Co sleeping - do you just get used to it? Only one of us actually sleeping (& it's not me!)

[Bumperlicious]

Have tried co sleeping with newborn dd for 3 nights now & I just can't sleep. She is wriggly & I can't get comfy. As soon as I drop off she moves & it wakes me. Haven't managed to get her to sleep in the basket yet, she wants to be near me, but am on 3rd night of barely any sleep so getting delirious.

Just wondering if it something you get used to & worth persevering with? I've never been a great sleeper, maybe i just won't be able to do it?

I struggled to sleep in the same room as my DD let alone the same bed as she was so noisy.
Have you tried swaddling her?it might help her to feel secure so then you can put her down (unless you really want to co sleep of course).

I don't know tbh - I did it the other way around with DS1. He slept so badly in the basket, that after a couple of weeks I was coping day by day by remembering adoption was a last resort. I was in a bad place and co-sleeping was a miracle for me, might not work for everyone!

Anyway, that's irrelevant really. I'm more worried about you. Is there anyway at all that you can get someone else to sleep with the baby (congrats btw!) so you get some unbroken sleep for a few hours? Is she feeding a lot during the night or is she just a restless sleeper? Would light swaddling help, so she doesn't flail so much?

We're not great at swaddling but dh prob going to buy a swaddling blanket today. Was hoping for a break from dh but my dd1 was up throwing up last night so neither of us slept. Am hoping my sil can come over to help out.

Not desperate to co sleep just been told time & again it makes night feeding easier. The baby did actually sleep well herself for a few hours between feeds. Think I will just have to try & get her used to the basket. The only difficulty at this early stage is knowing the window for her sleeping & being done with feeding. It's a lot of up & down if I don't get it right.

Thanks for the replies.

when DS was brand new he didt like the basket either so I put rolled up blankets around the edge of the moses basket to make a nest and on a couple of really cold nights (in may!) put a hot water bottle in before him. I put it right next to my bed so I could get him without getting out of bed ( I had a broken ankle so couldnt walk around the room anyway)
after a week or 2 I sometimes fell asleep while feeding ( I fed lying down)so then did co sleep but generally he was ok in the basket.
I also fed him on a cotton sarong which saved our bedding from spills then I lifted hime into the basket on the sarong and wrapped it round him - this seemed to help him stay asleep and settled.

Congratulations! hope some of that may help!

omg newborn & a broken ankle - how did you manage?!

dh managed to keep her quiet for an hour or so this morning so i had a nap. he is asleep now. sil has taken dd1 out for a bit.

dd2 asleep on me now, have put her into the basket a couple of times today first time she was ok for about 15 mins, second time nothing doing. will try rolled up blankets.

don't know whether to keep letting her sleep on me or keep persevering with the basket till she is used to it. not sure if i can get used to co-sleeping. in the short term i just need a break.

I fell out of bed in the hospital when DS was 2 days old (don't ask!) the midwives were horrified to find me in a heap on the floor with a very mishapen foot! not the kind of medical problem they're used to!

I was told it was a justified use of the call button though :)

Good luck with the basket I think I would persevere. Your sleep is a priority and if co-sleeping's not working for you then she'll have to learn to sleep in the basket. I had another thought - what about one of the stands that rocks? Might help and they're not expensive so may worth a try?

Have borrowed an amby nest from a friend. Not much luck last night but going to keep trying, use a hot water bottle and some soothing music - which I also need to help me sleep! Really struggling to get off even though I am knackered. It's like I feel under pressure, have never been a great sleep anyway.

Not sure how to wind down, any tips on that one?