Transition from co sleeping to cot HELP

Hey everyone, my little girl is 7 months & I have been co sleeping for the last few months because she hated her next to me crib and always wanted to snuggle up & hold hands in the night. But my struggle is she is still such a bad sleeper & I am going back to work and I’m exhausted to the level of panic attacks and burn out and I’m thinking of transitioning her back into a cot. But I feel so guilty as she loves to snuggle and I love it so much too & I’m worried she won’t cope in a cot on her own. I want her next to me and want her to know I will always be there for her to comfort her but I’m so tired and unable to function. Any tips ? No judgement on the cry it out method but I don’t want to do that. So any advice On carrying on with co sleeping or transitioning I would be so grateful? Any success stories on transitioning from co sleeping to crib? Thank you in advance xxx

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Could you try a sidecar cot as a transition? There's some good guides online about how to take the side off a regular cot and make it safe and secure to the side of the bed.

If she doesn’t settle in a cot you may find a floor bed much easier- especially if she’s used to sleeping with you :)

Agree with above about sidecar cot. This was a game changer for us. Lots of info on pinterest/insta about how to very simply change cheapest ikea cot into a sidecar cot by taking one side off. Then matching mattress to same height as bed. It's been great for us as baby has own safe sleep space at night and I've been able to start distancing a little so she gets used to her own space but also still there for the cuddles, especially in second part of night.

Maybe if she wakes up in the night feed her a little bit? I dont know how is with a 7 months old but my baby is 3 months and when he wakes up i feed him and he goes back to sleep (he also sleeps next to me)

I would do a floor bed, you can cuddle and then leave x

Start with naps in the day. We didn't use the cry it out. But going in re settling and leaving till she finally fell asleep x

No practical advice because we still cosleep at 14m and love it. My friend transitioned from bed sharing to cot and now her LO won’t sleep with her and she’s sad about it. Every baby is different though, I believe most would happily sneak into parents bed

Thank you so much everyone. I really appreciate your support and advice xxxx

I'm doing this transition atm. 1 week in. It's tough but slowly seeing improvement. I've been settling her in a chair in her room and transferring to her cot which I heat with a hot water bottle. She'll do anything from a 30 min to 2 hour stretch.

I've then resettled her however many times she needs, but each time I have a cut off e.g. midnight, 1am. Slowly extending it. Then cosleeping the rest of the night.

Definitely feels tough and a regression but my girl hated her next to me so also massive progress.

what do you do when you reach the cutoff and she’s still unsettled?

I cosleep the rest of the night, just so I'm not exhausted. But she's now doing 7/8pm -1am in her room, it's been getting progressively longer.

thanks, I’ve not though about this type of transition before so may try it at some point

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