Aaagh, my newborn won't sleep in her basket.

[lalalonglegs]

My dd2 is 11 days old and it's all going fine except that, at night, she refuses to sleep in her Moses basket. I have been propping myself up in bed with pillows and sleeping with her in my arms but, this morning, I woke up and found her (a) sleeping face down on the mattress next to me (b) covered in quilt and boiling hot .

I'm exhausted - managed to coax dd1 and ds into crib by giving them dummy to settle them but dd2 not interested - any advice before I end up accidentally smothering her?

Not sure if I can help here but was she a big baby? My DS was 10lb 7oz and never got on in his crib (we didn't have a basket) because he was so massive he kept hitting his arms and legs on the sides and waking himself up! For the first couple of weeks though I did end up sitting up on the sofa with him asleep in my arms until he would sleep in the crib, and we moved him into his cot once he hit two months! Everyone was very much happier and getting a better nights sleep then.

Have you tried swaddling her before she's put in the basket? My ds used to hate his pram, there was too much space and he wanted to feel enclosed and safe. He's 9 now and likes to be wrapped up in his blankets, almost as if he's in a cocoon. Very odd. . You could try putting the basket on your bed so that she's next to you, then slowly move it.

My son was the same. Even if he was asleep he would wake up when we put him in. I used to sleep all night with him in my arms sometimes. He slept in bed with us for four years. He used to wear a sleeping bag and be on top of the quilt or between our heads on the pillow when he was very little (we had no central heating so he was more likely to be ice cold than too hot). You could try a summer quilt (4 tog). I was told by my midwife that cot death was less likely if he slept with us as long as we didn't drink/smoke because the baby is woken a little from a deep sleep by the parents turning over etc.
He is now a healthy 10 year old who still likes to come in for a cuddle when he wakes up. (usually at 7am these days!)

Have you tried swaddling? Mine are now nearly 11 and 8, but it worked with both of them.

Lala like everyone else I think swaddling is the way and if you put a nighty that you have worn but not washed next to her, your smell will be there and she might settle better.

I had the same problem with DD3, now 10 weeks and sleeping well in her moses basket. On the advice of a lovely MW we put a blanket and a (worn and unwashed) T-shirt of DH's underneath the bottom sheet, and also warmed the basket up with a hot water bottle before putting her in (obviously then taking the hot water bottle out). Although it's not so cold at night now, I still put the hot water bottle in for a short time to make it warm and cosy for her. HTH

Swaddle swaddle swaddle. And as lisac says, one of my tops in with her and warmed up with hot water bottle.

Agree with the swaddling idea but if that doesn't work and you end up with her in your bed there's a thing called a Snuggle Nest that JoJo Maman Bebe sell. It's a bit like a soft container with a baby mattress and high sides that allows you to pop the baby in the bed with you, but means quilt etc won't smother them. It's a bit pricey but might be helpful.

Our DS refused to lay flat at all for 6 weeks, so we ended up letting him sleep in his car seat. We laid it back a little, propprd with cushions, so he was sort of lying down.
He is now nine, and has no joint problems or anything else that HV's would shriek about.
You have ot be able to sleep to stay sane, so don't worry about the crib. Besides, makes it much easier to go and stay away because you are taking the car seat anyway!

Neither of my two would lie flat when they were tiny either. DC1 slept in a baby bouncer for the first 8 weeks or so. And DC2 slept in a buggy downstairs in the kitchen!, which virtually totally reclined but not quite. I think he liked the cave feeling in the buggy.

Do what you have to do to get some sleep yourself!!

We had this with DD2, also only at night. Eventually worked out it was a build up of wind over the day that bothered her when she was flat on her back.

You could try tilting the cot so head end is higher, and lots of winding..

By the way - lot of sympathy with the sleeping sitting up thing, I remember doing this for weeks. Watch out for doing nasty things to your tailbone - I found lots of back stretching exercises helped.

My ds is 7 weeks and we had similar problems. We bought a snuggle nest from JOJO Maman Bebe,which he spends part of the night in but since moving him into the cot last week he's been much more settled (touch wood). I also found that a grobag helped loads.

OOOO ben there! For me ds just grew out of it at about 5 weeks and by 10 weeks was sleeping through for 11 hours a night in his cot. He never really like the moses basket but he was very big and out grew it very early. I think it's normal for them to want to be cuddled all the time at this age. It's scary though cos you worry about bad habbits and things but for me it did stop on it's own, thank God!

Been there, not Ben there! lol!

OK, I'll give swaddling a go tonight and report back. Thanks for all the advice.

She wasn't going to be fobbed off with swaddling and smelly t-shirt. I will investigate snuggle nests...