No one parenting style is the same due to cultural or religious differences, along with generational divides and personal beliefs. As long as the child is happy and loved, no style is better or worse than the other. That said, new parents that use bassinets for night-time sleeping often worry about how to properly make the transition to using a crib.
While parenting might be rewarding, it certainly is not easy with the sheer number of things you have to think about or do seeming nigh overwhelming at times. So, let us try to at least provide some helpful advice when it comes to bedtime transitions.
When to Transition from Bassinet to Crib
Most parents will, at some point, wonder when is the right time to change from a bassinet to a crib, and while there is no definite age (due to differences in sizes, etc.), there are some questions and observations you can use as indicators.
The first is to ask yourself whether the baby looks too cramped or tight when sleeping in the bassinet. This is a great area to first examine, as this gives you some physical proof that the baby is quickly outgrowing their bassinet.
Linked to this question, depending on whether your baby was larger than average at birth, the time frame in which they can sleep in a bassinet might also be less than other smaller babies. Finding out that your baby can sit up or is unable to roll over in a bassinet are also good indicators that it is time to transition to a crib.
Physical Changes
Most of these physical changes generally occur around 3 to 4 months of age. Now, this addresses some of the physical reasons for when to make the switch. But what about when it comes to the more emotional and cognitive side of things? How do you prepare your baby for the change?
One of the most complex parts of childrearing is the fact that babies are not the most flexible or accommodating to changes in their routines. It is for this reason that you do not have to worry about making the whole change all at once. You can start out small by first getting your baby used to their new crib by putting them in it during the day or for naps.
Once you have done this for a couple of days or a week, you can try moving the crib into your bedroom (space allowing) and placing the baby in there for the night. By this point, your child will hopefully have become used to sleeping in the wider crib, making the change less jarring later on.
When to Move Your Baby To Their Own Room
Now we know when to swap the bassinet for the crib and how to start getting the baby used to it, but what about when to move the baby out of your (the parents’) room? The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that newborn babies sleep in the same room as their parents until they are around 6 months old, which, as mentioned earlier, is close to the general age when you can start swapping a bassinet for a crib.
Once your baby is used to a crib and old enough, you can start moving them into the nursery and gradually get them used to sleep on their own. After moving the crib back into the nursery and putting the baby down for the night, you will have the choice of two options on how to proceed.
You can start by placing a chair or couch next to the crib during bedtime and staying nearby for a few hours so that the baby is not overwhelmed by the new room and changes to their routine. Each night you can gradually move the chair further away from the crib until you are no longer in the same room.
For parents that are too worried to leave their baby alone for a full night, you could consider moving in a mattress into the nursery for a night or two. This will also help reassure them that there is nothing wrong with their new environment.
Why Use a Staging Technique?
The benefit of using a staging technique such as this one is that it not only familiarizes your baby with new items, environments, and stimuli but that it also lessens the impact of change. Babies do not deal well with changes, especially big ones.
For this reason, it is always recommended to break up the significant changes into multiple smaller changes where possible. The slow introduction of the crib for daytime naps, to evening bedtimes, to eventually moving into the nursery is much easier for your baby to experience versus doing it all at once.
There are also a few other things you can do to make the experience more manageable for both your baby and you. The first is to purchase a baby monitor so that you can hear them throughout the night and not lose any sleep by worrying if you are missing something or are needed.
As for the baby, you can purchase dimming lights for the nursery so that the baby does not have to sleep in complete darkness or with bright lights overhead. Adding to that, many parents also recommend playing white noise audio in the room to help calm and lull the baby to sleep. These are just some of the things you can do to give you both some peace of mind and reassurance.
Final Thoughts
Parenting can often look and feel like a series of unending hurdles that you and your partner need to navigate through, which is why it is important to seek help from others when you are approaching a new milestone. Hopefully, this article was able to offer such help, giving you a good understanding of how to handle the whole bassinet to crib and sleeping alone experience. Just remember that transitions take time, so take a deep breath and remember that you can do it!