6months and addicted to his cocoon

[mamalula]

My 6 month old ds has alway slept in his cocoon (which is a bag like thing with a firm base that came with my Phil&Teds pushchair) at night he sleeps in it in his moses basket, but he is way to big for it and his feet stick out the end. When he goes down for the night he often wakes up a few times before he will sleep through and when he wakes my dh or I have to rock him in the cocoon it is quickest way for him to fall back to sleep, infact it is the only way he falls asleep. But now he really is too big for it both my dh and I have sore backs from lugging him around in this thing and we are worried he is probably too heavy for it and the handles might break. So we are in need of an alternative. We have set up a travel cot with a new cot mattress in our room and tried to put him in there but he goes crazy as soon as we put him in it and always end up putting him back in the cocoon just for our sanity and so we can sleep. I think the thing he likes about the cocoon because it is enclosed. Anyway any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

[Marabou]

Hey,


I'm not sure if this might help you, but my DS usually still naps wedged in between two pillows and I think he also likes it, because it is enclosed. I'm not sure how well the pillows would fit in his cot though, because he always takes his naps on our bed and we also co-sleep in the night...

[mamalula]

Hi Marabou, thanks for your reply. I thought about the pillow idea but I am worried about SIDS or suffocating, at the moment he kind of rubs his face against the side of the cocoon but it is flat so there is no risk of him not beable to breathe but I worry if he did that with a pillow it might be a bit dangerous.

[Marabou]

That's true and I agree it's not the ideal of course. I usually make a kind of a V-shaped little snugle space for DS to make sure he's face isn't actually close to the pillows. I think for my DS it's also my smell in the pillow he can smell even though it's not actually in his face. At the moments he tends to sleep on his side and doesn't move around much in his sleep (although he's rolling quite a bit when he's awake), but I'm a bit lost as well as to what to do if he starts to move a lot during his sleep.. Best of luck!

[saladsandwich]

i use to put ds in a big cot but put 2 rolled up towels underneath the fitted sheet so it looked like he had 2 sausages at eaither side of him (hope i've described that well) it worked for us, i gradually took one away then the other as he got a little older

[Mishy1234]

Does he sleep in a sleeping bag OP? If not, that might increase his sense of being enclosed.

Other than that, I guess trying to slowly wean him out of the cocoon by starting with naps first and then progressing to night time? Also, is the travel cot quite a big one (I know they vary in size quite a bit)? If so, would you be able to borrow a smaller cot for a bit? The only other thing might be to see if you could borrow a Bugaboo Cameleon carrycot for a bit. From memory they are bigger than the cocoon, but still quite enclosed.

It's a tricky one. Sorry I couldn't be more helpful.

[Mishy1234]

That's a great idea saladandsandwich, wish I had known about that one!

[Solola]

This time last year I was also having a similar problem. When it was really cold I used to put him to sleep in his snowsuit and he got used to sleeping in it and wouldn't really settle without it. That was fine until it started getting warmer - in the end I cut off the hood (cos that was what he liked rubbing his face on) and he would just sleep with the hood next to his face. For a time though I couldn't imagine him sleeping without it. He is 1 now and it is a thing of the past.

So - another idea I have in addition to the good ones you have suggested, is could you put a snuggly blanket or muslin or maybe even an item of clothing that has your smell in the cocoon with him for a few nights and then maybe he will associate that with the comfort and security of the cocoon and you can just put him in the cot with that?

I also think the idea of using daytime naps to break that habit rather than at night is very sensible and what I have done with all 3 of mine when they have been through phases of being unsettled and needing me in the room etc.

[naturalbaby]

my baby was also addicted to the cocoon, we did a lot of swinging him in it! he's in a travel cot now for day time naps and cot in our bedroom, or co-sleeping.
what about:
this?
or
this?
or something like an Amby hammock?

[mamalula]

Thanks so much everyone! Salad sandwich (you should rename yourself sausage sandwich! hehe) I think that is a brilliant idea and we will give it a try. Thanks:)