Why won't my baby sleep in the crib?
Infants often wake up immediately upon being transferred or realize when a parent leaves the room, resetting the entire sleep cycle. This constant disruption leads to severe exhaustion for parents and prevents the baby from staying asleep independently.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1Transferring the baby to the crib after getting them to sleep elsewhere
- 2laying next to the infant until they fall asleep
- 3Contact napping for 2+ hours instead of crib naps
- 4Feeding 1-2 times a night and soothing the baby back to sleep manually
- 5Taking turns with a partner to protect sleep
- 6Using a worn t-shirt over the crib mattress, white noise machines, fans, or slow transition techniques
- 7babywearing
- 8swinging or rocking
- 9walking around with a carrier
- 10leaving waste in the toilet unflushed until morning
- 11using white noise machines to mask household sounds
- 12using a bathroom on a different floor or in the basement
- 13navigating the house carefully to avoid creaky floorboards
- 14Co-sleeping part of the night
- 15Using a pack n play as an approved sleep space
- 16Using a crib as a baby jail until toddlerhood
In their words
Unedited, most upvoted first, each linked to the thread it came from.
“The last few weeks he refuses to go to sleep and fights it any way he can.”source ↗
“the problem is that the second I go to leave the room he notices I’m gone and wakes up and the process restarts.”source ↗
“I’m so tired and I can’t keep doing this. Please help”source ↗
“As the title says, my 5 month old daughter has been a bad sleeper since birth.”source ↗
“Last night was another brutal night of waking every single hour.”source ↗
“My three month old has been co sleeping with me (starts in the bassinet and then ends up in my bed with me halfway through the night. I practice safe sleep) I would like to transition her to a crib or one of those floor beds with the high railings around it.”source ↗
“Did any of you skip the crib? I just don’t see a point in getting one now. I’m thinking the floor beds the move but wanted others opinions?”source ↗
“My 8 month old son absolutely will not sleep in his bed: my wife and I have tried getting him to sleep and then placing him in there.”source ↗
“He's a very light sleeper and just ends up waking himself right up.”source ↗
“He will scream and cry and sometimes bang his head to get our attention and have us pull him out of his crib.”source ↗
“When we put him down he immediately senses and starts screaming and crying.”source ↗
“yesterday I made over 15,000 steps just walking around with the cangaroo because I was afraid to put him down..”source ↗
“and also that baby wearing is super tiring and my feet, hands and lower back hurt already :(”source ↗
“I will admit I have left the odd little brown gift for my wife for this reason.”source ↗
“I couldn't let a poo mellow, but I remember when they were babies being so irrationally angry at any little noise.”source ↗
“We were afraid to move in case we woke her”source ↗
“Common thing for me now past babies bed time, I just bask in the ambiance. Anyone else let it mellow from the pure fear of a waking baby?”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 5How to get a busy toddler to sleep on an overnight flight
- 3How to keep a crawling baby safely contained while doing chores
- 3How to get a baby to sleep after stopping the swaddle
- 2How do you take care of a newborn all alone?
- 3Why won't my baby eat meals or sleep for naps?
- 7Why is my 12 week old waking up every 2 hours?