how to encourage new born to sleep in crib (not in bed with us)

[brockleyD]

We just brought home our new born on Wednesday so very early days! She sleeps really well during the day in her crib and early eve and morning but when we try to sleep properly at night she cries if we put her down and will only sleep on one of us. Could it be that she finds it unsettling when we both sleep and its dark as she can't tell if we are there? We have a bednest (co-sleeper crib) so she is very close to us anyway..

Any tips to help her sleep in crib, I don't feel safe letting her sleep in us.

Thank you.

I think I just accepted that ds wanted/needed to be close to me at night and made the bed safe - it got easier as he got older. By 2 months he was going to bed in a co-sleeper cot by himself and at 5 months he was in a cot in his own room.

Might not be the advice you were looking for, but I found it easier to just go with it - it's just the way evolution has programmed newborns!

Congrats! I have a bednest too, fab things aren't they. What worked for us is putting a hot water bottle in the bed when she was out of it for night feeds, so that the sheets have a nice body temp feel to them. Obviously take it out when you put baby down. We also had a lot of success with swaddling. Didn't really need if during the day but seemed to make her feel secure at night. Babies this age do need a lot of cuddles, dont worry, they do get better.

Thanks so much for your advice. Moon, how do you recommend to make bed safe?

You just need to make sure there are no pillows or duvets that can cover the baby, and nowhere she can roll down/fall out. And have her between you and the edge of the bed rather than in the middle - apparently mothers have an instinctive sense of where the baby is while they're asleep whereas fathers don't, so there's a risk of fathers rolling on them.

I used to tuck the duvet under the bottom of the mattress so it couldn't come up above my waist, and ds had his own blanket - he was positioned above the duvet and below any pillows, and I'd lie on my side facing him.

Congratulations on DD

Completely agree with Moon, we wasted spent hours trying to get DS1 to sleep in his bedside crib as a newborn.

DS2 slept on me for the 1st 4 weeks, next to me for the next 8 and now at 12 weeks old is happy to be slid into crib after bf and he stays there most nights.

Enjoy the snuggling, it goes so quickly.

Might help to safely pad out her crib so she's not tiny in a big space. Being so new out of the womb she might find the space of the crib a bit overwhelming. Try a hot water bottle to warm it before settling her.

If all else fails don't feel bad co-sleeping. Loads of people do it safely and many will say it kept them sane in the early days and weeks. I did it for about 8 weeks with my DS, until he got over being windy and uncomfortable on his back. We still bring him in with us for an hour or two on the odd occasion he wakes early and won't re-settle. It's lovely snuggling up with him