How to get a newborn used to sleeping basket/nest

[Bumperlicious]

dd2 is 4 days old now, co sleeping is not going to work as i am not getting any sleep with her next to me & not getting lying down latch properly. now have v sore nipples.

have borrowed an amby nest & have moses basket but not successfully managed to settle her in either for very long.

how can i get her used to them? we are swaddling her buying a proper blanket today. she will settle for dh but only being held. not getting much sleep. having to take shifts. not easy with dd1 who is 3.

have a sling but not figured out how to use it yet. want her used to the basket or nest.

please help. sorry for all the needy posts from me atm!

Some just don't like the moses basket,
have you tried putting her straight into the cot

also have you tried giving her a dummy. Although I was very anti dummy's with DS1, when DS2 came along I really needed to be able to put him down because DS1 would get violently jealous if I held the baby too much. and the dummy was a life saver

I had much more luck getting ds to settle if it was dp doing it - with me he just wanted to suckle and I couldn't put him down. Have you tried using your used pilowcase or a milky t shirt as the sheet in the basket so it smells of you/your bed? And putting a hot water bottle in there before you put the baby in so she doesn't go onto cold sheets.

The thing that worked best for us was waiting til he was really deeply asleep before put down, lowering him slowly, keeping a hand on his chest for a few minutes or letting him suck dp's finger for a few minutes. He's also happier to be put into a carseat than flat into a basket.

not sure about using a dummy, as i don't want it to interfere with bfing, my nipples are already taking a beating! we do have an emergency one but i only want to use it as a last resort.

I bf as well as using a dummy (and I introduced an evening bottle after a couple of weeks) and none of it ever interfered with breast feeding

DS didn't like going into the Moses basket after a feed as it was cold and different from warm mummy arms! I used to sit on or lean on the moses basket mattress and the sheets so when he went back down it was just as warm as being held.

I just used to try my DD in it at least once every day for naps when it didnt matter as much if I had to go and rescue her cos she wouldnt settle. SLowly she just seemed to get happier and more confident and sleeping in her basket...but this may be too slow an approach.
x

whoops - I meant at sleeping in her basket..

Co-sleeping is a bit like sharing a bed with a new partner. It takes a few weeks to get used the excitement and new noises etc but then after a while you barely notice they are there. 4 days is possibly a bit soon to say it isn't working as you've barely had chance to get used to each other.

Having said that, if you really can't cosleep then have you thought about an along-side (3 sided) cot instead? Your DD is used to a warm, snug environment where she can hear your heartbeat at all times. A moses basket doesn't really come close but if you had an along-side cot you could co-sleep her to sleep and quietly move her across when she is fast asleep.

We had this problem with DD and managed to get her to sleep in her crib using a combination of hot water bottle to warm it, muslin up my jumper to make it smell milky and a white noise toy. It did take about 5/6 days though and I thought I was going mad.

Can your DH take her until midnight so that you can get some sleep in, then swap over? That's how we survived the first few weeks.