Newborn wakes up after a few minutes in crib

[sarahb083]

DD is 5 weeks old and (theoretically) sleeps in a next 2 me crib. I rock her to sleep and then put her in the crib and she'll sleep for 10 minutes or so and then wake up and cry. If she falls asleep on or next to me though, she'll sleep for ages. Is there anything I can do to help her stay asleep in the next 2 me crib?

[FATEdestiny]

This is quite normal.

Several things make putting baby down easier, primarily:

• swaddling. This reduces external stimulation.
• dummy. Sucking is nature's natural way to sooth baby to sleep.
• physical contact. Putting baby down is an art. Lower down very slowly keeping baby in the cradle hold and close to your chest through out. As you pull away (slowly) replace the weight of your chest with your hand on baby's chest. Keep your hand quite firmly and heavily on baby's chest for a good 10-15 minutes before slowly removing.

[keeperswif]

Wear a T-shirt of your breastfeeding without a bra and put in the crib as a sheet (after wearing) baby's sense of smell at this age of mor developed than the others and will give some comfort, also slowly slowly down, leave a hand on the chest and off slowly so it's a gradual process,

[keeperswif]

Also got water bottle before put in so it's warm

[sarahb083]

Thank you! I'll try these

[NotOnMute]

It may just be that the baby isn’t ready to sleep without you right now - lots aren’t, at this age. If you google safe co-sleeping, you’ll see WHO advice on setting things up so you can co-sleep safely if all the tips above don’t work. You might not want to right now, but it’s good to have the option as the alternative (falling asleep with the baby in an unsafe setting such as a sofa) is much more risky. Personally I hated co-sleeping, but it was a bit better than listening to a crying baby so I occasionally did it in order to at least doze a bit when it was the middle of the night and nothing else had worked.