Getting a 6 day old to settle in moses???

[Honeymoonmummy]

Please help! I have a 6 day old (first baby) and I'm breastfeeding. She will fall asleep next to me or in my arms after feeding but when I try to put her in the moses she's just waking up and screaming for another feed. I've tried then picking her up to settle her by rocking etc but she just wants milk, she will settle in someone elses arms, but again she will not settle in the moses. PLEASE HELP!!!

Hve you tried putting something of yours int he basket, maybe wrap a t-shirt over matress so that it smells of you and wrapping/swaddling her in ablanket whilst cuddling her and before putting her down so she doesn't loose that nice warm feeling - think the cool sheets can sometimes be a bit of a shock! Both of these tricks worked with mine. Hope this helps - if i think of anything else will let you know.

Congratulations! Are you managing to get all the wind up after feeding? Babies tend not to settle flat (i.e. a moses basket, cot) when they need to burp. Good luck.

Honeymoonmummy, you may not want to hear this. Neither of my children slept in a crib or a moses basket. Both slept virtually exclusively on an adult for the first 3 weeks. I honestly believe that the crappy plasticated matress that comes with them is cold, hard and uncomfortable. Got my second a cot much earlier, with the most expensive matress I could afford, and propped it up at one end with loads of books to help with reflux.

Congratulations, and this phase will pass...

I swaddled tightly and then lay baby in moses basket.

Forgot to put that before putting in moses basket I fed baby until they went to sleep. Once asleep put in moses basket.

my DD was like rempy's. Never ever slept in her moses basket. Sorry!

I gently pre-heated the mattress with a hot water bottle before he went in (already sleepy, mind you). This stoped him being startled by transition from warm arms to cold basket. so I believe anyway...

Swaddling also helpful thomore so when he is overtired, rather than just not wanting to be put in basket.

Is it that she won't settle in the moses or won't lie flat on her back. I had 2 like that. DS2 ended up sleeping on his side. When ds3 was born and would also only sleep on my stomach face down I bought an amby hammock. It was a marvel!

You will still be establishing your supply at this point, very normal to fee for hours and hours in a day and not want to be put down. Sorry I know this is probably not what you want to hear....

I used to feed mine on a pillow and then put him and the pillow into the moses basket.

I second the Amby - amazing!
We also used a moses basket though and I found swaddling the key - have you tried? Nice and tight seems to work best.

What's an Amby hammock?
[feels stupid for asking - pg with 3rd!)
And I take it they are good?

ok, just looked up the Amby hammock online.
Looks fab - i'd quite like one of those to sleep in myself!
MIght be good if the next baby has reflux too (like DD2 - hellish).
Quick question: was it difficult to make the move from the Amby to a normal cot at 9 months or whenever?
(sorry - hijack!)
Might go and start another thread!

Honeymoonmummy - I have had 2 babies so far and can't really offer any sensible advice other than to warm the moses basket first, put in a blanket that smells of you (keep it in your bed with you for a couple of nights first), or try a natural lambskin for the baby to sleep on. (I used to swaddle first in a cotton sheet quite tight). I was bought a lambskin and put DD1 directly on it to sleep in her moses basket - they are so thick and snuggly and research shows babies sleep better on them. (warm in winter and cool in summer too). Mine was from John Lewis I think - they stock them on the shelves in amongst the cot sheets and stuff (or at least in Edinburgh they used to!). You can wash them on a gentle wash cycle if they get puked on.
(couldn't use it with DD2 as too much reflux so everything was constantly covered in puke) which was a shame as I'm sure she would have benefited.
But still, I'd give a lambskin a try. So soft and cosy, much nicer than lying on a stiff moses basket mattress!
Or indeed invest in one of those Amby hammock things - they look a bit bizarre but very cosy and bouncy!
Good luck x

At 6 days old she still has a desperate need for physical contact. She has just spent the last 9 months in your belly, don't expect her to make the transition to seperate in less than a week.

