At what point do you transition your newborn from bassinet to crib?
You might be wondering that when your baby should be transitioned into the crib. This transition deals with your baby’s napping time.
No doubt bassinets are a great source for mothers with a newborn. The transition from the bassinet to the crib is really easy. Unless you are transitioning to a Snoo, which is a completely different scenario, we will be talking about it later.
Being a mother is an entirely different experience from, giving birth to handling the newborn. The journey of newborn’s mom starts with sleepless nights, multiple feeds and trying to sort out what your baby needs every time.
Today I’ll be sharing some of my personal sleep hacks about transitioning your baby to the crib. We also have listed down some essential to-do list for newborn mom advised by expert pediatrics sleep consultant.
FOCUS ON THE FIRST NAP zzzZZZ
Please start with the first nap of the day as it is the easiest as they are ready to go to sleep. I wish I could say that your baby had been sleeping throughout the night, which is not true.
As soon as they wake up in the morning after an hour or two, they feel this “sleep pressure”. There’s a cloud of sleepiness over their head, and they’re really tired, so now it’s time for their first nap and try to put them into the crib.
You can help your newborn fall asleep in the crib as newborns can’t help themselves to sleep. It will help them to get used to sleeping in the crib. A newborn has 4 to 5 nap in a day. But don’t expect them to have all of their naps in the crib or bassinet.
Do follow the same protocol method to get your newborn sleeping. You can just order your newborn to sleep in their crib. Try to enjoy most of the newborn sleeps on you.
5 BASIC NEWBORN SLEEP CHECKLIST
- These 5 basic key checkpoints for newborn sleep solves to hurdles towards better, longer and quality sleep for your child.
Your newborn’s room needs to be as dark as possible.
- ✔ DARK ROOM TEST: Go to your newborn’s room, close all the blinds, curtain and turn off all the lights. Sit down and raise your hand, if you can still see your hand. Its not darker enough, your child’s room need to be 1000% dark. For doors just put a fitted sheet.
- Here you might think but my newborn kid naps at daycare, but those nap are not quality sleep. They are short 20 minutes or 30 minutes naps.
- Quality sleep is critical to newborn’s growth, brain development and good mood. That’s why as adults we have eye masks to sleep with.
Below are the best four Blackout solutions for newborn nursery, recommended by pediatric sleep consultant.
WHITE NOISE MACHINE
- ✔ WHITE NOISE TEST: Some toddlers are used to of listening to lullabies, poems or relaxing music while sleeping. Such toddlers are sleeping champions.
- But if your toddlers sleep is not proper, then continuous rhythmic white noise is recommended to maintain the sleep flow because there are no track changes, no dead spaces as they can wake up the baby.
- Stopping white noise is a natural way to wake up your toddler.
- I would therefore highly recommend Marpac Dohm Classic
BE CONSCIOUS ABOUT ROOM SAFETY
- ✔ ROOM SAFETY TEST: Make sure the monitor cord is not hanging on the wall, no toys or distractions are hanging or near or in your under 12 month baby’s crib
- Your baby does not need any distractions near, above or in bassinet or crib before or during their naps.
NO SLEEP PROPS
- ✔ NO SLEEP PROPS CHECK: Your baby is used to of any sleep props like pacifier, dockatot, blankets, pillow.
- You don’t need to attach you toddler with any sleep props as a go to sleep cue.
GO TO SLEEP CUES
- ✔ SLEEP CUE TEST : Your toddler might be used of getting a bottle of milk before sleep, or some cues before or after a sleep cycle.
- You need to recognize those cues and the patterns of sleep, so you can induce them for more better baby naps.
BEST NEWBORN SLEEP ROUTINE
Hello, sleep deprived parents of newborns. You might be right now struggling to adjust with your newborn routine. Your newborn might be upset for not getting nap time, or enough feed. You might seeking for the right tools to deal with new parent lifestyle.
Your newborn can’t handle to be awake more than 45 to 60 minutes. That’s why newborn need to have first nap after 60 minutes in the morning after being fed. Newborn babies need to sleep for 14 to 16 hours out of 24 hour in a day.
There is no certain duration guaranteed that how long newborn naps will be, some are long whereas some are short. Ther shorter are called Junk naps, the lower the quality of sleep. Newborn don’t get exhausted , they just need more and more nap. As they are in the hyper-growth phase of life, all they will do in their routine is eat, sleep, poop, little play time and repeat.
If your newborn is awake for more than 45 to 60 minutes window then it is the start of “Witching Hours”. Now the baby will be screaming, cranky and crying which causes colic and acid reflux as well. Four months old can stand 75 minutes of awake time, whereas five months old can stand awake for two hours.
You have to learn to roll and rotate between awake windows and nap times with your newborns. The nap time of 16 hours is spread through out the day. Newborns can distinguish between day time and night time till 8 or 9 weeks. You can take these baby steps to ensure better nap time, but there is no confirmed linear progress.
