Newborn soothing advice?

Cadg0986 · December 2014

hey ladies. So I haven't been able to be on much since Emmas arrival. She will be a week old on Wednesday! She's such a great baby and does so well with breastfeeding. The only thing we are having some difficulty with is that she won't sleep anywhere except on my DH or I. So we've been taking turns every few hours at night staying up so she can sleep on one of us while the other gets a little sleep. We have tried the bassinet (with and without the vibrating option), the swing, and the bouncer. We've tried when she's awake, almost asleep, and sleeping and each time she wakes up and cries. I'm just wondering if anyone else has had this happen? Maybe it's typical for newborns but as a FTM I have no idea lol.

Jessie333 · December 2014

Do you swaddle her when she sleeps?

Cadg0986 · December 2014

Yes. We've used both the receiving blankets to swaddle her and we bought these Fleece swaddle me's that have Velcro to keep her snugged in.

possitivethoughts · December 2014

Jessie333 said:
Do you swaddle her when she sleeps?

This.. I too had a hard time with my first baby... That is, until we figured out he was cold And needed to be swaddled..

Cadg0986 · December 2014

notchomama said:
She sleeps on me while I sleep. I set us up so that there aren't any hazards.

How'd you do that? Just wondering because if I could do that safely until she starts to feel more comfortable in the bassinet, I would!

xc1148 · December 2014

FTM, but sounds completely normal based on a few of my friends experience with certain babies. Think of it from her perspective....she's all cozy and tucked in the womb and now she's outside all alone and it's cold and she has to ask for food! :P She just wants to be held

For my friend, this phase lasted 2 weeks, then she switched to the baby being next to her in the bed/rock and play sleeper.

Congrats and good luck!!

Cadg0986 · December 2014

danisgossipgirl said:
Recreating a womb-like environment... There's the swaddle which you've covered (our miracle product was a woombie), white noise, put a receiving blanket warm with your scent underneath her when you lay her down, motion which you've tried, paci. Also with BFing sometimes it's easier for dad to handle bedtime because smelling milk can make baby want to stay with you and nurse here and there, if not now might be a tip for the future. Then again I broke all the "rules", nursed to sleep and bedshared.

Thank you for the advice. I am gonna try the receiving blanket scent thing. My DH has tried to put her to bed, she still cries which in turn makes me cry and I get weak and pick her up after like a minute. We even bought a womb noise thing so it makes the whooshing noise.

Cadg0986 · December 2014

xc1148 said:
FTM, but sounds completely normal based on a few of my friends experience with certain babies. Think of it from her perspective....she's all cozy and tucked in the womb and now she's outside all alone and it's cold and she has to ask for food! :P She just wants to be held

For my friend, this phase lasted 2 weeks, then she switched to the baby being next to her in the bed/rock and play sleeper.

Congrats and good luck!!

I hope she adjusts in a few weeks to bassinet sleeping lol. I love holding her and having her on me all the time, it makes me happy. But I am too afraid to sleep with her on me so I am so tired and then my DH takes over for a bit. But we can't do this for too long since he'll be going back to work next week.

nedralynn · December 2014

danisgossipgirl said:
Then again I broke all the "rules", nursed to sleep and bedshared.

This I didn't have my sons dad last time around so I broke the rules also and he slept with me and nursed whenever he wanted. He didn't like to be swaddled though.

aggiejenn37 · December 2014

I know every baby is different, but sleeping in the rock n play has worked for ours. She's 8 days old. In the crib she would wail every couple minutes, but no problems since moving her to the RNP. Our pedi said it's fine for her to sleep there for now. I just have it right next to my side of the bed to check on her. Most of the time I've had to wake her up every 3 hrs to eat- she really sleeps very well in that thing!

DoctorWorm222 · December 2014

When she sleeps on your chest, is she sleeping on her belly or on her back? I was just wondering if you're accidentally getting her accustomed to sleeping on her belly.

ashleykadlec · December 2014

My DD went through this, I had 2 blankets that were the same but different colors so I'd sleep snuggled with one of the blankets one night, and then snuggle her up in that same blanket the next night for bed, then sleep with the other one. I had her in the rock n play right next to my bed, and I started using the sleep sheep really low as well. I don't know what did the trick or if it was the combination of all things, but I think she was comforted by my smell on her blanket, a little white noise sort of like my breathing, and being propped up a little. Good luck!

AllTheTeaInChina · December 2014

Watch Happiest Baby on the Block. There is also a book but we borrowed the DVD from the library. It was very helpful.

Try a different sound. Waves worked best for DD1.

She's less than 1 week old. You can't spoil her or create bad habits. Right now, do whatever works.

desertsun · December 2014

You can try staying next to her as you lay her down, and gently patting her or softly making "shushing" sounds to her so she knows you are still nearby. As PPs mentioned, a blanket or something else that carries your scent might also help with this. A paci can also be really helpful if you're open to using one.

You could also look into a co-sleeper like the Arm's Reach:
https://www.amazon.com/Arms-Reach-ConceptsCo-Sleeper-Bedside-Bassinet/dp/B00BFBUYCC/

MaineMama · December 2014

With my previous kids it always worked best to take my Hs shirt at the end of the day ( not too dirty of a shirt) and put it over the bassinet mattress.

QueenOfSpades622 · December 2014

My son is two weeks today and didn't start consistently sleeping in his bassinet until this weekend so from my very limited experience I would say it's normal and hopefully in time will adjust.

iloveac · December 2014

This was DS. He woke up every time we would lay him down flat. He'd also find a way to unswaddle himself. What worked for us was to keep him warm either by sleep n play or a sleep bag and after he was 5 weeks old we discovered the rock n play and then there was no looking back after that. He STTN his night in the rnp. Looking back I think there were two things going on one was he was cold bc he always undid his swaddle and two he needed a slight inflight. The rnp cradles the baby.

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