According to a study conducted in 2021, 72% of one-year-old babies sleep through the night, dispelling the rumor that most children will sleep through the night before they've turned six months old. If you're a parent, one thing you know you need is rest.
But, this can be challenging to do when you're sharing your bed with a wiggling baby. Are you wondering how to get your baby to sleep in a crib?
We've created a guide to help you sleep-train your baby and take back your bedtime routine without too much fuss.
1. Make Sure They're Ready
The first step in sleep training your baby is to ensure they're ready. Ensuring your baby is ready has two meanings.
The first is to determine if your baby is ready to make the transition from their to a crib. Bassinets can be kept close to the bed as many of them have a side you can connect directly to the mattress.
If you find your child begins to fuss when you put them in a crib, it shows they might not be ready to be far away from you. If this is the case, you can always give it a couple more weeks and try again.
The second meaning is to ensure your baby is ready to go to sleep.
A newborn baby has difficulty differentiating day from night and will need cues to determine when it's time to go to bed and when to wake. You can help their internal alarm clockwork itself out by establishing a bedtime routine.
Start the routine an hour or so before your baby begins to show signs of being tired. This way, you can take your time and won't have to rush through the process, disturbing your baby's wind-down process.
A bedtime routine can include playing a certain lullaby, soothing music, white noise, or perhaps reading a favorite bedtime story. To help you stay consistent, a smart baby monitor like Pixsee can do all of these for you. For more tips on creating a sleep routine, be sure to read our Newborn Sleep Schedule resource guide.
2. Create the Designated Space
After determining if your baby is ready to transition from their bassinet to the crib, it's time to prepare the space where the crib will be set up. The room should provide a calming atmosphere that will promote your baby from falling asleep.
Don't forget to make the room cool, but not freezing. When babies overheat, they're prone to waking more during the night, and it can be dangerous because babies aren't able to regulate their body temperature in the same way that we as adults can. If you have a smart baby monitor like Pixsee, it can monitor the room's temperature and humidity and alert you if it gets too warm.
Preparing a designated space is best for naptime and bedtime. While most people will tell you to be quiet when you're attempting to put a baby to sleep, we encourage you to make noise as usual.
If your baby gets used to everything being silent when they're learning to go to sleep, they will wake easily throughout the night whenever they hear the slightest noise. This doesn't mean you have to be loud, but you shouldn't stop cooking or watching television because your baby is asleep in the next room.
3. Create a Consistent Sleep Routine
If you don't have a bedtime or naptime routine, now is the time to create one. If you attempt to put your baby in their crib and think they will go to sleep, you're mistaken.
Start implementing a routine so your baby understands when the chain of events starts at the end, it's time to go to bed or take a nap. For example, you could start with a bath for your bedtime routine.
After the bath, you could play soothing lullabies while applying lotion to your baby's skin. Then read them some baby books about going to sleep as you feed or nurse them before placing them in the crib.
Put your baby down drowsy, but not completely asleep or awake. By doing this, your baby will begin to learn how to soothe themselves and finish falling asleep.
4. Place Baby "Butt Down"
You've created the routine, and now every time you place your baby in the crib, they jolt themselves awake. The best baby advice we have to offer is to put your baby in the crib's butt first.
When you place them in the crib butt first, it frees up your hand. This hand can be used to rub and soothe your baby while you're moving your hand from behind their head.
If your baby begins to wake up, you can rub their belly or pat it to put them back to sleep rhythmically.
Pixsee has a few helpful features to help you get your baby back to sleep as well. This includes a smart music box to play soothing music when they start to stir, white noise to help lull them back to sleep, and a two-way intercom so you can verbally soothe your baby without physically being in the room to disturb them.
5. Stick to It and Embrace Setbacks
Even with the best of intentions, you're going to face some resistance from your child, and you've got to stick to it. In the beginning phase, you're going to be tired, but if you break early, you're going to have to start the process over again.
Remain firm in placing your baby into their crib, and eventually, they'll expect it and go to bed without a fuss. Be sure to download our helpful Baby Sleep Tracker so you can monitor how well your baby is doing and ensure they are getting enough sleep throughout the day and night.
Final Thoughts on Getting Your Baby to Sleep in a Crib
Hopefully, these five tips will prove helpful as you explore strategies for how to get your baby to sleep in a crib. If you struggle, please know you're not alone! It's a common developmental milestone for babies and some progress faster or slower than others.
To help support you and your baby on the quest for better sleep, give yourself the gift of peace of mind with Pixsee. You'll be able to track their sleep habits, monitor their day and night with crystal clear images and video, and enjoy additional safety features such as covered face detection, area detection, and alerts for when a baby cries or startles.
To learn more about all the ways Pixsee can make your life easier, visit our Pixsee Shop and Amazon online store to learn about the other features that make Pixsee the perfect parenting companion.
