Routine for 1 month old baby?

[kentDee]

Hello. My dd is 4 weeks tomorrow. She is bf on demand which is usually every 3 hours and has a couple of top ups in the evening as she is a very hungry baby [was 9lbs 9oz] The problem isnt her feeding, its her sleep situation. In the day she normally sleeps downstairs in her pram or if Im out falls asleep in the car seat. Night time she refuses to sleep in her moses basket by my bedside. She has been put down in it from day one, but hates it and just screams and screams that I end up taking her out. For the past week I have been getting her to sleep in the pram and then I end up sleeping on the sofa, but this cant go on! I want her to sleep in her own bed and I want to sleep in mine, so what can i do?? Any suggestions? TIA.

[poshtottie]

Hi Kent

Have you tried swaddling her? When at home try putting her in her moses for her naps. I wore a t-shirt and then put it in ds moses basket on the mattress, think it helped. Ds didn't particulary like his moses basket either.

[umberella]

My LO was a bit like this to start with but we just played it by ear and it all ended up okay.

She wouldn't sleep in her moses basket at ALL when she was tiny (just wanted to cuddle up with me ) -I actually used to feed her to sleep lying down, then transplant her to her basket. For night feeds I used to bounce her and cuddle her to sleep afterwards, but soon realised it was easier to just pop her straight back in and she just fell straight back asleep.

Gradually this progressed to just being able to put her down while sill awake -I don't think there are any magic tricks, just perseverance!

We actually moved her into her own room when she was 4 months and she slept through the night from then on. She's 9 months now and doesn't even make a squeak when we out her to bed.

hth

[pooka]

I would get rid of the moses basket. DD never settled in one - hated it. And she wasn't very big (under 7 pounds at birth).
When you say pram, do you mean a carrycot-y pram. If it's one that has a detachable carrycot I'd let her sleep in the carrycot next to your bed. Or perhaps try co-sleeping.
With ds I bought a bedside crib, that was more solid feeling and rigid than the moses basket, and had a drop side so was the same height as the bed and he slept beautifully in it. Was like co-sleeping but meant that we had extra width on the bed.

[kentDee]

Umbrella- sounds familiar! DD just wants to be cuddled to sleep but not put down! I tried swaddling [even brought a special blanket] but think I need to continue using it as I gave up due to her crying!

The moses basket is on a stand and Im considering buying a rocking stand today for it as this seems to be the only way she gets to sleep. Another issue is my dp works nights, so Im trying to let him get some sleep in peace too, but her basket is in our room with him!

[poshtottie]

Kent, I do know many couples whose other half goes to sleep in the spare room so they can get their rest, especially if they are having to get up for work.

It will get better. I still occasionally co-sleep with ds, not ideal as he disturbs my sleep.

[taxiservice]

You can't take responsibility for OH's sleep - he will find somewhere to sleep if he needs it I'm sure.

How about trying a new slate approach? You could let her sleep in your bed with you for a while, then gradually train her to sleep in her own bed.

She's probably still too young to manage without you. When she's gained more confidence about being on her own you can then start trying her back into her own space, which would probably be a cot-bed.

[BigBadMousey]

All three of mine have been like this - it does get easier honest! DS is 14wo and co-sleeps 100% of the time as it is the easiest for me.

DD2 was a nightmare (still is at 2.4). Swaddling didn;t work for her at all - she knew what was going on. Try the rocking stand if you can afford to. With my DD2 the only thing that worked was to wear a tshirt all day (like Poshtottie) and let her sleep on it in her cot. She still carries the tshirt everwhere with her to this day. MOses baskets didn;t work for us even when they did eventually get to sleep as they would wake if they touched the sides. DD1 went straight into a cotbed at 2 weeks .

At her age you just have to go with the flow - don't worry about your DH, if he is very tired and has the opportunity to sleep he'll sleep!

[yummymummy1405]

With my 2 they both slept in the bed with us until they had gotten over that stage of needing cuddles all night long with dd she was in with us till 8weeksish then her Moses waking once and now her cot going thro from 7. Cuddle on demand theres no bad side effects are there?

[silver28]

Our DS (now 20 weeks) was like this while he was in our room. At 5 weeks we despaired and put him in his cot in his room room - it was only supposed to be for an hour or so but he slept really well that night, and every night thereafter. He's in the next room to us and I do hear him as soon as he starts crying or coughing or whatever. It means i have to get out of bed to see to him, but i did that even when he was in our room.

You may prefer to keep your DD in your room, as i know many people do (and i had intended to for much longer). It's just worth considering, as we found things improved massively and i've since spoken to other people who have found the same thing.

[BigBadMousey]

Yes I agree with Silver - sometimes that works. We all got a better night's sleep when we moved DD1 into her own room at 2wo. Was hard to do but we all benefitted so much I don't regret it.