upon coming home from the hospital I realized she was much too little to sleep all the way across the hall. So she slept next to me in her little cradle. At night she would stick her little hands through the railing & I would hold her hand while she slept. I would often wake just to find her laying there staring at me.
When she outgrew the cradle, we decided to try her crib in her room. She was fine. My husband and I layed in bed missing her. We somehow felt incomplete without her near us. So we went & got her. The next day we moved her crib to our room. She slept in her crib for about two weeks, then she got a really severe cold & needed to be propped up at night. I was so afriad she would suffocate against the pillow she was propped on, I let her sleep with us. She never slept in her bed again. It just felt right for all of us to snuggle there together and she always slept much sounder cuddled against her daddy.
At about a 11/2 years we got her a toddler bed. She was so excited to have her own little place to sleep, she hasn't looked back. There are still times though rarely that she wakes up in the middle of the night & gets in bed with us or nights when she wants to go to bed in mommy & daddy's bed, but that is fine. She is my little one and I am enjoying all these cuddles while I can. As I already know, they will be gone too soon.
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