How to get a sleeping baby into the cot - and stay asleep?!

[Bumperlicious]

Dd2 is 5 weeks so still bfed/held to sleep. In the evening we try to get her into the hammock when she is asleep but are averaging about 3 goes before she stays asleep. She wants feeding again but not sure if it is hunger or comfort. It's v frustrating when I just want to go to bed!

Any tips?

Sorry - never managed it!

DS2 would never sleep in his crib. Had to co-sleep until 4 months and then he started to sleep in his big cot.

I'm sure someone more competent will be along in a minute though.

Have you tried warming the cot? My DS used to wake when we put him in the cot, then a friend suggested putting a hot water bottle in there for a few minutes (obviously take it out before baby is put in there!). After being near your body heat, they are more likely to stay asleep moving to a warm place.

yep, we've been warming the cot. she does sleep in there fine eventually, it's just getting the right window of opportunity.

going to try for round four in a minute...

I always put my two into their cot and kept my hands on them for a while, slowly withdrawing, maybe gently patting them and getting lighter until I totally withdrew...

then kicked the cot on the way out

Sometimes I placed a teddy bear or similar against them so they still feel as though you are there (not sure that's such a good thing with a 5 week old though).

at that age the only thing that worked for us was waiting til she was in a deep coma sleep.... ie you could pick up her arm, drop it, it was floppy and she wouldn't wake, it takes ages but probably as long as your 3 attempts!!

this stage does not last long.... good luck..

hahaha what SoloBlackWidow said

Thanks, will try a hand on her. not sure if she actually is still hungry or just comfort sucking.

the problem with waiting for so long is that it is generally around midnight & I'm desperate to sleep & thinking 'only 3 hours till she wakes up again'.

at 5 weeks it doesn't matter whether it is hunger or comfort, if she says she needs to be fed, just feed her.

You could also try a comfort blanket...obviously you would have to tuck it in so she can't pull it up over her face...but with DS we used to keep a little fluffy blanket shoved in our bed all day (the theory is it then smells like you, therefore is comforting, therefore condusive to sleep!) then put it in the cot just before putting DS in bed at night. He's nearly 8 months now and still has the blanket, although doesn't need to have been in our bed now. He just cuddles it / chews it / dribbles all over it and it seems to help him settle. Hope it helps!

Oh, I remember that game with ds1! Putting him down e-v-e-r so slowly, holding breath, tip-toeing away, then......waaah!

We also warmed the moses basket, but eventually we realised that he would have to get himself off to sleep eventually, so we started to leave him for a while. Often, after a bit of whinging, not really having fully woken up, he would fall asleep by himself, maybe assisted by a bit of rocking. Eventually he got into the habit and we could put him down awake.

If I were you I would put her in the cot / hammock / wherever she sleeps whilst she was awake, that way she will settle herself.

We tried for soooooo long with DD1 trying to put her down when already sleeping. We tried a hot water bottle to warm the bed, letting her lie in my arms whilst in the cot (really uncomfortable!) dummy (great until she spat it out!) blanket, swaddling, etc etc.

In the end we gave up and put her down whilst still asleep and she was fine.

With DD2 we always put her down when she was awake (although obviously times when she fell asleep on me) and had no problems.

If you think about it, they are all nicely snuggled up in your arms, they can smell you, hear you, feel you. THen they wake up and are all alone, must be a bit confusing, no?

I know that putting them down awake is the most sensible thing to do, but I never managed it with DD. I found that slowly removing my arms from round her helped - remember crouching there for ages with one hand on her chest and one on the top of her head!
Also, make sure she is in the sleeping position in your arms before you put her down, so she isn't changing position on transfer. ie don't have her upright over your shoulder and then put her onto her back. And apparently, they are very aware of changes in height, so bend down to the cot/basket/hammock slowly.
HTH :)

Have you tried swaddling? Workedish for us but we co-slept in the end.

Thanks for the tips. We do swaddle her. She will go down eventually & I suspect it has little to do with anything we do more that she is just ready. I just wish she had an indicator light or something!