Newborn won't sleep in crib, alternate suggestions?

Bamgal25 · September 2013

My DD is 1 week old today and is not a fan of sleeping in her crib. The first couple of nights home she slept for around 30 minutes in the crib before crying. I think the first night I swaddled her in an A&A blanket and the second night was a SwaddleMe. She didn't stay asleep long so we ended up either holding her in the glider and sleeping or putting her in the bouncer. she sleeps really well in the bouncer! so part of me thinks i should just let her keep sleeping in there, and the other part of me wants her to sleep in her crib because i feel its more secure and we have an Angelcare monitor so i think i could rest better knowing she's in the crib. but if i have to get up because she is crying in her crib every 30 minutes, that doesnt make for good sleep for anyone.

If any of you have LO's that wont sleep in the crib at this young age, what do you do? mainly i just want both of us to be able to sleep and not have to worry about her suffocating. eventually i want her to sleep in the crib, but for right now I just want us to sleep. so, bouncer, rock n play, bassinet, holding/rocking, etc., what do you suggest? Thanks!

VitaLuna · September 2013

She may like the incline of the bouncer, so I'd give the rock n play a try.

ETA: until probably 2wks, I slept with her on my chest in the chair.. It was the only place she'd sleep for any length of time. Then we used a cosleeper, but in the last week or so she'll only sleep there 30min before waking up. Now we're back to sleeping in the chair and her laying by me in bed. I know not everyone is comfortable with that, but that's what works for us.

NNGnome · September 2013

I think some babies find the crib to big to be comforting, we use a bassinette by my bed, with DS1 we had combination of the bassinette and bedsharing, some babies just like to be close to mummy. As pp said they may like the incline, although I would go with a bassinette with an incline pillow over the rock n play, as it has been banned in Canada due to it causing flat head.

SweetPeaK26 · September 2013

We have a leachCo boppy that has the little 'bikini bottom' strap in the center. All three of our girls have slept in it, or slept with me. The strap keeps them from sliding down and tucking their chins too much. I know most wont approve of that method, but it works for us, and no flat head syndrome! All 3 of ours absolutely hated being flat, or uncushioned, so even in the bouncy seat has a pillow in it for them to lay on top of (whole body, not just head).

redfallon · September 2013

DD likes the slight incline of the napper/bassinet of our pack n play. Helps with her congestion also to sleep on a bit of an incline.

Edit: We also swaddle which helps A LOT.

staceyleanne · September 2013

My LO won't sleep anywhere except for either on me or right up against me with my nipple in her mouth. I've tried the bassinet and the swing and she'll stay asleep for about 10 mins at the most. I've made up my mind I'm going to enjoy it because soon enough she'll be a teenager and will have nothing to do with me :-)

MrsShep613 · September 2013

DS will not sleep in his crib either so we just have him in his swing next to our bed. Here's my thought: I don't expect him to go from curled up in a ball for 9 months to sleeping flat on his back very quickly! If he wants to cuddle, sleep on my chest, or whatever else, I'm good with it. They grow too fast and I want to cuddle as long as I can!

jezabella · September 2013

We were advised not to let our baby sleep in the bouncer because they don't have the muscle strength in their necks yet to be able to hold themselves up for long periods of time and can have breathing issues when in there for too long. We are using a large cradle in our bedroom for the first few months rather than a crib to have her sleep. When we got home from the hospital she wouldn't sleep long if we laid her down on her own in the cradle, only when one of us was holding her or in the bouncer. We tried a couple different swaddling options to see what she liked, and it turns out she likes to be loosely swaddled so she can move her arms around and sleeps much better that way. Also we eased her into sleeping on her own by first laying her down on the couch cushion beside us in the living room, and having her sleep while we watched her. And then eventually transitioning her to the cradle once she was sleeping. She got the hang of it pretty quick, within a day or two. She's still quite young but it worked fast for us. Good luck!

sapphire0228 · September 2013

Like @redfallon said, my LO sleeps great in the napper part of our pnp. It's a slight incline but it also kind of hugs her sides. Swaddling has really helped when she's moving around a lot but she doesn't always need to be.

Surfergirl013 · September 2013

The RnP is awesome, DD loves it. We also have the LeachCo baby lounger we use for naps during the day

waterfall11 · September 2013

We are struggling with this too. Inclined the crib and DD slept 1.5 hours instead of her normal 5 minutes there so hoping this will be the key for us.

jlp0528 · September 2013

This has been our lifesaver! She sleeps in it next to our bed and I can just reach out and rock her when she fusses. She doesn't like being on her back in a big empty bed either !

redfallon · September 2013

The nurses at the hospital put the bassinet at an incline, too.

OliveMom3 · September 2013

NNGnome said:
I think some babies find the crib to big to be comforting, we use a bassinette by my bed, with DS1 we had combination of the bassinette and bedsharing, some babies just like to be close to mummy. As pp said they may like the incline, although I would go with a bassinette with an incline pillow over the rock n play, as it has been banned in Canada due to it causing flat head.

I thought it was banned for mold issues.

malisaann · September 2013

We tried to have lo sleep in the pack and play for about 8 nights before I broke down and let her sleep in the RnP. I'm not super comfortable with it because of the flat head and hip dysplasia worries, but we are all getting much better sleep and it's only temporary. I do try to position her head differently each time I feed her, so hopefully that helps. I've also noticed that she moves her head in different positions during sleep so that makes me feel better too.

Bamgal25 · September 2013

Thanks for all the replies! I agree with some of the pp's that the bouncer isn't the best option for all night sleeping. Last night we finally decided to put a wedge pillow in the crib so she would have an incline of some sort instead of being flat on her back. It worked like a charm! She slept in her crib all night!!! (in between feedings, of course) So, I just wanted to update my post in case anyone else is dealing with this issue. We also used a sound machine to provide some white noise and I swaddled her nice and tight, so that may have also contributed to our successful night.

coraggiosa · September 2013

DD slept in her crib for two nights until she started screaming every 10 minutes in it. We've had her in the RNP for the past 5 weeks, and last night she actually slept in her crib again. I don't want to jinx it, but she slept really well in there with some white noise and in her Woombie swaddle.

Try the RNP for now and maybe try putting her back in the crib every once in a while?

ETA: I should try reading the whole thread before responding. The crib wedge was something else I thought of after posting, but it looks like you got one! Yay for sleeping well!

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