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Sleep

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Original poster

Sleep location during the day

20 replies

WifiNappies · 25/11/2011 20:56

Hi All, Hope you can help make a massive difference to my life with your wise words :) Now I've buttered you up:

My DD (8wks old and my first DC) is a fabulous night sleeper, really can't complain I don't think. She goes in her moses basket when we go to bed at around 9-10pm and doesn't wake until 5am which suits my DH's work schedule perfectly. She either settles herself, gets rocked, or falls asleep downstairs with us and is 'transferred', it varies but she will pretty much always go to sleep.

During the day it's a different story though. I absolutely can't get her to sleep anywhere else but on me. She's breastfed and will feed quite a lot (I guess due to going all night without) and will nearly always drop off when she's done, but when I try to move her she wakes up. She won't last more than 5mins in her basket once I deign to move her in there. I spend a large portion of my day just sat in bed with her asleep on me and me just wasting time watching telly.

She has a bouncy chair which she will drop off in in the evening if she's being 'violently rocked', and it's the same in the day, but as soon as I stop rocking she screams to be picked up.

I've tried staying in our bedroom all day and pulling the blackout blinds with a view to either moving myself or moving her at a later date, but again it only lasts 5 minutes.

Any advice as to what I am doing wrong and what I can do during the day to get her to sleep on her own would be great. Or is this perfectly normal at this age?

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MerryMarigold · 25/11/2011 20:58

How about a sling? My sis used one as her dd refused to be put down in the day, meant she could get on with most things, except chopping veg or meat!

Original poster

WifiNappies · 25/11/2011 21:04

I ordered a sling and it arrived earlier this week. I put her in it and she HATED it!! Should I just keep experimenting and persevere? Will she grow to like it? I spent £30 on it thinking it'd change my life and it's just sat doing nothing!

OP posts:

MerryMarigold · 25/11/2011 21:14

Oh no! Try her in it when it's not sleep time perhaps, so she can used to it when not tired? Is it on correctly, it shouldn't feel that different to being carried. Is she facing into you as she would be if asleep on you? Not sure what to suggest.

Will she fall asleep in buggy or car? Can you push buggy into house and leave her to sleep? Same re carseat? Is there anything you do at night which makes it ok for her to go in the moses basket? Eg. using a swaddle/ sleepsack. I don't understand why it's ok at night! None of my kids would sleep in a Moses basket day or night, but for some reason they would sleep in a buggy in the house (I had one with carrycots when they were small).

Original poster

WifiNappies · 25/11/2011 21:20

She loves the carseat in the car and falls asleep when the engine's going. She loves the pram if we're going over bumpy bits and will drop off. I try all these things in the day but as soon as she gets back in the house she'll wake up! It's really weird and frustrating. Could it be a temperature thing?

I thought it was maybe to do with 'darkness' but the black blinds don't work. It's like she 'knows' that we're asleep in the same room so it's ok to go to sleep, but if there's anything else going on she wants to be involved.

OP posts:

MerryMarigold · 26/11/2011 18:07

I think you have some long walks coming your way! A great way to keep fit though. Have you tried sleeping on your bed and putting her in Moses basket in the day? Maybe get her used to sleeping in it in the day. Actually, maybe just get her in the cot otherwise that's another whole thing to get used to!!

redwallday · 26/11/2011 20:53

My DD is exactly the same except she wont self settle and refuses to be rocked to sleep! For instance last night it took 7 attempts to get her asleep in her moses basket! Its getting silly now and drives me mad, Im constantly disturbing her sleep as I have a 3 year old so cant just sit still all day letting her nap on me!

Btw what sling did you get?

happylittlebear · 26/11/2011 20:59

Does your bouncer chair vibrate?
I found that a god send with ds, our first one didn't vibrate & we used to spend ages rocking him only for him to wake up once we stopped
When we got the vibrating one we used to rock/shake it till he went off then left the vibrate on which kept him asleep, similar sensation to being in the car for them I think as its a gentle noise/movement but still moving....
Worth a try?

chocoroo · 26/11/2011 21:20

I'm afraid to say my DD is 9 months and has NEVER slept in her cot or away from us in the daytime.

She'll sleep in the car, buggy and at nursery on a sleeping mat alongside other babies. I tried for a couple of months to get her to sleep away from me but gave up after a while and succumbed to 2 hours on the sofa with her every afternoon (if I wasn't out and about with her).