WHAT ARE WAKE WINDOWS? THE KEY TO SUCCESSFUL NAP TIME SCHEDULE FOR NEWBORNS
You should know how long your baby can sleep as it is the key to map time. Many parents face a sudden change in their baby’s nap time. You should understand your newborn’s wake windows. You can make a routine starting from 0 to 5 years old.
Some days eat, play, sleep does not works. Baby from newborn to three months have a wake window around 45 minutes to 60 minutes, four months old has 1.5 hours wake window time and five months are awake for 2 or 2.5 hours. You need to repeat awake, sleep and feed schedule with your baby.
For six to seven months old, you can have 2 to 3 nap time carries on until your baby is 12 to 14 months old and gets one nap time only. Keeping a track of awake time or nap time is critical for your little one’s health.
Know your little ones awake window for longer nap times. While the wake time give them awake with different activities like playtime with toys, interactions with grandparents, or taking out on errands. Keep them awake, engaged and ignore pre-nap otherwise the whole schedule will be disturbed.
HOW TO FIX SHORT NAP TIME OF YOUR BABY?
Have you done all the checks and still not able to get your baby to lie down for quality long nap time?
Implement few small changes and in snap all your problems will be solved. Check onto top three factors, first one is the environment of your baby, counting on the awake times, and next thing is feeding schedules.
It ok for the baby to have a short nap for babies under four months. But for four months and above, do they have a feed before nap. You need to fill the awake time void with a bottle or nursery solids. It helps to have better quality naps.
IDEAL BEDTIME ROUTINE FOR NEWBORNS
Ideal bedtime routine ensures reduced wake time of your new born. Proper bedtime routine is foundation to your newborn’s nighttime sleep. Ideal bedtime routine needs to be consistent, systematic, structured because the newborn is expecting to sleep any time sooner according to the regular the sleep cues.
THINGS TO AVOID FOR IDEAL BEDTIME ROUTINE
- No blue light exposure before three to two hours of bedtime.
- Avoid feeding solid an hour before bedtime hours.
- Limited bedtime locations. Prep your baby to get some sleep by limiting themselves into their room.
- Avoid direct sunlight areas.
- Bathing your baby before sleep is an enjoying and hygienic experience.
- Naked Feed Time: After bath, get your newborn into diapers. Wrap in towel and feed them.
- Now put some baby body powder and lotions.
- Read them bed time story.
- Observe your baby cues for sleepiness. As soon as you see them whinning, yawning and sleepy, end the story and start the cues for sleep.
- Switch off all the lights, turn on sound machines and double check for room safety.
NEW BORN SLEEPING METHODS
You are new parent or soon going to be and have heard about sleep training methods for new born. We have polar methods from extreme cry it out loud sleep methods to no cry sleep methods depending on your baby.
Like diet plans, sleeping methods are also planned and customized depending upon family and where you fall under sleep method spectrum.
EXTINCTION METHOD (CRYING IT OUT LOUD METHOD)
If your baby cries for about five to ten minutes and goes to sleep. Well, thats not a proper cry out sleep method.
The real cry out method is you put your baby down in the crib, close the door, you have zero interaction with your baby, and let them extinct their selves to sleep, it means they cry until exhausted to sleep.
Some pediatricians recommend crying out method to 8 weeks methods, which is kind of cruel because the newborns are still adapting to learn the difference between day and night time.
FERBER METHOD
According to Ferber sleep training method says you put your baby into the crib, get your baby drowsy, check onto your baby after frequent interval of increased time intervals. It is an inconsistent method to check on your baby.
CHAIR METHOD (CAMP METHOD)
You simply put a chair next to your baby’s crib or bed and help them sleep.
WAKE & SLEEP METHOD
It is one the irrational and practically difficult sleeping method. You nurse you baby into the crib and let them sleep. Then after a while you wake them up and allow them to sleep again. To be honest, practically i have no clue how it will happen.
You poke or tickle your baby in middle of good nap time so they can manage to sleep again?
NO CRY METHOD
The no cry method works by shifting and adjusting between wake up window and nap time. It takes 2 to 3 months to observe gradual results to notice your baby sleep by themselves by bedtime without crying out.
Basically the capacity to be awake for limited time period. The wake window time varies from newborns to four months old, seven to nine months old.
Well, the alternative sleep session a baby must have between few awake windows are called the “Nap Time”, whereas the sleep time is the continuous longer sleep session with four five feeding times only.
You have to adapt to your baby’s behavior, learn to observe the cues of your baby, train your baby little by little when to eat, when to sleep and when to prepare for bedtime.
Editor’s final words
I understand being a parent can be exhausting and sometimes you will want to quit but it is really worth all the trouble, efforts and sleepless nights.
First of all congratulations to the new parents and Best of luck to the soon to be parents. It a great memorable journey of one’s life seeing you baby coming out of you, a part of you. After first day of childbirth watching them grow day by day. How can I forget the cherished moment when my daughter said her first word mama and took her first steps towards me.
