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Original poster

Two month old baby won't settle to sleep in his cot.

16 replies

bauble99 · 29/12/2006 20:32

We have tried and tried and I'm now not sure what to do!

He's breastfeeding on demand, at the moment this seems to be about five hourly. He's been spending his evenings with us in his carseat downstairs (I know this isn't good - but it's either that or he's upstairs crying and waking the other Bubble Boys) until I take him upstairs for an 11pmish feed when he'll settle quite happily in bed with us to sleep through until about 4-5am when he'll wake for a feed.

We've tried again tonight to bathe, feed and settle him upstairs but he's still crying and I'm about to bring him downstairs again. Help!!!

When do they settle and sleep in a cot? I should know as I have three other children, but I can't remember.

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mummytosteven · 29/12/2006 20:35

Maybe he feels the cot is a bit too big for him - maybe swaddling would help? I didn't transfer DS fully from Moses basket to cot until about 4 or 5 months, and started off with the Moses Basket in the cot.

LadyTophamHatt · 29/12/2006 20:36

I have no idea either bubble but, do you know what??
i'd just carry on doing the co-sleeping thing if I were you.

Yes, it's no ideal but it bloody lovely IMO

asleep · 29/12/2006 20:38

DS (6m) did fall asleep in his cot a few times, but i still cuddle him to sleep downstairs and go put him in his cot. i like it, he likes it and i can't leave him to cry. you do what works

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Original poster

bauble99 · 29/12/2006 20:39

Thanks, I'll give the swaddling a go, MTS.

I got rid of our Moses basket as none of my boys would ever settle in it.

Mr Bubble has just brought him downstairs and he stopped crying the second he was picked up and is now being held by Mr B and beaming.

I give up!

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DizzyBinterWonderland · 29/12/2006 20:41

my dd is now 7 months, at 2 months she slept in her moses basket and we just kept her downstairs with us until we went to bed around 11 ish and we carried her up with us. her basket sat at the end of our bed. we didn't even attempt bed times and settling and all that until she was at least 3 months. she just fed and fed and fed until she was totally zonked.

could he maybe be hungry? just a thought, 5 hourly feeds does sound like a big gap. dd was on 3 hourly at that stage. plus she cluster fed for at least an hour from 6 til 7pm or even 8pm. but of course every baby is different.

cruisemum1 · 29/12/2006 20:45

bauble - hello! 5 hourly feedings at such a young age are a bit infrequent imo. Could you try feeding him more frequently? that may make it easier for him to settle earlier? My lo (16 weeks) has only just gone to 3 hourly feedings. As for car seat sleeping, this is not recommended for more than two hours at a time so maybe you could put him in a buggy/moses basket downstairs with you until you feel he has totally gone to sleep. My ds does not settle himself to sleep yet. I am still exclusively bf and that is the way he falls asleep at night. (rod for my own back I know.... . I fret over him settling himself but for now it is the way it is. I too have a dd (age 9) and I cannot remember anything from her babyhood!! Must be a symptom of pregnancy and motherhood. Enjoy your lo. One mor thing, Once I have put lo upstairs, I don't ever bring him down again. I feed/settle him upstairs with dim lighting - that way I feel he will not think that the day has started all over again. hth

Original poster

bauble99 · 29/12/2006 20:46

asleep. That's the thing! I fed and cuddled him to sleep upstairs earlier and he was asleep when he went into the cot but woke about ten minutes later and cried. Not windy either.

Maybe he just likes hanging out downstairs?

LTH. I love the co-sleeping thing. Mr Bubble is not so keen as he's worried about squashing him and also, ahem...misses his wife. Not there's much chance of any action at the moment, as we are too knackered to follow the advice to.... "Try being adventurous in other rooms/areas."

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Original poster

bauble99 · 29/12/2006 20:50

Thanks Dizzy and cruise. I'll try upping his feeds and reducing the time between. I must say that when he wakes after five hours for a feed he is starving so making sure that he's really well fed in the evening should help.

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myrrhthamoo · 29/12/2006 20:54

Maybe it's a bit quiet upstairs? You could try the white noise thing - an 'untuned' radio or even a tuned radio, turned very low. Mind you, ds1 would never settle in his cot - and I did all the putting something that smelled of me in it (like a nightie), and pre-warming it with a hot water bottle, and swaddling, and putting him in the carry cot inside the cot...he wasn't having any of it. The only place he would settle was being held - or co-sleeping. I wouldn't fret too much if it's easier at this stage just to have him downstairs/co-sleep...he's still very tiny.

Is he really two months ? Awwwwww

Original poster

bauble99 · 29/12/2006 21:01

Moo. You're right. We'll just go with the flow, I reckon. And he'll be my last baby (I think ) so I should make the most of it.

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myrrhthamoo · 29/12/2006 21:03

You should Says me who's not doing the whole sleepless nights/baby sick/colic/can't find time to brush my teeth thing and can smile benevolently at the idea of new babies while peering myopically through my lovely rose tinted glasses...

LadyTophamHatt · 29/12/2006 21:23

Oh oh oh oh yes...try the noise thing!
Ds3 was nightmare to a settle and one day I was bathing the older 2 in almost silence to try and get baby ds3 to go to sleep alone, I turned on this pooh bear music thing I'd bought in an attempt to distract him/sooth him/entertain him/something/anything

He was sleeping before the song stopping.

He still has it now to go to bed at night and he's 3!!

mummymagic · 06/01/2007 23:24

I bought one of these on ebay for £40. Was AMAZING til she grew out of it at approx 6 mths. Or a bedside cot?

Now that our baby is older (now nearly 9mths) we put the bed to one side and she slept a couple of months (after the evening in the cot in her room) in our bed on MY side and dp spooned ME (so no fear of squashing). Would happily co-sleep forever but need our evenings back cos she stopped sleeping well (and dp not so keen) so have recently started encouraging baby to sleep on her own in the cot all night... You can change what you do at any time so just go with the flow and enjoy your baby I reckon!

Twinklemegan · 06/01/2007 23:31

My DS is five months and we've only recently got him to reliably settle in his cot (she says listening to DS whinging upstairs ).

We have a bedside cot which was an absolute godsend during the night until we moved him to his own room a few days ago. The only problem is that if you want to use it as a bedside cot then your LO can't go to bed until you do. We used to put him in it with the side up, then when he had his feed at our bedtime one of us would slide the side under and put the cot against our bed then. As he got older, we would leave the cot intact and away from the bed and just move it to the bedside if he had an unsettled night. I would highly recommend it.

However, that doesn't solve the initial problem of settling him in the cot. I think you just have to perservere - we spent months having to settle him down with us and attempting to put him down already asleep, with mixed success. I think two months is too early to leave him to cry himself to sleep. We resorted to this a couple of weeks ago though and it has been very successful in the main. Good luck!

mummymagic · 06/01/2007 23:37

Yes, that's true. You are just getting to know your baby though so you will learn the best ways to settle to sleep in time, it is a learning process and amazing when you realise that you now know exactly how to settle him/her.

jeangenie · 07/01/2007 00:15

I found (of my two ) that one (the second) just settled really easily from the start, whereas the first never did (and still doesn't, we've just spent about 3 hours tring to get her to sleep alone upstairs, she is 4.5 now )

if we hadn't had DD2 i would have thought it was something we did wrong, but now I think some just do, and some (rather unfortunately it must be said) just don't

hopefully in your case he'll come round and get some sense soon, but in the meantime I'd just go with the flow

good luck

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