Will sleeping in her car seat all night destroy DD's spine?

[Anglepoise]

For the three nights before last night, DD (five weeks) seemed utterly incapable of sleeping in her cot on her back - woke up a few minutes after being put down and fussed progressing to screaming over and over again. The problem seems to be wind as she settles back down after being burped.

The first night I think she ended up in our bed around 3 am (she sleeps well on our chests!). The second night DH woke to me crying and walking around the room with her at 3 am and then took over burping duties so I could get some sleep. The third night I think DH eventually just decided to sit up with her on his chest all night (co-sleeping scares him) and I suggested we put her in her car seat so she's upright and she slept for about four hours

Last night we just put her in her car seat to start with and had a great night's sleep with only a couple of wakings for feeds. We've got another appointment with the osteopath on Monday, as that really seemed to help before (albeit temporarily!), but until then are we doing terrible things to her spine if she sleeps in her car seat?

[popsycal]

i ill join your club
ds3 is 7 weeks and will not sleep in his cot

[popsycal]

coukld she have reflux

[differentGuyD]

the car seat thing is not just about her spine- it's about the shape she takes in there not being great for long periods of time because it can restrict her breathing.
Have you considered raising one end of the cot so she is sleeping at an angle?

[Anglepoise]

Possibly, though I've had a look on babycentre and they kind of suggest that all babies have reflux and grow out of it eventually and not to worry about it Perhaps it would be worth trying some infant Gaviscon - do you need a prescription?

[ceciliaaherne]

You should not do this ordinarily. Babies need to lie flat. A sleep in the day is fine but not all night, I wouldn;t think If you feel she needs to be raised because of wind, you should put something inder the cot mattress. She may slide a little to the side. She is too young to use pillows and I used this method to raise my dcs when they were snuffly. Think it should work for you.

[Plonker]

I don't know the ins and outs of it but its not recommended that baby spends any longer than 1.5/2 hours in car seat.

Will try to find some info for you ...

[MrsSanta]

my ds was the same. slept for weeks in car seat or walker (placed in basket next to bed)all wraped up, it the wind/colic although he wasnt a screamer with it. had green poo for months as well.
good luck whatever works for you to get some much needed sleep.
I also found that swaddleing him helped.

[Anglepoise]

Restricted breathing doesn't sound good! We tried raising one end of her crib downstairs but she just rolled/slumped to one side. Guess we could prop her up with rolled up pillows or something, though I'm not sure that the angle will be enough to help her. Plus there are no phone directories in the house!

[Lubyloo]

It's not recommended for her back but also because of her breathing.

It does sound as if she may be suffering with reflux.

[callmeovercautious]

Do you have a moses basket? We found propping that up a bit helped DD sleep when this young. Kept the milk down a bit I think.
Car seat is not the best option, but if lo will sleep in it early evening while you eat and have a bit of time with DH then go to bed later then I think that would be better all round. She is too young to be spoilt or to expect her to sleep alone in a cot so go with the flow a little and see if it helps you all cope.

[LadyOfRoffle]

How about a bouncer chair? Dunno if it's safe though...

[Anglepoise]

Lots of missed replies, sorry!

Ugh, this all sounds bad

Might try swaddling again though worry about overheating (do it with cellular blanket - is this okay?).

Could be a long night ...

[Plonker]

Found this

Can you raise the cot by placing books under the legs, or maybe roll a towel up and place in under the mattress so that the mattress itself is raised?

[Plonker]

Sorry x postes quite a few times there ...

[MrsSanta]

i swaddled with sheet (mosses) one, and covered with blankets. my ds slept so much better then, i supose he just liked the feeling of being scrunshed up like in the womb, dd loved to be spread out

[Anglepoise]

LadyofRoffle we got one of these on another MNer's suggestion but presumably there would be the same issues sleeping in that as in a car seat as she's in the same position (?).

[LadyOfRoffle]

My car seat is really upright... erm, not sure ho bad that position is... seems OK to me TBH, DS1 used to nap in his swing which has the same shape.

[Anglepoise]

Bugger Plonker that's worrying

Will try raising her mattress a bit and swaddling tonight then and sleep in shifts with DH!

[MrsSanta]

how scary about the car seat, it was 3 years since my ds was a newborn. he more slept in the rocker, which was not as upright as the car seat. m&P

[MrsSanta]

have you tried colief or any of the other stuff for colic. colief was brilliant for us and we seen a difference straight away but he did end up with a runny poo.

[SlartyBartFast]

how about swaddlign with a muslim?

[Anglepoise]

MrsSanta we've got through most of a bottle of Infacol and have started on the gripe water now she's over a month. Both seem to help a little but not a huge amount and don't seem to make a difference to her burping through the night. The osteopath helped most of all but we couldn't get another appointment until Monday.

SlartyBartFast that's an idea. I have flannel sheets as well. I'm very confused about how many layers it counts as - three if it covers her front three times?

[lisad123]

what about her pram? I think alot is the feeling of space they dont like. As long as it lays flat.

[Anglepoise]