How to get our 5 week old daughter to settle in the dreaded moses basket

[rachndan]

Hi everyone

For the last week or so we have literally had no choice other than to let our 5 week old daughter to co-sleep with us, otherwise none of us would have got any sleep.

She just doesnt seem to settle well in the basket, and if she does at the start of the nights sleep she definitely doesnt after the night feeds.

Looking for some advice and tips.

We have some swaddleme blankets, we have dummies, we use gripe water and infacol etc.

Currently she feeds around 10ish, then 1ish, then 4ish, then 7ish. She has occassionally missed out the 1ish feed. But in either one of the night feeds she becomes so awake and constantly cries despite being fed, winded and changed.

What did you do? What was your routine?

We need help, I am knackered when it comes to going to work each day.

things that helped when my dd wouldn't settle in the basket were warming it with a hot water bottle first, and propping it up slightly so the head was a little higher than the foot end.

Are you the dad or the mum? When dh and I have had young babies we have slept in separate rooms so at least one of us gets some sleep.

I am the Dad, we dont have a spare bed only the nursery room which has the cot in it. Occassionally I go and sleep on the sofa.

Co-sleeping isn't bad, and if it works and you do it properly then it can be perfectly safe.

Other than that, she sounds like a perfectly normal 5 week old. You can't make her like the moses basket, and most tiny babies will only sleep on or with someone after spending pretty much their entire existence somewhere warm and noisy with every single need of theirs met.

It is bloody knackering, but it's normal! I know that doesn't help you right now but hopefully it is at least reassuring.

she might just hate the moses basket. dd did and so she went straight into a cot.

You have my sympathy! I'd try her in a cot - my DD hated the moses basket and loved the cot which she could stretch out in without bumping against the sides.
One thing that helped DD was to roll up a muslin cloth and sort of pack it around her - less restrictive than a swaddling blanket but still gave her support and bizarrely seemed to help her sleep. Could be worth a try?

hi there, I agree with what has been said about trying the cot as both my children hated the restrictiveness of the moses basket and as soon as they touched the sides would wake. This meant that due to space both my children ended up in thier own rooms by 6 weeks old with us just using the monitor. My daughter particularily seemed so much better as she woke if i moved. Try the cot is my advice.

Some of her mother's clothing (eg t-shirt she has been wearing all day) in the moses basket? Warming it with a hot water bottle also helped for us.

I used to get DS to sleep on me after a night feed and then transfer, keeping my body next to his until he touched the matress and then gradually move away. Not great for your back but as it kept him asleep when transferred then it was worth it!

My DS never liked being swaddled, but a friend of mine has had the exact same problem as you and used a SwaddlePod (google it!) - she has never looked back. Her DS just liked being in that foetal position and didn't like lying flat with arms and legs akimbo!

I'd second the hot water bottle suggestion too. Also, does the moses basket have a stand? We had a rocking stand and I used to rock the basket gently once i'd made the transfer to the basket.

HTH, good luck x

I second the mum's t-shirt idea!! Our DS is 5 weeks old today (where did the time go?!?!) and hated his moses basket. MW suggested swaddling and a t shirt tucked into the bottom of the basket and it worked a treat! We're now all enjoying 4 hour sessions of sleep
Good luck!!

I used to sleep with the basket next to my bed and my hand in the basket touching my son x

My DD hated the dreaded moses basket. We moved her to her cot, and she instantly went from waking every 2-3 hours, without fail, to sleeping an 8 hour stretch!!!! The moses basket was the most useless bit of baby kit I have ever had... When my twins arrive, they will never go near one, and will be straight in cots, in their own room asap too as that also helped us significantly (DD got booted into her cot in her own room when we finally colelcted it-a hand -me-down and the new mattress got dlivered at 9 weeks). I checked her 4 times that first night, as I couldn't believe she could go so long without feeding- she never had before!!

Good luck

(p.s. we faffed about with hot water bottles in the basket, wave music to mimic circulation in the womb noises to soothe her etc etc at HV suggestions- none helped at all til the cot!)

Unless she's pooing, don't change her at a night feed, it really wakes DS. At 5 months DS still needs to have been asleep on me for 20 mins before I put him down, how long are you waiting?

Have you tried wedging her in, with rolled up towels or blankets either dside to make her feel extra secure? We did this with also a hot water bottle in that was whipped out before she was put down. Also, does she spend any awake time in the moses whenshe is not going to bed? We put DD in for a little while each day so she got used to it. Good luck.

I'm so glad I found this topic as we have exactly the same problem, albeit with DS instead of DD!

We are co-sleeping with him at the moment, which is fine, I don't mind too much but I got the catsbummouth from my mum when I told her, and I would like to be able to enjoy my own, brand-new bed, without being either pregnant or having to twirl myself round a baby who can already shuffle up right next to me!