HELP ~ won't sleep anywhere but swing! - Infant Care (up to 18 months old) Message Board

nutty2326 · 04-29-2008, 11:04 PM

Hello
new to the board... I have a 3 month old little boy who slept by our bed in a cradle until 8 weeks old... he has pretty well always napped in his swing since he was born. The transition to crib was hit and miss & he'd often end up in the swing. Now, he screams and fights at bedtime... we do have a feed/bath/book routine and he gets looking SO tired but once in the crib he freaks out...

The other issue is that he despises being swaddled because he always has to have his hands up in his face sucking on them, which i guess is good for self soothing, something he's really bad at... but the one time I didn't swaddle him, the second he fell asleep, his arms relaxed and dropped & he panicked and got all worked up again.

Tonight we tried for 50 min ... did our routine, swaddle, music, no eye contact or talking, periodically popping the soother back in... & he was the most hysterical I've ever seen him, just so so worked up... so to the swing and asleep within a minute... we then let him get to a deeper sleep and tried to transfer him back to the crib after twenty min in the swing and he was awake instantly after being put down and was fussing right away...

I'm just concerned about the safety of sleeping in a swing for his growth & quality of sleep... & what will happen when it's time to move him to the crib once he outgrows the swing... Just at a loss, I'd rather break the habit now but don't know how... it's not that he's a bad sleeper, he sleeps for 4-6 hours at a time, just in the wrong place.... should I be worried now, or worry more as we get closer to 4 months, as some things I read say they don't get into real routines until then!??

At my wits end... any suggestions appreciated!

G8r4evr · 04-30-2008, 12:03 PM

I know the feeling. Mine would only sleep in her swing for the first 7 wks. Just this week, we finally got her in the cradle...but it took some handiwork. I laid one of my pillows (its like a contour one that really molds to the body) and I draped her favorite blanket over it. I lay her completely on the pillow and it keeps her head raised, sinks in the middle for her back and keeps her feet slightly propped (basically just like her swing did) She is loving it...we were only getting 4 to 5 hours at a time in the swing, but since moving to the cradle, she is sleeping 8-3 =)

LEJ79 · 04-30-2008, 05:02 PM

Our baby slept in the swing until he was 4 months old. I, too, posted about it. First, we started turning the swing off once he was asleep. Then, we started putting him to sleep in the swing without ever turning it on. Then we moved him into a Pack-N-Play, and then the crib. There were a couple of bad nights when he woke up frequently, but the transition was not as bad as I thought it would be. He fights sleep and is not a good sleeper, so I understand your worry. Eventually, I think that he just got big enough, out grew the swing, and was happy to have his big spacious crib. Try not to stress about it too much. As someone once told me, you've never heard of any 5-year olds sleeping in a swing, so even the toughest babies eventually transition to the crib!

meechieny · 04-30-2008, 05:38 PM

You have to assess if he likes the motion or the upright position. If it is the motion I would try to have him in the swing, but turning it on less and less especially when he is already content. If it is the position, he may have a touch of reflux and when you lay him down he may be uncomfortable. We used our car seat alot. When we wanted the kids to sleep at night in the crib, we actually put the whole car seat in the crib and then eventually got rid of the car seat. Pretty weird trick huh? but it worked.

luckydarlin · 04-30-2008, 08:12 PM

Just like LEJ79, my daughter only slept in the craddle swing for months and we slowly transitioned her by shutting off the music, then stopping the motion and then within a few weeks of doing this transitioned to the crib. I remember my mother-in-law freaking out when she found out that she slept in her cradle swing and saying "she'll have a crooked spine!" - I laugh about that nonsense now, but at the time it only added to my stress about the situation. I definitely say just give it time and slowly do the transition and you should be fine. I wouldn't worry too much about developing sleeping habits by four months - my little one was getting teeth at that time and it took her a very long time after to finally fall into a habit.

Whatever works for you and your little one - be patient and don't stress because it will work out. Good luck!