Any advice on how to get my 8 week old to sleep on his own would be very welcome

[Salahvie]

My 8 week old ds finds it very hard to sleep anywhere but on me or next to me. We never intended to co-sleep but it seemed it was the only way to get any sleep. I don't mind it but he's getting very tired in the evenings and I think he will soon need to start going to bed earlier. At the mo we go to bed at 8.30 and I don't really want to go to bed any earlier than this myself. We've tried him in his Moses basket many times with little success, occasionally he'll sleep for 10mins but usually less. I'd love it if he could at least sleep in it till first bf of night.
During day he'll only nap on me, in the sling or in pram if we're out, none of which really give me a breather. Also usually the only way he gets to sleep is bf.
I'm not sure whether I should just go with it as he's still so new (perhaps he's just not ready to sleep on his own) but I would really love him to sleep on his own some of the time, eg at least one nap a day.
Any tips welcome.

From memory I think bf babies are still cluster feeding in the evening at this age. So we would have my son with us in the evening until bedtime and then I would co sleep with him. Once the cluster feeding was behind us I would feed him to sleep, pop him in his cot, then dream feed him at about 10pm and hit the sack myself.

I think it was around this age my ds was refusing the Moses basket. We ended up using dh's t-shirt he had worn that day as his blanket and we raised the mattress at one end as I don't think he was a fan of lying completely flat. After that he's always slept well in the Moses basket at night. at 20 weeks now he only comes into bed with me if he wants to start the day at 6.30 and I don't
Don't ask about daytime sleep that's a completely different ballgame in our house!

Co sleep. Go to bed with him at whatever time you think he needs to go to sleep. Then get up and carry on with your evening.

let it go. If you do want to start getting him to sleep alone, my only advice is to do it really gradually so he gains confidence, and start with daytime naps only. Hes just a tiny little mammal and they are all designed to sleep with their mothers at first.

Have you tried a hot water bottle in the Moses basket? I used to put it in DS's basket to warm it up, then take it out when he went in - it meant that he was all warm and snuggly in there as he had been on me

Most people who co sleep don't spend their first pregnancy planning on co sleeping. They do it because their baby insisted and then realised that it was actually a nice thing to do that allowed everyone to get some sleep and free time.

I used to give DS a bath and put him in his sleepsuit and sleeping bag and feed him to sleep while watching TV, reading a book or using the computer. Once he was asleep, DP could hold him for a while, or I would carry on holding him until we went to bed. Or I would wait until he was in a deep sleep and lie down him in his bedside cot c settle him and go downstairs for a while, but he always slept much deeper and longer if he was cuddling someone.

Erm, I'm pregnant with first baby, so possibly not the best person to offer advice (!) but I have been looking at the cocoonababy and sleepyhead at John Lewis as apparently they offer a secure feeling to babies, can be used safely for co sleeping and help babies who don't like their moses baskets - could this be an option for you?
www.johnlewis.com/sleepyhead-deluxe-bed-guard-white/p231482924
www.johnlewis.com/red-castle-cocoonababy-nest-white/p429422

Swaddle me and Ewen the dream sheep - saved my sanity.

I had the same with my baby, it changed after around 3 months. My baby had a severe milk allergy which caused awful reflux which is why she really hated lying down flat but a lot of new babies want to be held to sleep. I read an amazing book called Baby Bliss by Dr Harvey Karp and watched his dvd The happiest Baby on the block and it helped me tons. He basically says babies crave the womb for the first few months (he calls it the fourth trimester) so we need to kind of recreate it to soothe them and this will really help them to sleep. Swaddling and white noise really helped my baby to sleep. Swaddling seems to be the next best thing to being held. He teaches how to swaddle them quite tightly which she seemed to really like and it became part of the bedtime routine. They change so quickly though it wont be long before your little one will be able to be a little more independent from you. As my baby couldn't lie flat she ended up sleeping in a swing until we found out that milk was causing the problem. If you search you tube for Harvey Karp he shows some of his techniques on an episode of this morning. Good Luck x.

Thank you for the suggestions. I'll carry on trying to get him to nap in his pram or Moses basket for part of his nap but I don't think he's ready to be on his own at night. Milkfreemama I looked up Dr Harvey Karp, I was a bit cynical at first but tried his swaddling, side, swinging and shhhing and it really is like an off button. He usually needs bf to sleep so that was great. He didn't stay asleep long though but it felt like a big breakthrough.