When my husband and I had our first child, there were a lot of things we learned. One of those things being that the recommended times for things for your baby is truly a recommendation. Every baby is so different.
Our son began sleeping through the night at 6 weeks old. So we asked our pediatrician when it would be good to move him into his own room at night since he was sleeping such long stretches already. Turns out, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics, it’s best to wait until your baby is 6-12 months old before transferring them to their own room. She proceeded to tell us she moved her son earlier than that and the benefits to doing so. She reassured us that it was okay to move him at this time.
We moved our son into his own room around that time (6 weeks). We moved our daughter at 3 months old. Here’s why we did this earlier than
“recommended” for both babies:
- More space for them. I have big babies who grow very quickly and are super chunky. I love this, but it does mean their bassinets get pretty small fairly quickly. I try to put myself in their shoes and think about what it would be like laying in something like that with such little space all around me & I wouldn’t love it.
- Everyone will sleep better. You & your husband will sleep better and your baby will also sleep better! This was the benefit my pediatrician shared with us. When your baby is in your room, you tend to try and be extra quiet to not wake them. But, it’s inevitable that you’ll make noise because it’s your space- your alarm in the morning, looking for clothes in the closet, talking, etc. Our bedroom is really small so we all felt slightly cramped. It is also proven that babies are more likely to self-soothe back to sleep if they wake up in the night and they’re in their own room.
- Sleeping through the night. I’m blessed with having very good sleeping babies & I find that once my babies are sleeping through the night, they deserve to be in their own room to have that sleep be even better quality. And once they’re sleeping through the night, you’re not having to wake to feed them by leaving your bedroom to go to their room, so there really isn’t a big reason not to.
Again, every baby is different and different timelines will apply. And there really isn’t a super clear “you have to move them to their crib at X age.” As long as you’re doing what’s best and safest for YOUR baby, that’s all that matters. But here are the 3 reasons why we move our babies into their crib at a younger age.
Tia Marie 🙂
tia marie 