Newborn sleep

[graysor]

Hi folks
So yesterday I brought ds home from the hospital at 2 days old. He’s doing fine. But obviously is not keen on sleeping in his crib.

We’ve got a bedside crib, but as I’m not too mobile yet after a emergency c section it’s not actually set up as next to bed yet. It’s just parked close by.

Every time we put him down in it last night he just woke straight up crying straight away so dh and I basically did shifts holding him. Clearly this is not sustainable (we have 2.9 yo dd to deal with too) and I’m worried we’ll fall asleep holding him in a totally non safe way.

Any tips on putting him down, or a safe set up for co sleeping that’s post c section friendly?

Thanks

Hi OP,

Are you breastfeeding? If so, you could try co sleeping, but I'd only recommend it if it's you and baby only in the bed.

Safest position is the recovery position. Remove all pillows and duvets, swaddle baby or put them in a baby sleeping bag an a blanket for yourself no higher than mid waist, and have babies head at boob level.

Being in the recovery position with your arm out above where babies head is means you can't roll over. Being close to you and being able to feed in demand should mean your baby is more settled.

If you're worried about it speak to your health visitor, the above was what was recommended to me by a lactation consultant and in those first few months it was only thing that got my baby to sleep.

It's a hard time, but you'll get through it. Good luck

Thanks motherof. I’m breastfeeding so that’s what I’d been thinking, the problem is a lack of a spare bed to evict dh to!

He might just have to lump it on the sofa!

My friends had this, they tried a grosnug i think it is...it has arms and legs and their little boy slept straight away in it!

Hi OP,

Firstly congratulations! I had a C-section also and basically I just woke my OH up every time our DD needed feeding and he would help me sit up and then pass her to me. And then of course he would put her back in the crib also if I couldn't manage. Sounds like a faff but it worked really well for us for the first few weeks whilst I was healing. He also did all the nappies. Meant we all slept for 2-3 hour stints at a time through the night!

Best of luck to you.

Swaddled?

Cosmoa - thanks!
Dh is happy to help lifting ds in and out. The problem is what to do when he wakes up crying when he puts him back in the crib.

Could try swaddling, he seems very twitchy so might be helpful.

Swaddling saved me and my ds. Wish I'd tried it sooner.

We tried swaddling last night. Didn’t seem to make any difference at all. Ds still just howled whenever he was put in the crib.

Instead I kicked dh out and we co-slept. Ds seemed much happier to sleep next to me in the bed. Although how that’s different from next to me in the crib I don’t really know!

Hmm I'm not really sure what else to suggest. Co-sleeping might be the only answer for you, which is the case for many people! I guess we were just lucky as our 4 month old girl has been happy with the next2me from the start.

For the first few nights we were sleeping downstairs and she was being put in the carry cot. Maybe that helped her get used to sleeping 'on her own'..

Hope you settle with a situation you're happy with soon ❤️ sorry I'm not much help!

We had same problem with both of ours. Cosleeping solved it. First time dh slept on the floor for first few nights as he didn’t want to go in another room. Second time more relaxed and we had king size bed so all slept in there together. Just keep quilt out of the way and baby well away from pillows, super easy to feed lying down on your side. Second time we tried dd back in next2me crib after a few nights and she was fine to be put down, so keep trying!