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How to get 5 week old to sleep in his own cot after sharing our bed?

10 replies

CatDean · 22/01/2009 09:30

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CantSleepWontSleep · 22/01/2009 09:41

What has worked for us? Relaxing about it and waiting til he's older to try it. Sorry!

Wisknit · 22/01/2009 09:57

I just co-slept. Sorry to not be more helpful but I have found it the easiest thing to do and fully intend to when this next bubba turns up.
They won't (hopefully) be in your bed forever and some babies just need the comfort and security of having a big bod mear them.

finecheese · 22/01/2009 10:07

Hola, just keep trying. Eventually he'll grow in to it altho my little boy didn't till he was 12 weeks. Or actually, with my little girl who was a premmy we swaddled her really tightly - obviously she fought it to start with but it totally worked and she slept more easily and everything. Maybe give that a go? good luck xxx

Hopefully · 22/01/2009 10:19

Swaddling worked for us, and just gently trying at every single sleep and nap time. If he didn't do it, I held him (and screeched silently to myself with frustration). Eventually he went down in the cot for about one sleep in 3.

I also tried to always send him to sleep by shhhhing and patting, even if I was holding him, and avoid rocking him while I was holding him if possible, so that he associated the shhh/pat with sleep and eventually dozed off in the cot while I was doing it. And I moved from putting him in the cot totally asleep to only just asleep, then just awake, and so on.

Also, something that I only tried a bit later but improved things loads was putting him in the cot while he was awake, with a mobile or just playing with him. Don't know if it made the cot seem more familiar or what?

I absolutely refused to co-sleep (even now I have a baby I'm a v heavy sleeper, and was too terrified to go to sleep if he was in the bed, which wasn't exactly making it a worthwhile exercise), so it was worth persevering for me. However, if you're only putting him in his cot because you feel you 'have' to, and you're comfortable co sleep, try not to worry about creating a rod for your own back and all those other cliches - plenty of people manage to gently move their DCs into their cots at 2, 3, 5, 6 months and so on, without needing to use CC.

CatDean · 22/01/2009 10:20

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Hopefully · 22/01/2009 10:20

Oh, and I always did one walk in the pushchair a day, without even attempting to get him in the cot, so I knew he wasn't getting over tired from starting his nap late.

CatDean · 22/01/2009 10:25

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lisac · 22/01/2009 10:25

We had this recently with DC3. Try putting an unwashed T-shirt of your DPs under the sheet (nice familiar smell, but no food associations), and warm the cot with a hot water bottle before you put your baby down (obviously don't leave the hot water bottle in). This worked for us, with a bit of perseverence.

Good luck!

CatDean · 22/01/2009 10:34

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finecheese · 22/01/2009 13:12

I know CatDean, I have to say the whole swaddling thing freaked me out to begin with but as our second babe was 5 wks early and I had no sleep for 4 months, I eventually hired a night nanny for two nights. I have to say it was AMAZING - i felt like an angel had come to rescue us all. Anyway... it was her who persevered with the swaddling and said to me 'she is a baby, you are a grown up, you are stronger than she is so be tough' scary, but wise words. If it helps to know and I'm sure you've heard it a million times - it'll all be alright and you will get sleep eventually but for for the next few weeks it'll be bloody knackering probably xxx

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