Baby into own room - could that actually help?

[RebeccaJames]

My 10-week-old sleeps dreadfully in the bed with me (2 hours initially and then a carnage of short naps and short feeds all the way through to dawn) and we have tried everything to improve things (hungry baby formula, white noise, earlier bedtime, infant Gaviscon unswaddling) and help him sleep longer.

The only thing we haven't tried is putting him in his own room (would be his little pod inside the cot).

Is there any chance and hope that this would help? Or am I clutching at straws?!

I should add that baby's sleep noises wake me up constantly so that even when he is actually sleeping, I am still not really!

Hmmm. His behaviour sounds reasonably normal for that age BUT in my experience with DS, going into his own room at 14 weeks is what started him sleeping through. Mind you he was only waking 1-2 times a night at that point.

It's probably worth a try - if it doesn't work and the extra getting up etc is annoying you can always being him back in with you.

Sleeping bag made a big difference with us too.

Pitch black in his bedroom if possible too!

I wouldn't as sleeping alone increases the chance of SIDS - not worth the risk IMO.

At his age that sounds totally normal . He is only little.

You do what you need to do and it's entirely your decision but do read the SIDS recommendations before making a decision. Current research says you should have your baby in your room until they are six months to prevent cot death. Your presence on the room helps them regulate their breathing.

Zara, how do you think sleeping bag made a difference? Baby is swaddled so can't see what would be different...?

You say your DS was on 1-2 wake-ups per night by 14 weeks, but can you remember where you were at about 10? Just wondering how I might get to 1-2 in four weeks' time! Right now we're on 5-8 wake-ups with some sleeps as short as 20 minutes so no good to me. And nothing after 5am.

PS we have a black-out blind in the room but does show light around the edges. Which of course isn't am issue at night or around 6am anyway.

My dd was older than your ds but when we put her in her own room she slept from 7pm till 2am on the second night. Every night she slept a little longer but now at 6 months she usually wakes at about half 3 for a feed (she says whilst hearing baby is awake )

It was lack of room in her Moses basket plus us making noise I think that disturbed her

Aha! Baby has settled herself back to sleep--victory!

I moved ds at four months, he was an awful sleeper woke himself constantly even when swaddled.

It didn't improve his or my sleep at all
He was just a bad sleeper. I was then running into his room every hour resettling him so I was more exhausted. I ended up moving him back into my room

At 13 months he started sleeping in 5 hour blocks and now (2.5) sleeps 7.30-7.30

Crikey.

5-8 times through the night? I bet you're shattered!

My DD (2.7)slept through better after being in her own room but that was at 7 months. My DS (14 wks) is still in with us and has done a few stints of all night (currently 2 Getty ups) it did get infinitely better at 12 wks - that 3 month mark makes a difference!
X

I agree with Norfolk. My ds is now 16 weeks and starts rubbing his eyes at 7ish. He'll sleep from then til 11ish and he's gradually waking less frequently throughout the night - although it's far from perfect!
I wouldn't put him in his own room. As well as the SIDS risk, I'd be up and down constantly. Good luck

Definitely put in own room. And no lights and no talking if you have to go in at night to attend to him.

DS went into his own room around 10 weeks because he was cramped in his Moses basket.
It helped both his and my sleep.

Every time I turned over in bed he'd start wriggling and every single noise he made he was wide awake!

The only thing that worried me was the blankets going over his face, but he started to push them down once in his cot bed so I got him a sleeping bag as he used to wake up screaming cause he was frozen!

I agree with amothersplace. What she says is what got my DS to sleep through.
Keep the room dim, and put DS to bed at the same time every night preferably with a bath every night before bed.
I did this until DS started sleeping through, I just bath him when needed now!

norfolknway, that's the most heartening thing I have heard so far! That he might just get better by himself at some point - hopefully 3 months! And yes, I am beyond shattered! My body is conking out, with ear infection and bad back and tummy issues. As I said, even when he sleeps, I don't really, as he makes so many sleep noises!

mamapingu, I will take your sleeping bag tip, just because he does kick blAnket off, but also the bath tip. I have been doing bath and massage before the lunchtime nap that he is supposed to take (but doesn't!). But I can bath him with DS1 at 6ish and then have him hear DS1's stories while he feeds. Then into bed straight after DS1, so that I can spend time singing and patting. Will be 7.30 ish. Worth a try.

Sleep also got SO much better for us around 12 weeks. DD started falling asleep on her own and sleeping for much longer.

We just put her in her own bedroom (15 weeks), and it's been a mixed bag - she does sleep for longer and I sleep a lot better (she's a noisy sleeper and was keeping me awake a lot, I also think we were waking each other up), but night feeds are also tougher, because I actually need to get up and walk to her room, which wakes me up. I hadn't realized how half-asleep I really stayed for feeds when we co-slept, lol.

12 weeks things DEFINITELY got much better. At around 10 weeks we were having the 1-2 wake-ups BUT from 5pm - 9pm there was pretty much non-stop screaming (that started at 6 weeks). We were working on the calm bath-feed-bed routine!

Sleeping bag helped us (I think, not like I can ask DS why exactly it helped!) because he helped keep him a consistent temperature all over and he was therefore less restless. Before we did this he was swaddled for all naps and sleeps, because he would wriggle and get his arms out and scratch/slap himself. But when he went in the sleeping bag it all stopped! We picked one up on a whim in Ikea when we bought his cot.

Another reason I think he started sleeping better in his own room is because his innersprung cot mattress was a LOT more comfy than the mattress on the small crib that was in our bedroom.

The noise that we make when sleeping/getting in and out of bed etc is overall what made the difference. When we have to share a room with him now eg when we travel, his sleep is much more disturbed.

TBH with the SIDS thing you have to look at all the guidance and make up your mind about what works best for your family/is most in line with guidelines. We have a movement monitor with motion alarm so that helped us feel better about him being in his own room.

Y Y to quiet, dark, no talking (aside from calming "shhhh" noises) during night re-settling/night feeds.