Advice on moving LO to cot/carrycot please

[Periwinkle]

Hi

My baby will currently only sleep on someone, so we are co-sleeping with her on my chest. She will either fall asleep whilst feeding across me or I move her so her head is up by my collarbone.

I'm really worried about suffocating her in the night, I don't want to co-sleep with her at this age at all.

Initially she would sleep next to me kind of under my arm and against me, but she won't do this any more. I've been advised before to try feeding her in this position but she obviously doesn't find it comfortable as she screams and can't latch on properly.

We have a cotbed for her which is a foot away from our bed. It was pushed right up against ours as its the same height, but we moved it to the wall when we realised she wasn't going to use it.

Does anyone have any ideas on how to get her to sleep in her bed or in her carrycot? She will sleep for half an hour at a time during the day in her carrycot but wakes when she realises she's in there.

I don't know where to start really. If I just put her down she screams and screams until I pick her up

Swaddling makes no difference unfortunately.

Edit to add: she's five weeks old.

 

[Veck]

What about co-sleeping using a special maternity pillow ?. It's one of these long warm-like pillows that you can use in several positions. I use one of these and it's easier to bf while lying and it's quite cOmfy to sleep on it. If you need more info let me know hun.

 

[mistyscott]

Not sure how old your LO is but my 10wk old has been the same since birth. We bought a bednest but he's slept in it a total of two times - and only once the whole night! We co- sleep too but my DH loves it so the will power to get him into the crib is lacking... We've decided they're not going to want cuddles like that forever so will follow his lead for when he's ready to sleep alone.

In the last week or so he's started to nap for longer in his carrycot during the day...tho must admit I miss our snuggles on the sofa so still have one nap like that I can't see the bednest being occupied for a while yet - tho the cat seems to like it

 

[kaths101]

How old is your LO, my little boy is 12 weeks old and its only this week he has slept on his own. He's in his pram carrycot - will not go in his crib but its a start. He would only sleep on me like your LO.

He just seemed to do it, I started a routine, when he started to look tired between 6.30 and 8pm I would put him in his sleep suit, feed him and then swaddle and lay down - I dont even have to lay him down asleep. He also has a dummy which he doesnt have through the day.

I think they will do it when they are ready - just keep trying every few weeks. I put the carrycot on the sofa so he can see me at all times and if he wakes up im there! I think the first few times you need to reassure them that you are still there.

He sleeps until about 3am then I have him in bed with me.

 

[supertabby]

Are you finding she wakes immediately or after sleeping in there for a while? If its after a while then it could be a case of waiting it out for her to sleep longer, she's still very young and Isobel slept in short bursts at that age.

If she's falling asleep on you but then waking as soon as you put her down then there are a few things you can try:

*Let her sleep on you for 15 mins before transferring her, to allow her to get into a deeper sleep that she's less likely to wake from

*Obviously you'll be moving her very gently and placing down carefully already, I found with Isobel that leaning down with her and keeping my boobs pressed against her and both hands still on her for a few moments helped. Then eased my body away but still keeping one hand on her chest and one on her head. Then slowly ease away the hand from head, then ease away hand from chest. All the while stopping/slowing the process in response to any stirring from her.

*Cold sheets can sometimes wake baby up. There are two options - a hot water bottle to heat sheets before baby goes down (obviously remove hot water bottle first!) which I've been told works well but I've never tried it for fear of reliance on it. The other option, which I really wish we did earlier once we discovered them, is to use a Grobag. You can feed baby while they wear the Grobag and so they fall asleep all nice and snug, and wrapped up in their bedding already. They then don't sense a difference in temperature or fabrics against skin so much when transferred into the cot.

Hope there is something there that could help!

Co-sleeping is possible to do safely too, but research it as the "rules" are complex! I've coslept with Isobel when she was younger, it stretched out the sleep a bit longer and was a lovely bonding thing, but I didn't make it a regular thing as I personally didn't want her to become dependant on it. For example if you take medication you can't co-sleep, sometimes I take a strong tablet for migraine and if Isobel was used to sleeping with me, how would I deal with a migraine? I'd know she'd wake up if I put her in the cot and with a migraine it'd be the last thing I'd want to deal with. Would I be tempted to take the pill and sleep with her anyway? Probably not but you see what I mean. It's a very personal choice and some people are avid co-sleepers which is wonderful but its definitely something to seriously research.

 

[jcg0506]

I don't know if this will help you or not, but my lo (also 5 weeks) sleeps on me or in my my sling during the day and hates for me to put him down to sleep, but my husband has much better luck putting him down to sleep. I co-slept with him for the first couple weeks and then started transitioning him to the bassinet. Now he starts off in the bassinet when hubby puts him to sleep, and often by morning I have him by my side in bed. It's baby steps, and I'd like to transition away from co-sleeping so he gets better at sleeping on his own and self-soothing.