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Back to the Crib
Transitioning from a Co-sleeping Environment Back to the Crib or Bed
By Lisa A. Goldstein
When it comes to change, slow may be best – especially if you've been co-sleeping for a long time.
Jodi Mindell, associate director of the Sleep Disorders Center at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, says some parents may wish to just start doing their child's entire bedtime routine in his room for a few days to a week to get him used to associating bedtime with his room, rather than his parents' room. Next, parents can have their child fall asleep in his crib or bed at just bedtime, with a parent sitting next to the crib. If the child wakes up at night, they can then take him into their own bed. "Parents can keep taking progressive steps until the child is falling asleep independently at bedtime," Mindell says. "Most of the time, the child will then start naturally sleeping for longer and longer stretches throughout the night."
Another way to make the transition a little bit at a time is to set up a second bed next to your bed, Pantley says. This could be a crib, toddler bed, mattress or futon. Begin by putting it right next to the big bed. After a week or so, move it a few feet away, then to the other side of the room, and finally, to the child's own bedroom. "It helps if you keep all the other aspects of the bedtime routine exactly the same except for this one detail," Pantley says.
Setting times when your child is welcome into your bed, and encouraging her to sleep in her own bed otherwise, is one recommendation from Pantley. "You might connect this with daylight: 'When it is light outside, you can come into our bed,'" she says.
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