The Big Move - Bassinet to Crib

Well, the gig is up. We are free to have more children now. Our former "angel baby" is now showing a new side. A wakeful, alert side. He still shows off his contagious smile all hours of the day...and night - he's just no longer in favor of sleeping, or more specifically, going to sleep.

We are now on night 5 of the transition from the bassinet in our room to Asher's crib in his nursery. He's 6 months old now, he is moving around a lot more in his sleep, and he is getting really close to outgrowing his bassinet. So we figured it is like a perfect time to make the move.

Night one went extremely well. Too well. Asher fell right asleep in his crib with no resistance to his 7:30pm bedtime. It may have even been 7:15pm. Out like a light. He woke just briefly around midnight for a bottle, then it was back to bed.

Our iBaby monitor allows us to watch and even take pictures of Asher in his crib on our  mobile devices.

He was then up in the morning at about 7:30am. I fed him and he wasn't having his crib anymore at that point, so I brought him into our room into his bassinet and both of us got another 2 hours of sleep (score!). <-- Daddy left early, early to go fishing and I didn't get to bed until super late - hence the excitement for extra sleep.

The following nights brought the tossing and turning and Asher's hesitance to sleep in his crib. We gave in last night, on night 4, letting him back into our room when he absolutely would not go back to sleep around 2am. Into the bassinet - done. Sleeping baby.  Tonight, if I even walked into the nursery with him he'd start to cry. I finally got him in there by rocking him to sleep with a bottle. I know that's one of the worst things to do, so I do not want to make this into a habit!

I must mention that our schedules are also all out of sorts right now. Circumstances have brought me back to our shop every weekday for at least 3-5 hours. Maybe by next week I'll be able to cut it down to 3 days or so. Sometimes, if I am lucky, Asher naps. But it's unfortunately just not a nap friendly environment there. We have loud machinery running, I am using a tape gun to package up orders... I don't blame him for not being able to get quality rest while we're there.

In addition to this new schedule, our pediatrician recommended we feed Asher breakfast and late lunch rather than breakfast and dinner since he has been having more might wakings since starting solids. Working this new feeding schedule into our new work/home schedule is going to be a little tricky. But we will make it work.

Oh - ALSO - we are supposed to have him sleeping on his stomach now to combat his "flat head". He doesn't like that. So this just adds to the difficulty at sleep time.

I'm not a fan of the "cry-it-out" method for us. So I'm going to have to get creative to get Asher into the habit of sleeping in his crib. I'm going to try to let him play in his crib while I am doing things in his room, i.e. folding laundry, organizing, cleaning, etc. I'm already putting him in there for naps (with much resistance) but I'm sure this will improve in time, as well. When he wakes, I am giving him his bottle in his nursery so that he stays sleepy and hopefully won't think about changing rooms. 

Hopefully by next week I'll have some more perspective for anyone going through the transition from bassinet to crib once we have crossed the threshold. Fingers crossed this process won't take much longer than that!

When and how did you make the transition from bassinet to crib/ How did it go? Any advice?

Pin It Now!

Our New JJ Cole Broadway Stroller

INTRODUCING OUR NEW STROLLER: JJ COLE BROADWAY

We've had a jogging stroller and a car seat caddy stroller and those have both been wonderful, but there have been times where both of those just haven't quite fit the bill. We needed something a bit smaller than the jogging stroller, yet big enough for trips to the mall. We also will be taking a family vacation up in the mountains soon, and will need something that is appropriate for naps on-the-go for a somewhat finicky daytime sleeper. It also would be nice to have a stroller that will grow with the baby so that we don't have to search for yet another one in a few months time.

Hello, JJ Cole Broadway Stroller!

Let's face it, we can't afford a $600+ stroller. Even this was a splurge from our standpoint, but one that will pay for itself over and over again with its many options and capabilities. (At least, that's how I persuaded John to let me buy it!) In all seriousness, it really is going to be with us for the long haul. It can be used from birth to 50lbs and has a 1 year warranty. 

As you can see from the images above, this stroller converts from bassinet/pram to toddler seat in literally seconds. Both options can be either forward facing or backward facing. The handle height is adjustable, which is a must for tall moms and dads. The shade is big enough to provide solace for little sleepers - and it has a little window to check on your precious cargo. The basket below is big enough to actually hold something (not so with our jogger). The frame also fits many car seats including our Chicco Keyfit 30 with an included car seat adapter. Perfect!

There are also optional interchangeable shade colors (so cool!), but we are just using the standard black one that came with it for now. 

I can't wait to take our little guy for a spin - literally! The JJ Cole Broadway stroller features "360 Spinnovation" in that you can spin it around to rear facing or forward facing using the handle. It's as simple as 1-2-3. The review is in the works. We'll be using this on our upcoming vacation in 2 weeks over the 4th of July week, so be on the lookout for many, many more pictures of the stroller in use as well as the lowdown on how it works out for us.

Pin It Now!