From Bed Sharing (Co sleeping) to Cot- Making the Transition
Monday, October 20th, 2008
In the recent post ‘Controlled Crying – Naptimes and Cosleeping’ I explained how the Ferber technique wasn’t suited for families with a co-sleeping arrangement due to the very nature of the method. We had a question come into the site from a lady who wanted to know the easiest way of making the transition from a co-sleeping arrangement to a cot in the baby’s own room and how soon after she could start using Ferber. I explained how the transition could be made a little easier and in this post I will continue where I left off.
I have spoken to many parents, with first hand experience, who warn others not to adopt a co-sleeping arrangement as baby will never take to the cot. They go on to explain that babies presented with the transition will scream blue murder until you eventually give in to the relentless bombardment and accept them into your bed with the promise to yourself that you’ll be tougher on them the next night!
I’m not going to get into the whole co-sleeping or cot debate for newborns as we have covered this extensively in previous posts. This post is about helping those who are already in the predicament above.
So what do you do when you are co-sleeping and your baby reaches the age where you feel she should be in a cot in her own room? The answer, I believe, is to take things very gradually. The problem is that your baby has got so used to sleeping next to you that if she suddenly finds herself plonked in unfamiliar surroundings, with no sign of you, she is unlikely to be in the frame of mind to sleep! She’ll be worried that she can’t see, touch, smell or hear you next to her anymore. This will undoubtedly result in some serious screaming and crying out. In my opinion, this is an alarming and stressful experience to put your baby through and it certainly should not be attempted using the Ferber technique.
