when to move baby to own room!???

[jennyh]

Hi

We have a 2 month old who currently sleeps in the moses basket in our bedroom. She will be outgrowing the basket in the next few weeks so we built her cot today in her room. The issue is how comfortable I feel about moving her out of our room and I wanted to get some opinions...

The problem is that the cot wouldnt fit well in our bedroom, if we moved some bits around and got rid of some stuff we could squeeze it in but I wonder whether it is necessary. I know the FSID people say that the risk of cot death is doubled if the child is moved out before 6 months but I wanted to see what other parents thought and what other people had done? Her room is right next to ours and I can see the bedroom door from my bed and could probably hear her just as well. Does anyone know what the FSID recommendation is based on? - being able to hear them, see them, check on them etc??

Please help!

Jenny

[KateW]

We moved our daughter into her own room at 2 months. She was a really heavy breather (!) when she was tiny and was very snuffly and to be honest, she kept me awake! I felt like I'd regained a bit of sanity after we'd moved her; I could go to bed early and read without worrying about disturbing her. It helped that we have a video monitor which meant I could always see her. It also coincided with her only needing one night feed (after her 11pm feed) as before that, it was easy to quickly feed her and pop her back in her crib. With the next one I might be tempted to move them even earlier. At the end of the day just go with your gut; when you feel ready to move her you'll know.

[jennyh]

Thank you. She makes horrendous straining noises and grunting so I'm already sleeping in the living room!! Not ideal. Similarly she is only feeding once between 11pm and 7am (long may this last!!!)

Thanks for your post! Anyone else?

[jollybaby]

We moved baby jb out at four weeks - she was such a grunty sleeper neither myself or Mr JB could sleep -it sounded like a mini farmyard. Bracing myself for sharing a room with her when we are on holiday next week.

Regarding cot death .. I don't think that anyone really knows how room sharing reduces the risk. I think one theory is that your breathing pattern stimulates their breathing centre.

[Norfolkvillas]

I think we moved our son out of our room somewhere between 2 and 3 months, and I certainly remember it as being a bit of a milestone in terms of 'mummy happiness' - as the above poster said, being able to pad about, and keep the light on, and read in bed, rather than tip-toe-ing about in the dark, really made a big difference. I seem to remember that the interim period involved us putting him down in the moses basket in his cot in his room (next to ours) between 7 and 11pm, then getting him up for the 11pm feed, after which we all went to bed, with him in his moses basket on a stand at the bottom of our bed (I also remember it being very significant that he was at the foot of our bed, rather than on my side). Anyway, from here, it seemed like only a small leap to him spending the whole night in his own room. We all (baby included) slept sooooo much better!

[Pickle]

My son was 6 weeks - the noises he made meant that neither myself or hubby were getting any sleep and it was a nightmare. He went into his "big cot" (a cot bed) and from that night on slept far better than he ever had in the moses basket!

Daughter was about 4 or 5 weeks, similar reaons.

You have to do what's right for you and your family :)

[snowboarder]

We moved no. 1 at 4m as he was too big for the moses basket. We did have a mad couple of weeks when I didn't want to move him so we squeezed a travel cot into our room, but we could barely move! Unfortunately the move to own room coincided with him sleeping even worse than ever and I spent a large proportion of the nights plodding from our room to his - to make things worse there was a short period when I didn't even have a chair in his room for feeding - dunno WHAT I was thinking!!

Baby no. 2 is nearly 2m too and I'm keeping him next to me for feeds etc for as long as poss - we have a bigger bedside type crib this time and I love him being there - he also doesn't actually have a room yet either as we haven't kicked his brother out of the nursery yet...small problem!! Hope he doesn't grow too big too fast...but he is VERY loud and snuffly.

None of my decisions about whether to move either of them really hinged on the SIDS issue - I hope that with no other known 'risks' present (no smoking, sleeping on back etc) and a good monitor things should be fine.

[craigy]

6 weeks for both babies due to the noise factor- so noisy.. But the room was just behind ours and I still hear everything with number 2..

[Fidgetsmum]

12 weeks and 13 weeks for ours. First one was coincided with her sleeping through from 7-7. Little boy took a few weeks longer but it definitely helped that we weren't in the same room with him. I have to say though that the monitor is always on so we could hear any problems. You just have to be comfortable. No point moving baby into another room and then you not sleeping at all for worry!

[womanofdulwich]

2 weeks for us, baby was in a carry cot to begin with, and I put the carry cot in the cot for " naps" to begin with. I think the size of your flat/ house has a bearing!!

