Coby (and Reggie) sleeps with us, but the rule is that if he doesn't sleep through the night, he sleeps in the crate.
So to transition, perhaps you can divide up the night to start. When she wakes up midway through the night, move her to the crate beside your bed at that time. Make sure that you give treats when she goes into the treat. We've actually had a couple of nights where Coby has WANTED to go into the crate during the night - we must be tossing and turning too much for him or something.
Then before too awfully long, she'll be happily sleeping in the crate. I do agree that it's important to be dual-trained for exactly that reason - in case someone else has to babysit.
