5 week old DD won't sleep in her cot - day or night

[KirstyWirsty]

Our 5 week old DD cries to be picked up every time she is put down in her carry cot day or night.. at first it was only at night that we had the problem so we resorted to bringing her into our bed but that seems to have made the problem worse.. she won't go down during the day either now and wants to be held all the time (she happily sleeps in our arms)! We're confused as we've read that we shouldn't leave her to cry and that controlled crying is only for 6months plus but by picking her up all the time we seem to have got her into a bad habit already.. Anyone got any ideas?

Thanks

Kirsty have you tried swaddling her in a blanket?

Kirsty, our dd also wouldn't sleep in her crib for the first 8 wks. I slowly got her used to it in the daytime and at night she slept with us. After about 8 wks, she moved into her crib at night, having gotten used to it in the daytime. We didn't leave her crying a long time but maybe 5 minutes here and there, certainly no point any longer than that, they are too small. Keep trying wtih your baby in the cot if that's where you would prefer she sleep, she will get used to eventually. Our dd couldn't stand being swaddled, but some babies do like it, so also worth a try. It's all trial and error

get a sling it will make life a lot easier

it is just because she's not used to being a separate entity it will take her time to accustom herself to being outside the womb so she needs the reassurance of your smell, proximity, heartbeat, cuddling

swaddling could help

but don't worry about 'bad habits' you cannot give a newborn 'bad habits'

no doubt you will see a huge change in her once she reaches 6 or 8 weeks

Thanks for all the feedback.

I have tried swaddling.. it worked while she was less than a week but since then she's been kicking the swaddle and is not happy with it so we stopped.

I tried a suggestion from another discussion this morning - putting rolled up towels at either side of the carry cot and it seems to e doing the trick.. she's sleeping in there just now :-)

Scully -That's good to hear that you had the same problem but got your wee dd into the crib at 8 weeks

Twiglett - We've bought a sling but haven't used it much .. I've got some stuff to do round the house today so may give that a go today.

Thanks again .. I'll keep you posted how it goes

good luck!