My 4 month old has been sleeping with us because she didn't have a bed, but we got her a crib ad she will sleep in it for a few hours but then wants back in bed with us.

I know it's OK for her to cry but I don't want her to wake up everyone else in the house.

What should I do?

She likes to lay in it for a little while but then she wants out.

If your baby wants to sleep with you then let her because one day she won't want to and you will regret not letting her

I know that you say you do not want her to cry, but that may work. You baby has gotten used to sleeping in bed with and may wake and get upset when no one is there, have you tried a nightlight, or something for her to cuddle with. My son has always slept in a crib, but at about 6 months he started having a harder time falling and staying asleep, we got him a little stuffed toy and now he curls up with it every night. It may be hard to break her of this habit.

When we moved my son from his craddle to his crib he had a little bit of a hard time the first couple of nights. We would do our regular bedtime routine, then put him down when he was drowsy. He would sleep for a few hours then wake up realizing he is somewhere new. So we would get up, go into his room, keep the lights off, go to his crib but NOT pick him up. We would rub his back (he was a tummy sleeper) and tell him it's okay, then once he calmed down and got drowsy we would walk out. He would have course start crying as soon as we stepped out, but we would let him cry for 10 minutes before going back in and rubbing his back and then stepping out again. After about an hour and a half of repeating that he would finally fall asleep. The second night instead of letting him cry for 10 minutes, we would let him cry for 15 minutes then go in. It took him 45 minutes to go to sleep that night. The third night he woke up, cried for less then 5 minutes and went to sleep on his own. It's hard the first few nights but do not give in. No matter how tired you are and how much you just want to grab her and put her in bed with you just so you can get some sleep, don't. The main t hing is to stay consistent.

It took me 16 months of sleepless nights before I finally put my foot down about night waking, so I feel your pain.

What finally worked for us is...

I put his crib in another room and no longer allowed him to come in my bed at all. For cuddling we just sit in the living room or wherever we're playing before bed. No cuddling in my bed. And if he wakes up in the middle of the night I had to be firm and not let him come back to my room with me. I would take him out of the crib if he cried, hug him and sing to him for a minute and then set him down and tell him it's time to go night night.

There were lots of tears and a couple long nights before he finally learned that he couldn't come my bed with me. I think it was more drawn out because he was older and set in his ways. At 4 months, it shouldn't be quite as much of a battle. Just make sure you draw your boundaries firmly and don't allow any relapses.

If you can't be the parent and let the child cry for a bit, then the child learns how to win. After that you either do it, or just let child stay in your bed.