putting 4 week down to sleep

[mholty]

Hi all, my baby will fall asleep quite easily at night (being rocked/after feeding etc) and I will wait a few minutes before putting him down but most of the time he will then be wide awake once in his cot. I have tried leaving him for a few minutes to see if he settles himself but this usually ends in crying. I've also tried putting him down whilst still just awake so he can sooth himself but that more often than not doesn't work either. Sometimes it takes over an hour to get him off to sleep properly.

I'm just looking for any tips really!

4 weeks is a bit early for self soothing I think (although some babies do seem happy to drift off on their own, if they are not happy I don't think it's something they can learn at this stage)

I found white noise (quite loud) helped a lot, also having baby in a sleeping bag so no huge change of temperature for them when you are putting them down.
Good luck!

I'm having the same problem, my daughter is a month on Saturday, if I put her down during the day after a feed she seems to be happy enough to settle herself or lay there awake but during the night she has none of it unless she is on me she will not settle, and spits her dummy out! I have Ewan the sheep which plays the white noises but again doesn't seem to be making much difference! I have been told 6 weeks is the start point when it al seems to fall in to place so hopefully over the next couple of weeks they start settling better!

4 weeks or even 6 weeks is really early for them to self soothe. Read up on 4th trimester - they just want to be with you and close to you. We used to watch TV in bed with DS and then move him into the next2me when he was properly asleep.

I don't know anyone who's baby self soothed without sleep training and you wouldn't want to do that till their much older.

Try warming the cot mattress with a hot water bottle before you put him down. Not so it's hot hot obvs (and take the it water bottle out of the cot-I know I don't need to tell you that!) Just to get the cot mattress to warm body temperature. I think it's the difference of the warm mum to cold cot that re-wakes them when you put them down. Also white noise/washing machine on/nice mobile above the cot. Mine had one with a tune and twinkly lights which was good.
Good luck.

The adverts lie. Babies want a smelly warm mummy to sleep on, not a cold hard cot.

With DD it took more than a year and then some sleep training. I think you need to be more realistic in your expectations.

We found swaddling bags/wraps quite useful, the cot can feel very big to a teeny baby that is used to being inside you. It definitely is a hassle trying to get a young baby to sleep but I'd be patient, they will get better at it over time.

I usually get her to sleep then swaddle her in her cot but it's hard when your exhausted not to fall asleep with them on you!!

I think it's harsh when people say you need to be more realistic in my expectations. I am a first time mum and have written on here for advice as I don't know what is normal! Thank you to those of you who have written helpful advice.

The reason I was asking about settling at night is because DS is capable of falling asleep and being put down in the day but not at night. I will try the hot water bottle and swaddling if it's not too hot and see how it goes!

Does the amount of nap time have an effect on night time sleeping this early on?

Does the amount of nap time have an effect on night time sleeping this early on
I don't think it does. You should certainly let them nap as much as they want to at such a young age.
It's good to have a bit of "active" time in the evenings-playing and music etc to wear them out.
Also fresh air does wonders so maybe a late evening walk in the pram?

Hello, not to worry you too much (also a first time mum to a 12 week old) but every baby is super different with sleep.

Mine has been quite a poor sleeper, only wanting to sleep on me which I totally understand but is exhausting as I don't feel comfortable co-sleeping so it means lots of poor sleep for me.

I was losing my mind a bit as sleep deprivation is serious! It might be a coincidence but I really found a sleeping bag has made a difference in her not waking straight away some of the times when putting her down.

We sometimes get a few good nights a week, where she will sleep for a chunk of 3-4 hours then be awake a while then on/off every hour or so. Bad nights are waking around every hour all night....

Hopefully things start to settle a little bit for you, but it is all dependent on the babies needs! Other things I tried is going into a dimmer lit room around 7.30-8pm with no loud noises etc

I'd second swaddling (stops newborn jerks from waking them) and pre-warming the cot. The temperature difference is enough to chill them if they've been cuddled up to you.

At the same age my little boy would have none of it if I just put him down, but he would fall asleep on his own if he was swaddled. We used thin cotton wraps which fastened with Velcro, so he didn't get too hot. Got them on Amazon I think.