October 2015 Moms

Sleep help!!!

So LO has been home for 5 days. I'm a FTM and feel like I have no idea what I'm doing. I feel like I do what I can to make her sleep... She isn't terrible, last night was the roughest.. She would only sleep on my chest. Which I do throughout the day so I guess she got used to it. We tried her in our room in a bassinet and now today I am trying her in her own room with black out curtains, white noise and her own crib. Here's my question...
When she fusses what do I do to help her realize she needs to fall asleep in the crib vs my arms. I let her fuss for awhile but I do not like the whole "cry it out" until she can hardly breathe and face is beat red. But like I said I don't know if letting her fall asleep in my arms Is a good habit tot start... Even tho she is only 1.5 weeks old. What do you mom's do?

Re: Sleep help!!!

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  • Please do not do cry it out this young, she needs you to comfort her. What we do is double swaddle our little guy and hold him till he is asleep then put him in his crib. Have you tried using a heating pad to warm up her spot in the crib before putting her in?

    There have been a few other threads on this that had some great ideas.
  • myrumammyrumam member
    edited November 2015
    I don't. I usually wait until she just starts to cry Because sometimes she'll fuss and be grunty but fall back asleep.
    Is it too early to start sleeping patterns where we aren't the ones holding her while she sleeps? I know she is so young and during the day I do like to cuddle her on my chest while she sleeps but then I go to lay her down and she doesn't like it...
    I love her more than anything but holding her 24/7 is a lot.. In order to have my sanity I need to be able to lay her down for awhile. Especially at night.
  • We are bed sharing. When she cries, we pick her up. She sleeps on my chest at night too. I feel like she's still so tiny she needs me and needs to know she can trust that I'll come! I honestly feel better too having her close. I can lay her down a little during the day, but otherwise, she likes to be held. This is such a short time, I'm taking all the cuddles I can get.
  • My DD just had her 1 month check up today. Things her pediatrician said, don't let her "cry it out". She is too young. She can fuss to calm herself but don't let her straight out cry. Also at 1 month we should be starting to have her fall asleep on her own in her crib. Before 1 month they should be laid down once already asleep.
  • mom4liak said:

    My DD just had her 1 month check up today. Things her pediatrician said, don't let her "cry it out". She is too young. She can fuss to calm herself but don't let her straight out cry. Also at 1 month we should be starting to have her fall asleep on her own in her crib. Before 1 month they should be laid down once already asleep.

    How do you get them to fall asleep in their crib? My LO will be one month tomorrow and I don't see any way that he'd fall asleep on his own.
  • I've found that wrapping her in a blanket that I've had on me helps my LO. I guess she can smell me on it and so it makes her more relaxed and willing to sleep on her own
  • I'd like to know too. Right now my LO is 3 weeks old and sleeps in a rock n play (the only thing we can even set her down in without her screaming ). During the day she usually will sleep in it if we put her down after she is deep asleep. If she is fussy she wants to stay asleep on us. At night, it's hit or miss. Sonetimes we can put her down but more often we have to sleep with her on our chests. I love snuggling her during the day but sleeping like this makes me uneasy and it's not the most comfy way to sleep. I want to get a baby monitor so we can put the rock n play in her nursery and keep an eye from our room - then we don't have to take turns sleeping on the couch (we don't have her in our room anymore because it was too hard navigating in the dark and not waking the other during their turn to sleep). But I don't know that it will work if she won't go into the rock n play. ...we may still end up spending the night on the couch! But I also have no idea how we will ever get her to like the crib. We've put her in there and she wakes right up. If she is already awake, she squirms around like she is over stimulated looking all around and then eventually starts screaming. She just doesn't seem to like being flat either. She loves sleeping on her tummy against our chests. How do you overcome all these things?!?
  • I just keep telling myself this is only a moment in time, it will get better. I kept putting DS in the bassinet and eventually he started sleeping longer and longer. He still has his moments he won't sleep, especially 9-2 at night. But last night he was only up every 2.5-3 hours to be fed. I just laid him back down and he's now out after 15 minutes. I better get some sleep now :)
  • It does get better, most nights my son who will be 7 weeks tomorrow, he will go from 9 to 2 and the 2 to 5 or 5:30. That was not the case last night, he was up every 3 hours. We ff and he's starting to eat between 4 to 6 oz at a feeding.
  • I was strictly opposed to cosleeping, but my one month old refuses to sleep in her crib and will only sleep for 30 min or so in her rock and play. I'm getting more rest and I'm more sane now that she sleeps with me! I've heard letting them sleep in the Rock and play can cause their oxygen levels to drop because of their position??
  • LO's PNP bassinet is the exact height of our bed and is right next to my side. He doesn't love sleeping in it, but does pretty well. If he does fuss when I put him down (at least once per night) I find that if I lay on my side and put my hand lightly on where his arms are swaddled over his chest/belly calms him down.
    Pregnancy Ticker
  • Your LO needs your love and nurturing. You're not going to create bad habits.....she wants to be held and made to feel secure. Soon enough they'll get on schedule. Have you tried swaddling?
  • At 1.5 weeks old, your LO will most likely want to fall asleep in your arms and may or may not let you put her down. She will probably only sleep for an hour or two in the bassinet. Sometimes she will not want to be put down at all. It will get better.

