Nap Nanny to Crib Transition Journal

Now that Makena is 3 months old, and I have a few trips coming up, I've decided its time to get her out of her Nap Nanny.  A NN is an inclined sleeper that has a 30 degree angled tilt so baby can sleep in an upright position, especially important for babes who have reflux.  It has been a GODSEND.  My aunt actually sent us this as a gift the day Kena was born and we had no idea how much use it would get.  Well, all good things must come to an end.  Since her reflux meds are working and she is getting bigger, its time.  I can't cart the NN on the airplane and I don't want to have to rent one every time I go on vacation.  I've also noticed that it seems like she can't really get comfortable as easily, always trying to roll onto her side.  The problem is, she has NEVER slept on her back.  Ugh, this is not going to be easy.

She loves to be on her back when she's awake, playing on her activity mat.  But I think to her, back lying and sleep have zero association.  The times I have tried to lay her in her crib, its almost as if she has too much freedom, flailing her arms and legs.  The simple solution would be to swaddle her, but I'm choosing not to for 2 reasons.  For one, its just another habit that we will have to break eventually, plus I just think shes too old to start swaddling now.  And two, she hates being strapped down so I'm positive it wouldn't fly.  Luckily we have a swaddle sleep sack that you can keep the arms out so that's my plan.

Night One: Epic Fail

The first problem here was that I decided to start the process spontaneously.  As in, she started fussing at 4am so after I fed her, I took the Nap Nanny, crib bumpers, loose blankets and stuffed animal out of her crib and gave it a go.  Bad idea.  She wasn't in her sleep sack, and I wasn't able to put towels under the mattress to prop her up.  I opened up the jack and jill door and laid down in the guest bed while I spied on her on the video monitor.  She tried so hard to get comfortable but I think she just had too much freedom.  It broke my heart, because I know she just wanted to sleep.  She didn't cry, she actually tried and tried to sleep for over an hour.  When I think she finally fell asleep, I dozed off only to be woken up from her crying what seemed like a few minutes later.  It was random.  I think what happened was she scratched herself in the face and woke herself up, hence the tears.  It was 6am at this point and I was exhausted so I considered that my trial for the first night.  I threw the nap nanny back in and we all slept peacefully for the next 3 hours.

Tonight I will dress her properly and prop up her mattress.  I'm torn between starting this at bedtime, or in the middle of the night.  I'm tempted to try the middle of the night again because that's when shes the most tired and will probably sleep a little better.  The other part of me just wants to go cold turkey and try it at 9pm, bedtime.  AHH I don't know.  I hope tonight goes a little smoother.  I don't expect a miracle, but if she can stay peacefully asleep even for just a few hours, I'll feel like we are getting somewhere. 


Day One: VERY Slowly Making Progress

Well, I'm back.  I signed off earlier debating whether or not I wanted to start the transition at bedtime or in the middle of the night.  I decided, screw it, I'm just gonna start it now.  I laid her down for a nap at 1:45 and she whined with very little seriousness for a good 30 minutes before I think she fell asleep.  We have a video monitor but it was aimed at where she was in the Nap Nanny so I couldn't tell.  She only slept for 25 minutes but hey, I'll take it.  Because her nap was so short (they rarely exceed an hour during the day) she was tired again an hour later.  I laid her down at 3:45 and she was quiet! I checked the video and she basically just laid there quietly for AN HOUR AND 15 MINUTES! She then fell asleep for a whole 15 minutes.  Oy.  Next attempt was at 6:30 pm, she was surprisingly asleep about 10 minutes later.  She slept for a record-breaking 30 minutes, lol!


Night Two: Getting There

Not too bad considering we cut her off cold turkey! She was out by 9pm, shuffled at 10 and 11 but put herself back to sleep, fussed at 1 but put her self back down, ate at 2, cried at 6:30 cause she wiggled down in the crib and was all awkward. I repositioned her and she went back down til 8. Cried so I got her up but she was still so tired so she was only up for 25 minutes. Ate and passed back out from 9-11:30. We usually don't let her sleep that late in fear of it messing up her bedtime but since her sleep was so broken last night I feel like she needed it. Also, she must have been going through a growth spurt.  She usually drinks roughly 24-25 oz per day.  This night she took 7 oz at 8:30pm, 7 oz at 2am, and almost 7 more oz at 8:30am which is almost 20 oz in a 12 hour period. Growing girl!! Making progress!!

Day Two: Almost!

We were out for two of her naps so she slept in the carseat.  The other two naps at home were pretty successful.  The one at 4:30pm was a complete success.  I must have put her down at the perfect time, because not only did she not make a peep, but she passed right out in less than 5 minutes.  Slept for 30-40 minutes.  The last nap of the day wasn't as flawless.  I put her down at 7:10 and she cried/whined until 7:30.

zonked.

 Night Three: Officially a Crib Sleeper!!

After our walk, bath, book and bottle, I set her down at 9:15 and she whined/cried for about 25 minutes.  We resisted the urge to go in there and by 9:45 she was zonked out and did not move or make any noise until 4:50am. WOOO HOO!!!!! She power ate 7 oz and went right back down until we woke her up at 9:15.  And there you have it.  Our baby now sleeps in her crib.

SO GLAD I stuck to it, even when I was completely exhausted after the first night.  Now I can stress and worry so much less when it comes to traveling.  One point for Mom (and Dad!)!!