Help getting baby to sleep in Moses basket

[CameronK]

Have been trying to get baby boy to sleep in Moses basket with little success. He drifts off for a wee while but is awake immediately. Does anybody have any tips and experiences that may help me and my partner?

How old is the baby?

Neither of mine would sleep in a Moses basket. My midwife told me it's very common, babies just don't like them. Took me two years to sell my unwanted one on FB!

Is it a rocking one? I found putting my hand on baby's back and rocking gently helps, also playing any music your baby likes

this one really helped for me

Good luck :)

Yeah a lot of babies just don't like them.
You might have to try a Plan B.

Sorry.... that's not really that helpful.
Do you have a cot ready? Some babies like the space around them and just prefer the cot straight away.

He's 6 weeks today. Got him a next to me at first which wasn't working, so then decided to get a Moses basket.

Does your baby have a sleeping bag or covers? Both of mine hated covers and slept much better in sleeping bags.

Is your baby breast or bottle fed? Breast fed babies tend to want to stick to Mum like glue and I ended up sleeping with both of mine. I've been told bottle fed babies are easier to settle.....

Stop buying stuff would be my suggestion. You either have a newborn that’s happy to sleep down, out of arms, or you don’t. We wasted so much money trying to change the latter into the former. The only thing that made a difference was time. Cosleeping wasn’t fun and our nights still weren’t ‘settled’, but it was much better than holding him for most of the night.

Mine never did. I think most babies don't.

We put him in sleeping bags which definitely work better than blankets. He has settled a lot more over time however. Does anybody have any tips on cosleeping? All they talk about is the risks which are understandable but it makes you terrified to even think of doing it.

Would it be you, your partner and your baby cosleeping or just 1 of you?

My baby hates a moses basket. Ended up getting her a travel cot with a separate good, firm matress at 5 weeks. She has slept through the night everynight since and she's about to turn 1.

Its myself and my partner. He sleeps next to her for obvious reasons.

Neither did mine.

Yes, unfortunately this is correct.

Look at the lullaby trust website. Your partner may want to wear a dressing gown to keep warm.

Both of mine hated the Moses basket unfortunately but much preferred their cot. They looked tiny in the cot bed at a few days old. I wouldn’t bother trying to put them down in the day, just enjoy the cuddles and help them get as much sleep as possible in the day so they are well rested. This helps prevent them from being overtired at night and means they may settle in the cot. Check the temperature of your room as well.

Mine hated Moses baskets and preferred to sleep on the changing mat during the day. I also co-slept with both at night, but as they are teenagers, recommendations have probably changed.

Babies always slept next to me with a side cot next to the bed, so if they rolled away, they rolled into the cot. I didn’t use a duvet, I wore warmer tops and had a blanket up to my waist, whilst baby had a sleeping bag. I have never smoked but didn’t drink as breast fed. I naturally slept with my arm out to the side so they couldn’t get under the pillow and kind of cocooned around them. I also found I woke when they moved so whilst I had ver broken sleep, it worked better than getting up to feed. It also helped that when they were older and it was warmer I could sleep without a top and they would latch on independently (from around 6 months).

I was lucky that I had a very progressive health visitor who supported me to do this as safely as possible. She pointed me towards guidelines and unofficially told me that she supported this. Co-sleeping can work well, but is not for everyone. I’m a firm believer in that whatever works for you as a family, so long as it is safe, is good.

Try going straight to the cot.
if baby falls asleep on you and you want to put them down in bed try the “ticking time bomb method” place the length of your arm under baby, gently and slowly place them down then slide your arm away. that way the change in temp won’t be a shock.
then run for a wee in case baby wakes.

I can't promise this will work, but try putting the sheet up your jumper (or maybe down your back if you breastfeed!) for a little while during the day so it smells familiar to him. And with our winter baby, if I took him out of the moses basket for a feed in the wee small hours, I'd lift the mattress out next and put it into bed next to my husband under the covers, so it stayed body-warm and wouldn't feel like a shock when he went back in.

Have you got your full size cot up yet? Try that or if baby will sleep in his bouncy chair put that in the cot at night, it was the only place ds would sleep other than on a firm pillow turned lengthways between mine & dh pillows (king-size bed)

Haha! Mine (and so many others) were pretty decorative pieces of furniture. None of them slept in it.

I have no idea myself. I have a 4 week old who doesn't mind the moses basket during the day, but hates his crib at night and will only sleep on my chest!

My MIL was a master of getting newborns to sleep in the Moses basket. The key was very tight swaddling which she could do extremely quickly. I swaddled both of mine first with cellular blankets and then with a swaddleme wrap. My second was still reluctant to sleep in the basket but MIL had a Knak of swaddling, rock then wham, in the basket.

Move to a cot with a sleeping bag. More space to move without waking themselves up.