by Samantha J. Adkins

Created on: June 19, 2009

Before you start putting a lot of time and effort into keeping your child in her crib at night, you must determine if you actually believe in keeping your child in her crib. In the past, it was mostly assumed that children in North America would sleep in a crib until the age of two or so. Now that we have more knowledge of other cultures and ways of raising children, it has become more popular and prevalent for children to sleep with their parents or with a sibling until they no longer want to.

If you are married, it is also important to determine if crib sleeping is important to your spouse. If parents disagree on where their child will sleep, one parent may inadvertently sabotage the efforts of their partner by bringing their child to bed or allowing their child to sleep in their arms when they are awake.

If you and your spouse are agreed that your child will sleep in a crib until a certain age, you may begin some or all of the following techniques.

1. Have your child do all of his sleeping in a crib. This includes daytime sleeping. When your little one falls asleep, place him in his crib. Once your baby is a little older, do a miniature version of your nighttime routine: read a book in your child's room, sing her a song and place her gently into her crib. Of course, sometimes your child will fall asleep in the car. When this happens, try to get home if possible and transfer him into his crib. If you can't get home, don't worry. Just aim for a nap in bed the next time.

2. Have a sleeping routine. Until about nine months, a baby will usually have a nap in the morning, another in the afternoon and go to bed for the evening between seven and eight o'clock. If you want to have some time for yourselves in the evening, you will have to time your baby's naps to obtain an early bed time. A nine a.m. nap for an hour followed by a one p.m. nap for two to three hours will give your baby time to get sleepy for an earlier bedtime. After nine months up until two or three years, one nap should be all that is necessary at about one o'clock in the afternoon, unless your child is sick. Before bed, give your child a relaxing bath followed by a light snack, a bedtime story and song with a little cuddling before bed. If you are nursing, do one last feeding before you put your baby down for the night.

3. Guard your child's sleep. If you and your spouse are committed to having your child sleep in her crib, place her crib in a room that is quiet and calm. If you have older children, plan quiet activities for them to do when your little one is sleeping. Plan to be home for nap times and bed times to establish a good routine.

4. Relax! If your child is sick or away from home, you can expect to have some difficulties having her sleep in her crib. Don't worry if she sleeps with your once in a while, just go back to your routine as soon as you can.

It may seem that your baby will never sleep without you, but before you know it, she will be a teenager who won't let you into her room! Enjoy your child while you can and hopefully these tips will give you the rest you need too.

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