When my son turned 5 months, I started orienting him to his crib and his own room. Some days went better than others. Eventually, he and I both slept longer being away from each other. My husband snores, and I wake up often. I also go to bed late. All of that combined, Baby J woke up often when co-sleeping with us. Thanksgiving rolled around, and we had guests staying with us for a few weeks…all the way until the New Year. The guest bed is in Baby J’s room, so he co-slept with us.

Tomorrow I’ll start orienting him to the crib all over again. Through my previous experience and through a book I’ve been reading, The No-Cry Sleep Solution: Gentle Ways to Help Your Baby Sleep Through the Night: Foreword by William Sears, M.D. (Pantley),
I’ll be doing it differently this time. I’m going to co-sleep with him in the guest bed for several days, then start moving him to his crib in the night, while I continue to sleep in his room. We’ll also implement a strict bedtime and wind-down routine. We kind of got away from that during the holidays and being out of town this last week.

I’m a little scared of these next couple of weeks, because I know it’ll be rough…but in the end, we’ll all sleep better, so it’ll be worth it. I also have to start getting him to nap during the day without his swing, but I think I’ll save that one for after we get him used to the crib.

I’d love some advice to make this process smoother. Do you have any no-cry tips for me?

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