Fortunately she has been a dream baby in every other respect so I've just learned to live with it.

starkadder · 27/11/2011 08:40

My DS was exactly the same - brilliant night sleeper but would only sleep in the day on me or in his pram. As soon as we got back in the house, he'd wake up. I never did find a solution but from about 6 months he started napping well in his cot on the day ad now, aged 3.5 years, still often has a good 2-3 hour nap in the day. And is still a great night sleeper so thank your lucky stars for that!

BananaPie · 27/11/2011 19:18

8 weeks is still really little. I'm sure it will improve as she gets older. My dd only slept on me for naps for the first three or four months, but I was eventually able to transfer her to the crib. She fell into a eat-activity-sleep routine (baby whisperer) so no longer fed to sleep, and would eventually let me rock her to sleep before being put down. If she falls asleep in the buggy she does still tend to wake up as soon as I stop though, and she's 9 months now. Enjoy the cuddles...

RitaMorgan · 27/11/2011 19:23

Get a comfy sling - a stretchy wrap type is kinder on the baby's hips/back than a BabyBjorn type, and much more comfy for you.

I must say though, lots of time in the day to nap in bed with the baby or lounge around watching DVDs sounds like heaven to me

DonkeyTeapot · 27/11/2011 22:15

I have the same problem with my 18 week old DD. I can get her to sleep in the bouncy chair, for 20 - 30 min if I'm bouncing her the whole time, or in the pram, as long as it's moving. (She's not fooled by that back-and-forth-in-the-kitchen nonsense either.) So far she hasn't liked the sling (Moby wrap), but she was born in July and it just made us both incredibly hot and grumpy. It's dumped on a chair at the moment, maybe I ought to persist with it.

Night times used to be great, only up once or twice per night, which I could handle, but that's gone out the window this last couple of weeks.

Bah, sorry I'm no help, I'm taking comfort from knowing it's not just that I'm useless.

Mondayschild78 · 28/11/2011 12:48

Hi I have no advice but wanted to say I have exactly the same problem with my 6 week old, the saving grace is that he will sleep in moses at night but I have no idea why I can't get him in it during the day. My sis is about to give me a vibrating chair so I'm hopeful it will make a difference. I hope you find a solution!

Iggly · 28/11/2011 12:54

Have you tried swaddling? This helped me until DS was too big for it - we could wrap him up and pop down after time. However I used a sling as he got older!

Original poster

WifiNappies · 29/11/2011 10:00

Oh I'm glad I'm not alone! (sorry...)

Her chair vibrates but she would scream so we gave up and used the batteries elsewhere! Her preference might've changed now though so I'll try that

I've got a liberty ring sling, I think I must be doing it wrong

I will also try swaddling but she's a bit of a mover and likes being free.

Thanks for all suggestions, will report back!

OP posts:

Comeonbear · 30/11/2011 21:59

Don't know what your feelings are about dummies but might be worth a try...

highheelsandequations · 02/12/2011 00:02

I've no real advice for you but you're definitely not alone. My DD has been very similar, she's now nearly 5 months and for now I've decided my best option is to just go with it and let her sleep on me or in the pram. So if I'm tired I make sure I have some food and water, a book or the tv remote and let her sleep on me whilst I relax on the couch, if I'm feeling lively I take her out for a loooong walk in the pram! I also have a moby wrap and find that although she protests when I first put her in it, if I get moving quickly and do lots of shh-ing and pat her bum or rub her back she settles and will sleep in that, so in theory I could get the housework done whilst she sleeps in it.

littleweed10 · 04/12/2011 20:46

I'm not sure if anyone has said this but as you put her in the sling, walk, and move, holding your hands/ arms round her gently. like you we'd shelled out on a bloomin sling and he screamed.
but putting him in as we went off for a walk straight away worked a treat. and we then used it until I needed a hoist to stand up straight myself!!

mrsred · 09/12/2011 22:49

Is she tired? My cousins baby just seems to need much less sleep than mine, in our nct group we always say we should be grateful for sleep at night. I'd be exhausted by a nocturnal baby.
And similar to the post above, enjoy having time to chill out, I used to keep baby books (what I ought to be doing type ones) anywhere I would feed, and just chill out, it's great for milk supply, so look after yourself, relax, because as soon as you think you've got something cracked, it'll change!

habbibu · 09/12/2011 22:56

See if you can borrow (or get on ebay) a wrap sling - think ds would have hated others, but a wrap sling was just like a big cuddle for him.

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