Put the moses basket away, buy a sling and let other people hold and rock her. There is nothing wrong with her being held this much, it won't spoil her or any of the other old wives tals we are told. Take advantage of this excuse to sit on the sofa all day and cuddle/hold/feed your baby, in the blink of an eye she'll be crawling under the tv......

The simple answer is, if she cries when you put her in the moses basket, stop putting her in it!!

DS3 moved into a cot without problem when he was 10 months. For the first couple of nights he tried to bounce himself back to sleep when he woke, but he soon learned. I would have kept in there longer but he was trying to turn so had to move.

,"if she cries when you put her in the moses basket, stop putting her in it!!"

It's not always that simple though. I had a c-section with ds2 and ds3 both of whom would only sleep on my stomach (lying on theirs). It meant that I could barely move in the morning as my scar had kind of seized together from lying in one position all night. I had to get them off me at night.

At 6 days old she will still need the security of you near her and the feeling of the womb snugness. Try a sling, which will help stimulate milk as well as you can b'feed whilst she's in it.

my ds always cried when we put him in his moses basket, took us a while to suss out that he was much happier in his big cot even though he looked so tiny in it! some babies are very snuggly but others like mine really like their own space and I think the moses basket was just too cramped for him!! he's now 4 and still likes to have a lot of air around him when he's sleeping so it's just what he's like! something to try anyway, good luck.

A vote here for swaddling.

But she is only 6 days old, so don't worry too much and try not to get stressed. I'm sure all you want to do is have a shower, put some washing on, just do something. Also be aware that the euphoria wears off about now and exhaustion might be kicking in. Its quite a tricky time emotionally, so take extra care of yourself.

But I finally learnt (by DC4) that you need to give your life over to them for the first 6 weeks at least (OK, forever, but one step at a time!) So, if you can take yourself off to bed, or sit on the sofa and do nothing but feed and gaze at your baby, then that would be quite good. 6 weeks is a first milestone, so things do get a wee bit easier. Aim to have a shower and clean your teeth each day. (I'm being serious here!)

These are precious days, but the hardest too. Take it easy, and enjoy them. Good luck

I'd agree with the swaddling and also feed DD swaddled so that when she goes into the moses basket she will still feel warm and not touch the cool matress/sheet. Also, as another MNer said above, she might not like being flat on her back - we used to prop one end of the moses basket with a couple of books so that it was slightly angled.

All that said, it is so true that they just want the close contact with you to start with so just go with it and know that it won't last forever. I was worried with my DC's that by letting them sleep with/on me to start with that I'd be letting myself in for years of co-sleeping but they both got better at about 6 weeks.

Oh, and I know 6 weeks probably sounds like light years away at this point (that's how I felt anyway) but it does go amazingly quickly.

Neither ds or dd would sleep in the bedside crib we had for them. But they did learn to settle in a pram - I bought a proper sleep mattress for it, and I think they found it quite cosy. They both slept there for about the first 12 weeks (I used the sling for outside trips) and then were happy to move into a cot.

I also found that swaddling and warming the mattress helped. Good luck!

Swaddle. Also, what we did was to put 2 rolled up little blankets down the sides of the moses basket (from her waist to her feet) to make her feel more secure. We also got a sleeping bag when she was about 3 weeks old as she kept kicking off all her blankets.

Swaddle. Also, what we did was to put 2 rolled up little blankets down the sides of the moses basket (from her waist to her feet) to make her feel more secure. We also got a sleeping bag when she was about 3 weeks old as she kept kicking off all her blankets.

I tried swaddling DS but it made no difference - if anything he fought to get his arms free. DD loved sleeping in moses basket and it came as a huge shock when DS would not settle. After 9 fraught nights of bed sharing, sleeping in bouncy chair and pram we gave up, rearranged the bedroom and brought the cot in. He settled like an angel!
Apparently some babies simply do not feel secure in a moses basket. If I were you I would def try a night in the cot and compare the results x