Sue and I are in the middle of crib training with our second son Tucker. It has gone very well so far and I thought I’d blog about it because my readers have been asking for more information on the subject.

We sleep with our kids in our bed until they are eating enough and have no need to nurse at night, so our transition to the crib is mostly about having them become accustomed to falling asleep without the boob. The amount of naptime and night time nursing after six months of age accelerated with both our sons because mom became a pacifier. The result? She was sleep-deprived and everyone suffered.

I believe we waited too long to transition Jaken to the crib, but my wife disagrees, so we are doing it with Tucker a week before his first birthday, when we are both on board. I believe the magic time is after six months when they are ready nutritionally, but before they can stand up on their own. This avoids the standing-in-the-crib-crying, out-of-sleeping-position deal.

The first step in our plan to move to the crib was to pull mom out of the equation for the first three nights. Sue slept in another room. I lay in the crib as a support to our son when he was trying to fall asleep. Picture that—I’m over six feet tall.

The first night he had two, one-hour crying sessions, but I was right there with him, and he seemed mad (where’s my boob?!), not hurt. This, by far, was the worst night.

We nursed him once the first night out of the crib in a rocking chair, and Sue put him back in the crib while he was still awake. The next day the naps went super well, and I pulled myself out of the crib that night and supported him from the outside (rubbed his back, sang, put him back down). We were prepared to wait three nights for this step, but he was open to it sooner.

Based on how well he was doing on the third night, we brought Sue back into the bedroom and had her there while I supported him and she helped a little. He escalated a bit with her there, but got used to it in one night. The step we’re on now has happened in the last two days. We have allowed him to fall asleep for naps and at night with very minimal support (mostly from Sue). We have been leaving the room, coming back in and putting him back down—no singing or rubbing his back. This step is going so well we are ready to let him do it on his own. I’m sure it will go like the rest of the steps have with minimal escalation and a quick adjustment (one or two day time frame).

Our goal was to teach him how to self soothe and fall asleep on his own. We wanted to achieve the goal gradually, with as little trauma to Tucker as possible. Then Sue and I (especially Sue) could get the sleep we needed. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz! We are basically at that point now, and we will transition him into his own room within the next week.

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask them in the comments.