Sleep Advice Needed - Help!

martini-time · August 2010

So the first 2 weeks of baby's life, he would only sleep on one of us. Cut to 7 weeks old, and he'll sleep in his swing, but that's it. On a couple of occasions, I've been able to put him in his cradle (it's in our bedroom), but he only lasted 30 minutes at the longest. At this point, I'm sleeping on the couch next to his swing. I'm too dang old to be sleeping on the couch every night and I miss my bed. I'm desperate and thinking about buying another swing for the bedroom as a last resort, but I really don't want it to come to that. Our apartment is already overflowing with baby gear.

How did you ladies get your little ones to sleep in a cradle/bassinet/crib? Any tricks/tips I should know about, or he just not ready yet? I have to go back to work in a month and I really need to find a solution!

P.S. We've tried the SnuggleNest (elevated cause he has reflux), putting him in bed with us (doesn't work cause of the reflux), and putting him in bed with us on a wedge (no likey).

cmcmillan · August 2010

Do you have a bouncy seat he could sleep in, in your room? It would take up less room then the swing, and then you don't have two of the same. I know Jill had B sleep in his carseat for a few months, due to his reflux.

Sorry your dealing with it, sleep is the hardest thing to deal with.

Alli923 · August 2010

We found that the newborn napper in the PNP did the trick for Lucy. I think because it snuggled her up more than the flat surface of her bassinet or crib. Plus we could turn the little vibrate on which she loved. You might want to try that. It saved us!

blueLu25 · August 2010

We arent dealing with reflux, but the way we get E to sleep is to swaddle her nice and tight, give her the binky, and then bounce with her on the exercise ball until she falls asleep ( usually 5-10 mins). At this point we can put her down and she stays asleep. If she is having a cranky night, we put a fan on near here b/c of the white noise, which works really well, plus keeps her cooler in the swaddle when its warm. Hopefully some of that can be helpful to you!

jcyahne · August 2010

Jillian slept in her swing (moving at a high speed) until she was six months old. Plus she was swaddled, had a pacifier and we played white noise. It was a lot of habits to break (and she still has the paci). So maybe I'm not the greatest example. We had a little luck getting her to sleep in her crib with a sleep positioner and wedge, but really she did not sleep well there until she could roll over and sleep on her belly. It turns out that she much prefers being a stomach sleeper.

That said, I put the swing in her bedroom, and I slept in my bed. Could you do that? If there is not enough room could you put a monitor in whatever room the swing is in so that you feel comfortable sleeping in your own bed again?

Vashon · August 2010

The same thing (only would sleep on us) happened to us as well. We asked around, and finally got the piece of advice from a friend who is a pediatric nurse to elevate the mattress in her bassinet. DH put a small stack of towels under the mattress and then also under the sheet he rolled up a thin blanket into a "U" shape so that it would essentially frame her head. DD also liked to be really warm, so we covered the mattress with a light, slightly fuzzy blanket (of course making sure it was securely attached under the matress). We also used swaddle me blankets by Summer Infant. Doing all of this work instantly the first night. We did the same routine until she was a little over 2 months old, and now she is sleeping in her big crib with no incline, no rolled blanket to go around her head, and no fuzzy blanket on the mattress. We also used white noise (downloaded a couple of soothing songs and put them on the ipod). Don't feel bad, as I know this is a common problem with newborns. Good luck!

Seattle_JiLLn · August 2010

Yep Ben slept in his car seat til he was six months old. Cooper had to be swaddled HARD. We propped the end of the pnp up with books. Like 8 inches. Not just a teeny bit. Don't worry. What you're experiencing is normal baby sleep. Oh and is he on meds for the reflux??

martini-time · August 2010

Seattle_JiLLn:
Yep Ben slept in his car seat til he was six months old. Cooper had to be swaddled HARD. We propped the end of the pnp up with books. Like 8 inches. Not just a teeny bit. Don't worry. What you're experiencing is normal baby sleep. Oh and is he on meds for the reflux??

Yep, he's on Prevacid three times a day. It's helped a lot!

Seattle_JiLLn · August 2010

O good I'm glad it's helping. Hang in there. How your baby sleeps today will not be how he sleeps in a few months. They really change and get easier and harder and easier and harder! It's so overwhelming but don't worry!

EllaB_04 · August 2010

My LO has acid reflux too! So far, Zantac is still working ok for her. We've been pretty lucky with sleep though. My only advice would be to transition very slowly. LO started off only in her swing or on me, then we did careful bed-sharing, then to bassinet. I would start her each night where I wanted her to be, and would only revert to the previous comfort zone when she started to complain. Over time, the stretches of time just got longer and longer!

Hang in there, I'm sure things will get easier soon!

smitt2619 · August 2010

Swaddle! That made all the difference for my LO and how he slept. He was a great sleeper thanks to his Halo sleepsack swaddles!

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