Mumsnet Talk

Hi,

DS is 11weeks old and we now have a fairly solid bedtime routine, with ok-ish sleeps of 4hours, 3hours, 3hours during an average night.

He is quite long as seems to wake himself up when he moves around in his basket so we think it may be time to try the cot. I think he likes the cosiness of the basket but feels confined by it at the same time

Any ideas as to how to make this as smooth a transition as possible?

We put the basket in the cot for about a week, then used the same blankets for a while. Dunno if it helped, but certainly didn't make the sleep worse.

Can you fit the cot in your bedroom (assuming that's where you've had the Moses basket)? That's what we did for the first few months.

I know bumpers are not encouraged now but you could try the Airwrap (think ours came from JoJo). It's a safe bumper with airtex holes so baby can breathe even if they push up against it. Just so he doesn't feel unnerved by the bare bars.

Another piece of advice I was given was to pop baby in the cot for short periods when they are awake in the day, just to play and get used to the space, like a play pen. Then use it for day-time naps and gradually build up to night-time.

DS was 4.5 months when we moved him and he was quite a long baby so maybe leave it a while longer unless you feel he's not sleeping well in there.

Also, prepare yourself for the emotional impact of ditching the Moses basket - I wept pathetically the first night DS wasn't an arm's reach away from me. And the cot was in the same room!

puffpants due to the layout of our bedroom, the cot is actually right next to our bed and the basket at the foot of the bed, so I am more worried about us keeping each other up as me and DS are both snorers

It's hard to tell if the basket is stopping him sleeping, when he is waking up he kicks against the end of the basket & as we keep the head raised due to slight reflux issues, he seems to slide down to the end by the end of the night.

I do wonder if he only gets disturbed once he is already awake as each time he wakes he is hungry. Hmmm tricksy little things these babies!

Ah, if the basket is tilted then maybe he doesn't have enough room to stretch.

Re: waking each other up, I think that became a problem for us too. We kept DS in his cot in our room till about 9 months but looking back we should have moved him into his own room earlier. I do think he was disturbed by us coming to bed and just general moving around, coughing in the night etc.

Try popping him in the cot with a few toys for a bit to get him used to it, it's a good place to start.

Thanks, I think I will do as you suggest and just start by getting him used to the cot during daytime first.

We only have one bedroom, so have no choice but to room share for now. His reflux seems a lot better, so may try and lay the basket flat and see how that goes.

At 6 weeks he started waking himself up by punching the sides of his bassinet (mahoosive baby!)

We built the cot, put it at the end of the bed, put him in it, he slept. Simples!

(disclaimer: it hasn't been that simple very often since the !)

I think he likes being able to see us through the side of the cot, which he couldn't do before in his bassinet even though he was right next to me.

DS went straight to cot. Was simply extra attentive and cuddly the first night, and very prompt to go in and comfort him every time he squeaked!

Thank you everyone, he has been asleep in his cot for 3 hours and counting so fingers crossed...!