Sleeping with DD in on chest..

[CJ1990]

I no I shouldn’t be doing it but pure exhaustion means it’s the only way I get any sleep 😢

She’s now 6 weeks and since she hit 5 weeks her sleeping seems to have gone backwards. She’s so awake all thr time and nothing seems to make her sleepy. So it is taking hours to get her sleepy and when we do she just wakes up when we put her in the next to me we have.

When she was first born me and the husband used to take shifts so one would stay up and watch her while the other slept. But he has gone back to work so that’s no longer possible. Plus she had a week or two of being ok!

The only way seems to be letting her fall asleep on my chest. I’ve tried to move her to the crib after a bit but she just wakes and screams the house down.

Feel like I’m doing something wrong :( like I should be able to send my daughter to sleep rather than battling with her for hour. She isn’t up crying, just wide awake!

And I know it’s not safe to keep sleeping on my back with her on my chest, but I need sleep so I can be awake enough to look after her properly in the day.

Just don’t know what to do :(

This is exactly what my little girl did from about 6 weeks, wouldn't settle in the Moses basket and only would laid on my chest which tbh isn't the best solution with a sleep deprived new mummy. What would she do if she laid on your chest and then when she fell asleep you have her co sleeping with you??
This is what we did, I'll probably get slated for recommending but it it's done safely, no duvet, she sleeps cocooned by you, don't be drunk etc - this is what we did then out of the blue I tried her in the Moses basket and she slept like a dream.
I just think new babies need and want to be near their mummy, they've been kept warm by us for 9 months and think it's just how they roll
She will 'grow' out of it, just might be a bit tough just yet
Good luck x

It’s hard isn’t it? Mine is now 17 weeks and it does get easier. You have to do what you have to do to get some sleep. Could your husband take a shift at the beginning of the night to allow you to bank some sleep if you went to bed early? What sort of crib is it? Any sort of a side by side bed/sidecar cot can be easier to get them in to without waking them. We found the sleepyhead a lifesaver but it’s not cheap and you have to make a judgement call on the safety- I figured it was safer than a tired mum. Have you tried music? Bizarrely DS2 likes to have reggae playing in the background- we discovered that completely by accident. They are the best ideas I have at the moment but I’ll see if I can think of others.

No advice but watching with interest as my DS is the same at 5 weeks old - I cannot get him to sleep anywhere other than on my chest, night and day, and it’s so wearing. I feel your pain

I don't think I really slept for the first few weeks. DS slept on my chest most of the time. I did what I could to make it safe ... There wasn't much else I could do!

I used to do the same and feel guilty about it - that I shouldn't be, she should be in crib etc. But I'd say to just enjoy the snuggly cuddles as it won't last forever!

I've got a 5 week old and he's the same tbh although sometimes I can put him down once he's asleep thankfully

I know it's not advisable but I have on occasion allowed him to sleep on my chest during the night, simply because I'm so exhausted I can't function. I'm not concerned I'd squash or suffocate him because I'm a very light sleeper but I am concerned I may drop him so I've laid as flat as possible so he's less likely to roll off and put cushions around me to catch him if he does

I'd never forgive myself if something happened to him but you do reach a level of exhaustion where you're not safe to care for them either so I totally understand how you feel. You just have to weigh up the risk against the benefits and make your own personal decision really

It is so difficult. Please read the leaflet below about how to cosleep safely

www.dur.ac.uk/resources/isis.online/pdfs/ISIS_bed-sharing_2014.pdf

Mine did, I still cosleep with my 1 year old now though. As long as you’re following safe sleep guidelines it’s no less safe. In my case my husband was banished to the spare room, duvet off, exclusively breastfed, not overdressed, no smoking or drinking by anyone in the house etc.

Yea exactly, I’d rather fall asleep with her when I no I’m doing it and can make it as safe as possible. I figure the only way she will roll is right into the middle of the bed, possibly into husband but she’d need a proper rolll! Or left into her next to me. Again, would need to proper roll for that! Feel that’s better than falling asleep with her in the day on the sofa or something when I’m exhausted. I can put her next to me in the bed but then I do worry about rolling into her. I’d wake up if she rolled off me. Plus I lay super flat!

I guess we got to do what we can to get throough! Sounds like it’s normal. Just odd I could get her down until she hit 5 weeks!

I did the same. You can really prop yourself up to prevent rolling on her, I used a maternity pillow and sh1t loads of cushions so basically sat up but managed a few hours of light sleep. Better than nothing! One day she will just go down in Moses basket, I promise. She's used to the womb remember so must be scary! She will get there.

I spent 2 weeks from 5 to 7 weeks sat up.in a recliner chair with her supported by cushions to prevent rolling with her on my chest

Have you tried co sleeping? Remove pillows and sleep on your side with baby nestled in - not between you and partner. Not recommended if you smoke, drink, take any medications but it's safer than using cushions and pillows while baby sleeps on your chest. Hope you get some sleep soon.

Just remembered we used to play 'sounds of the womb' video from YouTube and that helped her in the Moses basket
Just wait while you go on holiday and she sleeps in a travel cot for a week then refuses point blank to go back in the Moses basket 🙈🙈
It'll just happen, you do as you can just to get any kind of sleep, where does she nap in the day? If she's 'secure' there as in not on the sofa, kitchen table 😉 etc you get your head down then

I co slept properly because of this second time around. I nearly killed myself with exhaustion the first time trying to get ds in the cot.

So second time I set myself up properly with dd next to me. I also learned to feed lying down. Life became marginally easier!

I had to sleep like this with my first. I used to lie slightly propped with a hand on his bottom and the other on his head to stop his head turning. I think we did it for a few weeks.
Then we co slept for while. Two years I think
I would make the bed safe so no pillow a bed guard (if side sleeping cots existed back then I would have used that as the bed guard) and baby in a sleeping bag, me with my own blanket so no danger of pulling the duvet over him.
My partner didn't live with me though so there was plenty of room.

DS1 was a dream sleeper. Literally the dream text-book baby who slept for 12 hours a night solid from 12 weeks. This led me into a false sense of security, and made me think that it was my superior parenting abilities that produced such an amazing baby (HA!) I was a naive idiot back then.

DD NEVER slept unless it was on me/right beside me when she was a bit older. We fought this tooth and nail for about 18 months because we all know it's super important that babies sleep in their own bed .

DS2 arrived when DD was 15 months and still screaming the place down every time she was left alone to sleep or woke up in the night alone. We limped along for another 3/4 months or so trying to keep her in her own bed and manage a newborn waking every 2/3 hours. In the end we cracked (actually felt like we were both going insane at one point. I used to dream about being hospitalised just for a few days to get some sleep!) and just accepted that she wanted to sleep in our bed. We co-slept following safety advice and I honestly just wish we'd have done it soooo much sooner.
DS2 was a brilliant sleeper, he enjoyed a white noise machine and has a special blanket that he sucks.

I'm pregnant with DC#4 and if they don't take to sleeping my themselves we will definitely be co-sleeping.