Crib Training

The weekend that Abby turned ten weeks old, we decided that it was time to transition her from sleeping in her Rock 'N Play to her crib. She was starting to get a little flat spot on her head (although it wasn't concerning to her pediatrician at her two month check up) and there are a lot of reviews online for the Rock 'N Play about babies getting flat spots after using the sleeper for an extended amount of time. Abby also just didn't seem particularly comfortable sleeping in it any more. We still swaddle her in the miracle blanket, and when I would go in to feed her in the middle of the night, she was often really scrunched up and had somehow managed to wiggle herself really far down into the Rock 'N Play. Prior to transitioning her to her crib, I had tried getting Abby to take a few naps in there. The longest she would sleep in her crib was an hour or so, which made me pretty nervous for the big move! In the RNP, she was giving us a solid 5-6 hour stretch of sleep every night, and I was hoping that moving her to the crib wouldn't change that. We started on a Friday night, so that if she was up a lot more than usual Dave could help me out and not be a total zombie for work the next day. Here is how things went for the first few nights in her crib...

Night One
7:30pm: Bedtime
7:30pm - 9pm: Fussed and cried off and on. Dave and I both don't agree with CIO (cry it out) at such a young age, so we never let her cry more than a minute before going in to soothe her, put her binky back in, rock her, etc.
9pm: Finally asleep
9pm - 3am: 6 hour stretch of sleep, yay!
3am: Up to eat
3:30am - 6:30am: Up fussing/crying every thirty minutes. Ugh.
6:30am - 8am: Sleep

Overall, not a terrible night, but certainly a regression from how well she had been sleeping in the RNP. Saturday we all ended up taking a three hour nap together in our bed since Abby wouldn't nap in her crib for more than 45 minutes (one infant sleep cycle). I seriously considered letting her sleep in her RNP that night, but Dave said we should try the crib again and just be consistent.

Night Two
8pm: Asleep in crib (we usually aim for 7:30pm but she went down a little later that night)
8pm - 4am: 8 hour stretch of sleep!!! Her longest stretch ever.
4am: Up to eat
4:30am - 7:30am: Sleep

Much better! Things were looking up! That Sunday was Easter and she napped in the car on the way to and from Dave's parents house, plus took a two and a half hour nap in her RNP at their house. She was tired!

Night Three
8pm: Asleep in crib (again, we aim for earlier but we were at Dave's parents house and got on the road later than anticipated)
8pm - 5am: 9 hour stretch of sleep! Wahoo!
5am: Up to eat
5:30am - 8am: Sleep

An amazing night! This past week Abby has been sleeping incredibly well. She had one night where she was up a bit earlier in the middle of the night to eat, so then she woke up one more time to eat that same night. Otherwise she has been consistently sleeping between 7-9 hours, waking to eat, and then going back down for 3-5 more hours! I have to say that I LOVED the Rock 'N Play while she was a newborn. I honestly think it helped her to become the great sleeper that she is right now. From three weeks on she pretty much consistently slept 5-6 hours straight unless she was going through a growth spurt. I'm also SO pleased with how easily she transitioned to the crib! She seems to love it now. We barely rock her before putting her down, and we always put her in her crib while she is drowsy but still awake. She falls asleep on her own, which is incredibly important. This entire week she has also been napping really well in her crib. Almost every afternoon she has taken a 3 - 4 hour nap! Amazing! Last night she also had her longest stretch of sleep yet - she went to bed at 7:30pm without a peep and didn't wake up to eat until 5am. Abby really is such a good baby! Plus, with how well rested she has been lately, she's in such a good mood (most of the time!) while she is awake. We took her to lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings yesterday and she was quite content to sit and look around until she finally got tired and fell asleep. She's such a cutie and is chunking up nicely! She got pinkeye this week so we had to take her to the doctor, and we found out that she is 10lbs 11oz, so she is still gaining weight really well! Here are some more recent pictures of Lil Miss :)