The big transition...

Woe is me, Jackson seems to be rapidly outgrowing his hammock, and I need to start thinking about transitioning him to his cot.

Here are my worries!

1) We may just have got into a bad habit of bouncing him to settle him - not only to initially go to sleep (only sometimes) but often to get him to make it into another sleep cycle. Obviously, can't bounce a cot! So I am concerned sleep is going to go out the window.

2) He's a kicker, which means moving to a sleeping bag, but that also means unswaddling him. I am terrified of this!!! He has, from day one, had a major fascination with his hands. They always have to be grasped or doing something when they are free, which is a big distraction. The only time I have unswaddled him overnight, he woke 5 times gagging on his hands.

3) We have "curtains" for the hammock, to make it darker (a Plunket suggestion when we had sleep trouble), but his room with the cot is very light and I am not sure how he will sleep with it being so light. We're in a rental property, so can't put any blackout blinds up.

4) The hammock has been great for his reflux, but he always spills if lying flat. I figure that's probably the easiest one to manage of all.

5) Does this spell the end of the Dream Feed? I always hear Jackson stir and pre-empt any drama by feeding straight away. This means his night feeds are done in 10 minutes. Will be different when I am responding to his noise on a baby monitor.

I would really LOVE some tips in regards to the above. I am guessing I will have to do things gradually. But tips, particularly in regards to unswaddling and moving to a cot, would be REALLY appreciated.

I have love, love, loved the hammock, but feel that the transition is going to be a hard one.

Can you tell I am terrified?!?!?

Edited by kiwilaurie

Thanks TysMummy. Just edited my post about black out curtains - we're in a rental.

For the room invest in some black out shades/curtains. We have them for all our bedrooms and its great for darkening the room and from spotlight they aren't too badly priced.

You can't bounce a cot but you can rock a cot. If you pop a book under one of the top end legs you can rock it if need be, this may also help with the reflux issue

We also put a sheet up and tied it to the sides of the cot to get Daniel used to the open spaces. So it was more open than a basinette but not completely open sides like a cot. Worked well for us.

1) can you try humming to him to get him settled? or stroking his head?
2) keep swaddling (my girls a kicker too - 5and a half months) and when you make up the cot put the sheet and/or blanket on sideways so there's heaps to tuck in firmly.
3) could you buy a thick dark sheet (at least double size) and weight the corners to put over the cot as a shade? or just put sarongs up over the curtains to make it a bit darker in the room.
4) Reflux is easy to manage, just put a couple of good thick books or blocks of wood under the head of the cot to raise it.
5) I dreamfeed still! take note of what time you're giving the dream feed and once you know roghly when, get a good book and curl up in a chair just outside the nursery half an hour before you think bubs will wake (its a great excuse for time out) or just give a dream feed before bubs wakes.

Spotlight have "magic" blinds that you can hang easily without making holes etc, perfect for rentals!

We had Issy in her sleeping bag, we would wrap her (in merino also so she didnt overheat) and then we would pop her in the safety sleep.

You're telling me so many questions!! Ha ha.

We have the Ocean Wonders toy, and the Tomy toy, so will try both of those!! Anything that works and doesn't involve rocking and bouncing would be good!!

As for the dreamfeed, I am more talking about that random one that happens anywhere between 3am and 5am. If it were predictable it would be much easier. I guess I could always set my alarm for 4am and dream feed him then, but then how will I know when he is ready to drop that feed?

Well we have a wee pile of soft toys in the hammock! lol

The rest we have on top of her drawer.

Laurie when I moved Caden to his cot (at 2 months old)I kept him swaddled and put him in the Safe T Sleep, he looked like he was in a straight jacket but he slept well and in the morning his hands were always free anyways lol

At about 4 months or sooner I gave up sawddling him as he hated it by then and he went into a sleep bag and in the safe t sleep. Now he just sleeps any old way in his cot and not in the bag cos its far to hot.

But also, Im just wondering if it may be getting to hot to swaddle him anyways? Maybe try him in the safe t sleep with no swaddle for one night and see how you go.

Yeah, am thinking we'll swaddle and then Safe T Sleep for a while, then slowly release him from the swaddle in order to go into a sleeping bag by winter.

We've got a miracle blanket and it's the only thing that keeps him out of trouble!