My 2 week old baby cries when put down?

[Andrea77245]

My two week old baby cries when put down, especially in his moses basket and will not sleep in there.
My partner will be going back to work soon and I need go work out a way to be able to put him down into his moses basket so I can get some sleep. Any ideas? It seems like he is not comfortable sleeping on his back as he will wake up no matter how settled he gets on my chest.
Also everyone who had this problem with their newborns how long did this stage last?

Sorry, but this is completely normal for a lot of newborns. It’s a survival thing. Read up about the 4th trimester if you haven’t already. Some people have some success with the 5s approach (swaddle, settle on side, shh-ing, swaying and sucking ie a dummy) but none of it worked for us. DS only slept in the sling or my arms. My advice would be to embrace the vast amounts of rest you can actually get with a newborn asleep on you whilst not actually sleeping yourself. Ensure nights are split as much as possible with your partner so you can get a good chunk of sleep at some point. Your body will get used to the reduced sleep pretty quickly, although it is really hard.

It took months for DS to be put down, but he was particularly tricky. But you potentially still have weeks of this ahead of you with a 2 week old. Alter your expectations now would be my recommendation.

Everything that the above poster said is great guidance.
Another tip is pre-heating the Moses basket with a hot water bottle before putting them down (removing the hwb first and making sure it's not too warm) - health visitor gave that tip and it worked sometimes for us.

As for how long it will last...who knows. A friend's baby it was like a switch flipped at 6 weeks and he started sleeping through pretty much straight away. But for me it was a gradual progression.

By about 12 weeks he would normally go down for 4ish hours + 2ish hours at night and I had a 50/50 chance of being able to put him down during the day for a short nap. The rest of the time sling, pram, car, chest.

I've decided sleep when the baby sleeps is the worst advice people give new mums

Definitely try swaddling if you haven't already. Going from vertical on your chest to horizontal on his back can trigger a startle reflex which can wake him up. A swaddle prevents that from happening.

Also, make sure you've burped him really well before putting him down. It's really difficult and can be painful for babies to burp on their backs. Some breastfed babies might not need burping, but both of mine have.

For daytimes can you get a comfortable sling? That way you can still get things done even if LO won't go down in his basket (it's not as restful for you, though).

To be honest though, it just depends on the baby. My first would not be put down for a good month or so and after that it would take multiple attempts to get him down any time apart from the very start of the night. My second is two months old now and from about a week onwards, as long as he's sleepy, fed, burped and swaddled and in a clean nappy I can pretty much plonk him in his moses basket and off he goes. Maybe this is partly down to experience but it's at least partly just him, and I've got friends whose first babies have slept well and subsequent ones not so well.

I'm sorry if that's depressing, but it can help to know it's nothing you're doing. Everything changes around 4 months anyway and even some of the good sleepers get rubbish. (Eyeing DS2 suspiciously here)

It was exactly the same with my DS. Things improved around 10 weeks. We tried baby massage which I think eased wind / tummy troubles and also Infacol - but I’m not sure whether it was either of those things that made a difference, or just time.

It’s really really hard… DS is 18 months now but I still vividly remember trying desperately not to fall asleep in the wee hours while he slept soundly on my chest.

I've decided sleep when the baby sleeps is the worst advice people give new mums.

@Andthenanothercupoftea isn't it just! And the worst question people can ask new mums (which I had numerous times in the first few weeks) is 'do you have a routine yet?' Most my friends with babies didn't have anything resembling a routine until at least 4-6 months, and even then it was ever changing. I know it's just people making conversation, but it doesn't half make you question yourself at a time when you're questioning just about everything.

Sorry to say OP but I have an 11wo that won't be put down in a crib unless already asleep. And this is only at night time (only happened twice in the day). And night times are in no way guaranteed.

Day naps are currently either; contact naps after feeding or rocking to sleep, or in the carrier. Some success in the car seat. More often than not feed to sleep at night.

Honestly I had no idea how hard it would be to get a baby to sleep. Suspect this is why there are so many 'sleep consultants' out there, although the vast majority IMO just serve to reinforce your insecurities (but low and behold have a £99.99 sleep plan - AKA variation on cry it out - to fix them).

Have you tried cosleeping on a mattress on the floor? Or climbing into the cot to nurse him to sleep?

Or, better still, we use a £70 Costway playpen that is just the right size to fit a double mattress.