[Moos]

Almost from birth for no.1 and 4 months for no.2. Both were / are frequent night feeders, and I much preferred doing night feeds in my own bed having scooped up Twosling from his bedside cot than having to plod next door and try not to nod off in an armchair. That said, Twosling is an even worse sleeper and more frequent feeder than his brother was, and I suspect at least partly because he became accustomed to being frequently disturbed by us (just as we were by him), and lots of co-sleeping. Don't think there's any perfect solution. Do bear in mind that your baby may find the change a bit of a shock, so you might want to plan the move for a time when you have the energy and resources for extra disturbances.

[jennyh]

Thank you everyone! I feel quite comfortable with it but as with everything I read something and then freaked out! She makes such a lot of noise and part of me also wonders whether the transition would be easier if it is made earlier, surely the older the baby gets, the more used to their surroundings they become so the harder to change?? We are already facing a big fight when we get rid of the dummy eventually so I am not sure whether I want that to coincide with changing rooms!! Plus her cot looks SO much more comfy!!! She doesnt nap well during the day so not sure I could pop her in there to get her used to it but I will try. Could also pop something of mine in there so she feels more comfortable, we do her night feed in the dark in there and also change and dress her in there so she does know the room.

Could I also ask...where does everyone stand on the cot bumper debate? We were given one as a present as I know that babies can get their legs and arms caught in the bars but I have read different opinions - either they are dangerous as babies can try and climb on them or press their faces againt them or overheat etc. I hate that parenting comes with so many decisions that make you a little crazy!!! To think that I used to manage a stressful job with a lot tougher challenges!

[charlottep]

I think the FSID has changed its view re cot bumpers and has stopped advising against using them. One evening I did go into my daughter's room to find her sleeping soundly with her head between the bumper and the railings of the cot, and I must admit that I whipped it out straight away and haven't used it since. They look really cute, but in my mind probably not worth it.

[emza78]

My LO is a little night wriggler, to the point where she was waking herself up by hitting head on the railings so after some research I bought these bumpers which are absolutely brilliant:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Airwrap-Side-Protection-System-Sided/dp/B002CPO7BE

She was also a very noisy sleeper so we moved her to her own room at 9 weeks and never looked back - despite the noise she also seems to be a light sleeper if that's possible? So I think we were keeping her awake as much as the other way around in our room, definitely sleeps much better now.

[mima08]

Hiya - just moved LO to cot during nights (12 weeks) and magically he has started sleeping for 5 - 6 hours! So maybe we kept him awake too...Had started by introducing day-time naps in cot and by now, he really loves his cot and feels very safe & comfy there. I use one of the monitors with a motion sensor - his room is next door, so I hear him cry anyway but I feel more csomfortable knowing that there would be an alarm if movement (incl. breathing) stopped for 20sec. It works too when we pick him up and forget to turn monitor off...

Cot bumper debate is still to be addressed: at the moment he is still being lightly swaddled and does not wriggle around too much ...

[jennyh]

Tonight is the first night in own room and cot! She has spent the last few nights waking herself up by hitting the sides of her basket and headbutting the top so no choice really. Can't say I'm happy to move her but I think it's partly because it's a bit if a milestone and it will be really odd not having her next to me :(

We've bought a new monitor and she is in a room right nectdoor but I'll still worry and prob check her constantly! Have tried to get her used to the cot with naps and playtime etc but we'll see how well it goes tonight! She has a bumper on at the moment but is still unable to move around so no fears of her getting wedged behind it. If it gets very hot I guess we'll remove it. Oh the decisions and worries!!!

[nylonmeals]

I so remember the first night that we moved our little one into his own room. I don't think that I slept a wink all night, I had visions of burglers climbing in through his window (which was obviously shut and locked :)) and stealing him away. Totally paranoid but I had to keep checking that he was still there and still fine. Of course he was. Fast asleep beautifully, snoring softly. After that first night of MY sleeplessness it was actually lovely to get our bedroom back to ourselves again and as others have said be able to chat loudly, read and just generally live life normally again.

Sounds like all going ok though Jennyh - Good luck!

[jennyh]

Indeed! 2 nights done and I'm getting more used to it! She seems to sleep much more soundly which doesn't surprise me as the mattress is much nicer. Feels good to have an adult room again. Just need to put up het blackout blind and see how it continues! She's 10 weeks old now and has a pretty decent night routine, I really hope it doesn't all change!!