Sleep is an obsession for many new parents, and it's easy to understand why: You're not getting nearly enough, and all the same yous take to remember virtually it all the fourth dimension as you schedule naps and hope that (just this once) yous all sleep through the night.

And since babies change then much in the first year, it seems like equally shortly as you've got naps and nights nailed downwards, your baby outgrows her bassinet — and all of a sudden it'due south time to recollect about those sleeping arrangements all over again.

The transition from a bassinet to a crib may seem daunting, but don't lose whatever sleep over information technology. Hither are the answers to parents' most frequently asked questions about making the switch.

How long should my babe sleep in a bassinet and what age should I move her to a crib?

Many newborns commencement their sleeping lives in a bassinet or other bedside sleeper in their parents' room. This is user-friendly since you can comfort and feed your infant in the eye of the night without shuffling downwards the hall in the nighttime. Plus, information technology follows the American Academy of Pediatrics' advice that babies sleep in the aforementioned room as their parents — but non in the same bed — for the first six months and mayhap up to a year.

If yous're wondering at what age a baby stops sleeping in a bassinet, there isn't a hard-and-fast rule. It depends on a combination of your particular bassinet'south weight limit and your kid'southward evolution (more than on that below).

Not a bassinet fan? Newborns can certainly sleep in a regular crib from day one. No thing what baby bed y'all choose in those early weeks and months, only be sure that information technology meets the latest crib safety guidelines from the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).

Where Should Infant Slumber?

How can I tell it'due south fourth dimension to move my babe out of her bassinet and into a crib?

When your baby moves to a crib depends on several different factors. Hither are some questions to enquire yourself that can help you lot decide when to make the switch:

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How big is your baby?

Bassinets and other bedside sleepers are bully for newborns, but they ordinarily come up with weight limits. Some are as low every bit x pounds (which might only get you through the showtime month), though nigh tin can hold a 20-pound baby.

Check the instruction manual or the manufacturer's website to find the weight limit for yours. If you can't find the weight limit, err on the side of caution and move your footling 1 to a crib when she hits 15 pounds.

Does she look cramped?

Fifty-fifty if your baby hasn't reached the weight limit of her bassinet, it might be getting just a piddling too cozy. Take a await the next fourth dimension you lot put her downward. Does she seem cramped?

If her head or feet are bumping into the sides or ends of the bassinet, or she'due south waking up very often (or very all of a sudden), it might be time to give her a little more space.

Can your baby roll over or sit up in her bassinet?

Hit new milestones is exciting, but the more than your babe can do, the riskier it is to sleep in a bed made for infants. As with cribs, lowering the mattress before a baby tin can sit is a smart safety move, so use the same principle to bassinets. In fact, bassinets are ofttimes shallower than cribs, so a baby who'due south rolling or about to sit down up could flip herself out.

How practice I transition my infant from sleeping in a bassinet to a crib?

Some babies likely won't care much about the switch — they volition happily sleep wherever you lot put them. Just if yous're worried the change will crusade your trivial one to accept trouble sleeping, here are few ideas to aid with the transition to a crib:

  • Make the switch in stages. Permit her nap in the crib during the twenty-four hours for a couple of weeks until she gets used to it. Then complete the transition so she'south sleeping in her crib all the time.

  • Create a bedtime routine.If you haven't already established some night rituals (bath, book, snuggles, sleep), now's the time. All babies thrive on a solid bedtime routine, so as you lot repeat these activities each eve, they'll start to betoken to her that her crib — and sleep — await.

  • Aforementioned room, different bed. Transitioning your baby to a crib might be easier if it involves one switch at a fourth dimension, and so consider moving her crib into your room for a few nights. Then in one case she becomes adjusted to sleeping in a bigger space, you lot can move information technology back to its proper location.

  • Sleep in babe's room. Some other style to ease your baby into the idea of sleeping in her own infinite is to become with her. No, we're not suggesting you hop into the crib (that'southward dangerous for anybody and it would likely break), merely if there's a bed or a couch you tin sleep on or if yous have an air mattress, spend a few nights bunking with baby.

  • Linger for a while.Don't just drop and dash — requite your baby a risk to settle down and get comfy while you're still in the room. One tactic to endeavour is the chair method of slumber training. Have a seat or sit down on the floor side by side to the crib every bit she starts to doze, and and then motility a little farther away the next night — and the nighttime afterwards that — until you're out the door and she'south happy on her own.

  • Add some comfort. Until your baby is 12 to 18 months old, you're not supposed to put things (like blimp animals or pillows and blankets) into the crib, simply yous can make the room more comfy past dimming the lights and turning on some white noise.

Don't permit the thought of transitioning your baby from your room to her own crib keep you up at night. It may take some time to adjust, but ultimately this change should be good for the entire family. Your baby learns to sleep in her own space — and you tin repossess your room once again.