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Sleep

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Original poster

Won't sleep in cot at night (1 week old)

24 replies

RichmondWomble · 21/04/2006 01:19

Help - first child and not sure what to do ...
DD spends all day using her moses basket for sleeps, yet as soon as it gets to nightime she won't settle in it. The only place she will sleep is next to us. How do I get her to sleep in her basket like she does in the day?

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PurseyHandbag · 21/04/2006 01:28

It's early days. Mine did the same thing, but after a few weeks things turned around. Maybe just go with it, I spent many nights napping on the sofa while my daughter slept in her baby chair. Difficult at the time but can hardly remember it now. By 3 months she was totally sorted.

Chandra · 21/04/2006 02:10

Are you having visits in the afternoon/evenings? Probably she is a bit over tired or over excited after a long day, it may help to have a wind down time before going to sleep, something like a bath, or simply to reduce the amount of noise and light around her may help. Or, try to put her to sleep slightly later.

Chandra · 21/04/2006 02:11

sorry, meant to say slightly EARLIER :)

m4ya · 21/04/2006 02:41

we had the same problem, and we let ds sleep next to us. Now ds will cry bloody murder if i put him in his cot and will cry so much that he'd make himself sick! he is now 6months and still sleeps with us! We still trying to get him into his cot though! hope you have more luck than we did!
Good luck!

maiseysmum · 22/04/2006 22:40

Hello
I had exactly the same problem, I had a few issues in hospital and couldn't pick her up, so when it was feeding time the midwives would tuck her into the bed with me and leave her there, which started a bad habit from the word go, I just wasn't strong enough to break it. She also went through a stage of only sleeping on my chest.
I always gave and put her in our bed, just to get some sleep, until last week when I started cc! She's now nearly 8 months old and up until 2 days ago had never slept through.
Not sure best ways to solve it, but my advice would be to do something sooner rather than later.
Good luck xx

hunkermunker · 22/04/2006 22:44

She hasn't got any concept of day and night yet - babies are often nocturnal when they're first born (my theory is that they often party at night when they're in utero as we lie down and don't rock them to sleep and it continues once they're born).

She's very, very young to be worrying about habits. And she had the comfort of being held all day and all night before she was born - go with it for now if you can.

picassotriggerfish · 22/04/2006 22:45

hiya womble, ds only slept on my or dh's chest for first 3 weeks, so sounds pretty normal to me. we took it in shifts to hold him/get a bit of kip. wrecks you tho!

VeniVidiVickiQV · 22/04/2006 22:52

This is utterly utterly normal week old baby behaviour imo.

If she wants a cuddle to go to sleep then give her a cuddle. It wont hurt - try and enjoy being her comfort. The advice my HV gave me on habits was that babies dont pick up or create habits before 12 weeks. I would say, in my ignorance, that she is probably right. The first few weeks are very much like the world has been turned on its head for both parent and baby.

In these early days go with whatever works. You could however, also try swaddling her, or putting bolsters either side of her to try and make her feel snug.

harpsichordcarrier · 22/04/2006 22:56

I agree with VVV - it is VERy early days. Remember is only a week ago that she was "cuddled up" inside you all the time.
I personally don't think it is a bad habit to get into at one week. There is plenty of time for cots later - let her sleep cuddled up with you when she's so tiny.
PS my dd2 is five months and has just started sleeping in her cot. Not every night, not all night but sometimes - you can change habits after the first fe wmonths - it is not all or nothing.

hunkermunker · 22/04/2006 22:57

arfy · 22/04/2006 22:58

yep, DD would no more go to sleep in her moses basket by herself at any point of the day, let alone at night. she'd go to sleep on us and then either stay there, or if we could manage to lower her into the basket once she'd gone with out her waking and screaming in fury, we'd do that. They really don't know they're separate from you at that stage.

picassotriggerfish · 22/04/2006 22:59

kiskidee · 22/04/2006 23:00

try swaddling her and putting on white noise - a radio between stations, quite loudly. it simulates the feeling (confinement) and sounds inutero.

hunkermunker · 22/04/2006 23:06

(PTF - - who are you? Love your name!)

picassotriggerfish · 22/04/2006 23:07

harpsichordcarrier · 22/04/2006 23:09

can someone hear a mouse in here?
quick! fetch the broom

hunkermunker · 22/04/2006 23:10

ROFL RM! Nah - think you're funny In a good way, I hasten to add! And you were very gracious when I was rude too

FrannyandZooey · 22/04/2006 23:10

Agree with all advice so far - also, you may get to like having her sleeping near to you

We started doing the exact same thing for the exact same reason as you and 3 years later, my son still sleeps with us and we are all very happy :)

redhed · 24/04/2006 19:24

Hi, like most people all three of my babies did the same in the beginning, slept in car seat or with us, but not in the cot. However I knew that this could be setting up a false set of habits and so I kept trying to move them into the cot, I think that I eventually cracked it by 12 weeks. All three were sleeping through the night by 16 weeks and still do at 6,4 and 3 with mostly no problems. Nightime routine is important, but I wouldn't bother until 12 weeks looms. Anyway you need to do what is easiest for you at this stage, you need looking after too.

Thomcat · 24/04/2006 19:31

My DD2 is 19 weeks old and i've only just got her to sleep in her cot. She never liked the moses basket so for a quiet life she slept in with me in the crook of my arm. It was lovely for a while then I started to need my own space. So when she was in a deep sleep I'd move her to the moses basket and when she woke she came back in with me. Going back to work in 6 weeks so decided I neede her to start sleeping away from me so thought I'd try her in her cot 1 night and it worked a treat. I fed her at 7 and put her in her big cot and she woke up at 12.30, a first. So I fed in her nursery and she fell fast asleep so I put her back and she slept till 4am, did the same again and she woke at 8am.

What I'm saying here is don't panic, she's only a week old and you can't balme her for not wanting to sleep on her own, but she'll get there.

Basherette · 25/04/2006 20:41

Its probably a good idea to start maybe doing the last feed in her nursery, to get her used to being in there.
My DD is 8 weeks old, and I have been following the routines from the Gina Ford book which I have found really good. I agree with everyone else though that she's only a week old, so there's nothing much you can do about it. Just carry on trying, she'll get used to it in the end.

surreynanny · 27/04/2006 16:50

Do you swaddle her at night making sure her hands are tucked in? If you are becoming tired you could try cuddling her to sleep swaddled and then placing her in the basket keeping one hand on her chest , resting one finger against her cheek. Try and keep calm and your breathing soft and slow and lie the basket next to you on the bed ( as long as it can't fall off!)
if you don't mind her using you as a sleep conforter to start with then don't worry. She is sleeping where she is happiest and as she is doing some sleeps in her basket you know that she will in the end and may be just needs a little help at night time.
www. surreynanny.com

Original poster

RichmondWomble · 27/04/2006 20:10

Thanks everyone, Working on getting the daytime naps happening in the basket. Am now able to feed lying in bed, so finding it much easier to doze whilst she's snacking - not half as tiring. Will perhaps leave the nightime napping location till she's a little older.

OP posts:

BettySpaghetti · 27/04/2006 20:34

Just wanted to say the radio in the background worked for us with DS. I think he got so used to sleeping with background noise during the day that complete silence at night was probably a bit mind-blowing!

Another tip I've heard is to warm the moses basket up a bit with a hot water bottle before you put the baby in (take out the hot water bottle first obviously !!). Then they're not startled awake from being moved from lovely warm mummy to cold unwelcoming basket.

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