Flailing arms, hates being swaddled

[Bookwolf32]

I have a 7 week old who up til now I have rocked and held to sleep during the day. Physically, this is no longer possible - even with a sling I am in too much discomfort. Today I started putting her in her basket at signs of sleepiness. The first sleep I just patted gently and she went off with only moany crying, her next sleep she wouldn't settle at all until I gave her a dummy, but the problem is she sucks, falls asleep and then either her arms jerk about and wake her up or she drops the dummy and immediately starts crying. She hates being swaddled, simply makes her very angry. Any tips?

I have always bf my dd to sleep, so am not in a position of strength giving advice here, but I did notice you said she jerks her arms and wakes herself - is the Moses basket getting too small for her and she is hitting the sides? If so, would she settle better in her cot? Just a thought.

My baby jerks her arms too. They only do it as they drop off, so if you put her down and hold her body and arms until they relax, you can then slowly put her arms by her sides.

Dummy one harder I am afraid. My dd wouldn't take one so no tips!

Thanks for comments. Yes, possibly basket is getting a little small. I was hoping it would last until 6 months as we can't fit a cot in our room.

Ds also hated swaddling and I could never get him to just drop off lying down without a feed. He also used to do that jerky arms thing even at 5 mo, I think he just didn't feel safe, even lying on the bleeding floor.

We used to put him in the sling bung on the same music and rock him to sleep.

What kind of sling have you got? Stretchy wrap is really good, make sure the material is stretched evenly over your shoulders, not bunched up.

My ds did the same thing at that age. He hated being swaddled and also being put in a sling which was difficult as many people told me to do both but it just never worked with him. The jerky arm thing seemed to stop when I put him in a cot. His arms seemed to hit the sides of his Moses basket when he was in there and this is what woke him rather than the movement itself. He was in his cot by 6 weeks in our room as he's a big lad and the basket was just far too small for him. Placing a little blanket over him when asleep seemed to help too.

Could you try a gliding crib in your room? Smaller than cot but bigger than Moses basket. I have one from John Lewis that's good. I know it's another expense for something that will be used only for a short time but both my DCs liked it. Anything that aids sleep is worth it IMO!

Thanks for all the suggestions. I finally went a little hardline and gave up on the dummy as it seemed counterproductive, DD has now found her hand and today cried half-heartedly while sucking her hand and after 20 mins fell asleep and even the odd jerking arm didn't seem to be disturbing her, she's now been asleep for 30 mins, yay!