Urgent advice needed: Moses basket!

[Lizzietow]

Hi- my 3 week old just won't sleep in her Moses basket, only next to me. I'm so tired I feel sick as I can't sleep much then. I can put her down when she's well away and she wakes up within seconds. Have tried putting an old t shirt of mine in so it smells of me, putting different cost blankets in, settling her with a dummy- nothing works!

Help- I'm going insane!

And how do you feel about co-sleeping?

If your bedroom is big enough to fit a cot in, take one side off, put it right beside the bed with the mattress at the same height as yours, then when she falls asleep you can shunt her over without waking her, or sleep holding hands or with your hand on her tummy. It's the only thing that kept me sane in the early weeks! Good luck.

Sending sympathies! I had/have the same issue. DS is now 6-weeks and in the beginning would only sleep on-top of me/DH in bed or if i waited until he was in deep sleep before putting him down. I read that babies are in REM for about 15 minutes so wait a while before attempting to put them down (and the basket was next to me in bed).

Now he's starting to settle more in his basket (so it might be an age thing) but not always!

If you can make co-sleeping work for you then this is a good way forward, its not quite as daunting as it appears!

Good luck and I hope things get better xx

One thing both my kids did was when I set them down they'd flap their arms around, which woke them up.

So I would set them down asleep then gently hold their arms till they are totally settled (usually took a minute or so).

I sometimes co-sleep, sometimes not. Is all a bit of trial and effort till you figure out what works for you & your LO.

Can you pick it up (does it have handles?) and swing it gently? Used to find that settled dd1 at first.

Swaddling ? Worked for mine.

However both mine HATED the Moses basket and slept tons better in their big cots.

Neither of mine would sleep in the basket until 6-7 weeks - I had them in my bed until then.

If you test their arm is floppy when picked up, before moving a sleeping baby, it's more likely to work.

Some good ideas there- I've tried swaddling and she hates it! But I'll try holding her hands to her chest/waiting until she's in deep sleep. Someone suggested feeding her on the Moses basket mattress then moving the whole thing. Could try that.

Ps I'm not against co sleeping but I don't sleep so well myself as I'm worried about her falling out etc!

Don't worry, first of all - it's perfectly normal. It is exactly the sort of thing that your DP can help out with though - no reason she shouldn't sleep on his chest in the evening not yours so you can get a solid chunk of sleep. She's old enough now to try a bottle too, so you could express enough for him to do at least one feed so you don't have to wake up. If you can go to bed at 8 and not have to wake up until midnight you'll feel better.

During the day a sling may also be very handy as she can sleep in it on you during the day and you won't feel so pinned down.

That's very good advice zuleika- thank-you! She probably will settle to it. I can't remember how long it took with my first! It's funny what you forget.

Ps she already does take a bottle luckily- I usually get DP to give her this about 10ish so I can get an hour or two in.

We had this problem and the HV suggested a few things which helped. Swaddling helped for us (when the weather wasn't too hot) and also the trick of holding their arms gently to stop them flailing around. Also, slightly raising the head end of the moses basket up so baby is not totally flat. Warming the basket first with a hot water bottle before putting baby in (obv don't have the HWB in with the baby!). But she would never really go down without falling deeply asleep on me first then transferring her.

I had this too - is she happier on her side perhaps? For my DD the issue was she really hated being put down on her back, so I used to put her on her side then roll her over on to her back when she was deeply asleep. She pretty quickly adjusted and was fine in the basket from then on. It will get better soon.

Try rolled towels either side of he so she can't move about too much. Really helped my DD. That and tilting it slightly so she wasn't flat..

Also try laying her on a muslin while feeding and then lay her on thT in the basket. The smell/warmth helps I think

Hello everyone, my daughter is nearly 6 weeks and we are having trouble getting her into the moses basket at night. She is 6 pounds 9 and quite small and someone suggested we buy something to put into the moses basket to 'pack her in more' as she might feel the basket too big for her. I dont know the name of such a product. Does anyone know this? Thanks in advance Bec x

I think what you're after is a sleep positioner, google them and you'll see lots of options. However there are also some newspaper stories that come up saying they are dangerous so do a bit of research before you buy. Here is one: www.safetots.co.uk/Nursery-&-Sleeping/Sleeping-Positional-Aids/c87_101/p369/Delta-Baby-Back-to-Sleep/product_info.html?osCsid=kklhbhcr4n0lilbrs6cdc53506

My DD use to do the same. The only thing that worked was to warm the sheet before puting her in the basket.

Thank you that is great. Will look into the sleeppositioner. Hope you all have a Happy Christmas. Bec x