    For those of you asking about letting them fall asleep in the crib or pack n play... When we went for dd's 1 month appointment the pediatrician recommended starting to put her down drowsy but awake. I laughed at her because it sounded impossible, but started trying it anyways at naps and at night. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I only do it when she's not fussy. When she is starting to fall asleep I lay her in the pack n play. I keep one hand on her and rock her back and forth for a few minutes until she's asleep. They I take my hand off her and stand there for a minute to make sure she stays asleep before walking away. We've had pretty good success doing this. It's impossible to do this if she's very fussy though.
  • carmv01carmv01 member
    edited November 2015
    Knock on wood but we've been having some luck with this the past few nights, despite having a congested 4-week old newborn. He's been sleeping comfortably in his cosleeper bassinet for 3 hour stretches lately and didn't need to fall asleep on daddy's chest at all last night.

    Things I've changed:

    Swaddle - He usually hates being swaddled and likes his arms out so he can soothe himself. He was sleeping in the Halo Sleep Sacks with his arms out, but he kept startling himself awake, and with his congestion, he wasn't able to fall back asleep. We tried the love to dream Swaddle Up but he still didn't seem to like how that restricted his arms - he seemed uncomfortable when we put it on him. We switched to the aden + anais muslin swaddles which are lightweight and have some give so you can bundle them tightly and they can still wiggle and get comfortable. For some reason these are working out better as long as we swaddle him tightly - he doesn't try to break out of them as much and actually looks comfortable and peaceful (see pics). This needs to be done during that magic moment between drowsy and asleep so he won't freak out and struggle against it.

    Incline - he's been congested and I read that elevating their head helps, so I've followed some tips from:

    https://incredibleinfant.com/sleeping/baby-hates-crib/

    on putting the bassinet mattress on an incline and adding a U-shaped rolled-up towel under the fitted sheet to stop him from sliding down. He might still slide down a little (the swaddle doesn't really let his butt sit over the towel) but I'll usually readjust him during the night if needed. I've been playing around with the incline and have gradually decreased it.

    Soothing - Right after I put him down, he may fuss a bit and wriggle around in the swaddle, but I've found a combo of shushing + gently placing a hand on him actually helps him fall right back asleep. Repeat until he's fast asleep, usually several times. As long as I catch him and soothe him before the fussing wakes him up completely, it's been working. It helps that his bassinet is right next to our bed so I can just reach over.

    Cool mist humidifer - Added this for his congestion. This has a bonus effect of acting as a nightlight - the blue beam is bright enough that I can see him when I look over and also lets me nurse him without turning on a light, which helps keep him sleepy.

    White noise - We use the Sleep Sheep sound machine and attached it to his bassinet. It seems to work well to drown out other noises and lull him to sleep.

    We'll keep tweaking what we need to and adapting but so far, this has been working and I don't dread bedtime anymore.
  • My LO started to sleep amazing after adjusting the temperature. I switched her blanket to a warmer one and wrap her up and she sleeps 5 hours now versus 1 1/2-2!
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